Zhen Gu, Ph.D., an adjunct professor in the School Division of Pharmacoengineering and Molecular Pharmceutics, is a runner-up in the 2017 APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Wiley, and Elsevier.
ASPIRE is an annual award hosted by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) that recognizes young scientists who have demonstrated a commitment to excellence in scientific research and cross-border research. Each APEC member economy identifies their own nominee for the prize, and the U.S. State Department’s Office of Science and Technology Cooperation, in conjunction with Wiley and Elsevier, holds an annual competition to identify the scientists to represent the United States on the APEC stage.
This year, a record number of applicants in the United States were received for the theme of “New Materials Technology”, and the winner was chosen by a panel of scientific experts throughout the U.S. government. As a runner-up, Gu to Washington, D.C., for an award ceremony at the Department of State this summer and receives an award of $1,500.
Gu is an associate professor in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. He also holds joint positions in the Molecular Pharmaceutics Division in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy and Endocrinology and Metabolism Division in the Department of Medicine at UNC.
Gu received his B.S. in chemistry and M.S. degrees in polymer chemistry and physics from Nanjing University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. He was a postdoctoral associate working with Robert Langer, Ph.D., at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School from 2010 to 2012.
His group studies controlled drug delivery, bio-inspired materials and nanobiotechnology, especially for cancer and diabetes treatment. He has published over 80 research papers and applied 40 patents. He is a co-founder of two startup companies.
For more information on the ASPIRE Prize and past winners, visit www.apec.org/aspire.