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Visanu Wanchia, Ph.D.; Zijun Zhang, M.S.
Behind the Scenes
| Visanu Wanchai, Ph.D.
Visanu Wanchai, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow with the UAMS College of Medicine. He earned his doctorate in biomedical informatics from UAMS in 2020 and joined the Myeloma Center in 2022.
His focus is developing leading-edge computational tools and employing high-performance computing techniques for single cell analysis to investigate key genes and regulatory mechanisms involved in cancer cell development and resistance to therapy.
Wanchai earned an American Society of Hematology (ASH) Abstract Achievement Award and was a presenter at the 65th ASH Annual Meeting in San Diego in December 2023. He earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science at Mae Fah Luang University in Thailand and his master’s degree in bioinformatics and systems biology at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi in Thailand.
Zijun Zhang, M.S.
Zijun Zhang, M.S., is a graduate student in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology pursuing a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences. He began his studies at UAMS in August 2021 and joined the Myeloma Center as a research assistant in February 2022.
Zhang analyzes CST6, a protein inhibitor found in some multiple myeloma patients. CST6 can plays a positive role by inhibiting bone disease but can also suppress the immune system in the bone marrow microenvironment. Zhang has generated three mutants of CST6 during his research. One of these mutants does not cause immune suppression and still has a positive effect on the bone. Such beneficial proteins can be carried to the bone marrow by chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells.
He earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and master’s degree in pharmacology from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.