Profile

Zhang Zhenfeng, Assistant Professor at the School of Public Health and Emergency Management, and Doctoral Supervisor. He holds a Ph.D. from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and completed postdoctoral research at Heidelberg University, Germany.

His research primarily focuses on hepatitis viruses, innate immunity, and antiviral therapeutic strategies. He has secured funding as Principal Investigator for 2 National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) projects and 1 Shenzhen General Program project, and has served as a key member on multiple projects, including an NSFC International Cooperation Project, a major project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), and key projects in Shenzhen.

He has published over 40 papers in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Hepatology and the Journal of Immunology. His research findings have been selected for oral presentations at international academic conferences and have received awards.

He serves as a Committee Member of the Liver Disease Diagnosis, Treatment, and Clinical Research Committee of the Guangdong Clinical Medical Association and the Respiratory and Health Committee of Guangdong Province. He is also a Guest Editor for the journal Viruses and a Reviewer for journals including Journal of Hepatology, Nature Communications, Antiviral Research, and Liver International.

The lab is recruiting postdocs, research assistants, and master/doctorate students. Potential applicants are welcome to contact us.

Research topics

 1. The mechanism of HBV and HDV persistent infection, novel infection models for HBV and HDV

 2. Novel therapeutic strategies for HBV and HDV (nucleic acid antivirals, novel therapeutic vaccines, liver-targeting therapies, etc.)

 3. Innate immunity and its application in antiviral therapy

 4. Personalized antiviral immunity and precision antiviral therapy

Working experience

 2022.10-present: Assistant Professor, School of Public Health and Emergency Management, Southern University of Science and Technology

 2015.09-2022.09: Postdoc, Center for Integrative Infectious Disease Research, Heidelberg University, Germany. Mentors: Prof. Stephan Urban and Prof. Ralf Bartenschlager

 2012.09-2015.08: Research Associate, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Mentor: Prof. Hanzhong Wang 

Education

2004.09-2012.07: Ph.D., Microbiology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

2000.09-2004.07: Bachelor, Biotechnology, Xinjiang University 

Grants

[1] National Natural Science Foundation of China, Investigation into the intracellular persistent replication of hepatitis D virus and the antiviral mechanism of interferons. 2024 – 2027. (Chief investigator)

[2] National Natural Science Foundation of China, Comparative epidemiological and molecular virology of hepatitis D in China and Mongolia and the mechanism of HDV accelerated liver disease progression. 2024 - 2026. (Co-investigator)

[3]  Shenzhen Natural Science Foundation General Project: "Dual Suppression of Viral Replication Using siRNA Targeting the Unique Differential Base of Hepatitis Delta Virus Large and Small Antigen mRNAs." 2025 - 2027 (Chief investigator).

[4] Shenzhen Basic Research Key Project: " (No. 20240083)Research on Pathogen-Host Interaction Mechanisms and Anti-Pathogen Infection Treatment Strategies." 2024 -2027.  (Co-investigator)

[5] German Research Foundation (DFG), Transregional Collaborative Research Centre (TRR) 179: Determinants and dynamics of elimination versus persistence of hepatitis virus infection., 2016-2024. (Co-investigator)

[6] German Research Foundation (DFG), Collaborative Research Centre (SFB) 1129: Integrative analysis of pathogen replication and spread. 2014-2022. (Co-investigator)

[7] National Natural Science Foundation of China, The role and mechanism of interferon-stimulated protein Viperin in EV71 neural tissue infection. 2015-2018. (Co-investigator)

[8] National Natural Science Foundation of China, Mechanism for the inhibition of Type I interferon production by human bocavirus and NS1. 2014-2016. (Chief investigator)

Awards and honors

[1] Travel grant, International HBV Meeting. 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022.

[2] Young investigator bursary, International Liver Congress, European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL). 2021.

[3] Early career investigator award, The Liver Meeting, American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). 2019.

[4] Best oral presentation award, International HBV Meeting. 2019.

[5] Natural science award for outstanding academic publications, Wuhan, China. 2013.

Teaching and student supervision

[1] Courses: Advances in Pathogen Diagnostics (Graduate Level); Introduction to Translational Medicine (Undergraduate Level); Biomedical Ethics (Undergraduate Level).

[2] Supervised the 2023 Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) Undergraduate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program (National Level). The project was completed and rated "Excellent".

[3] Supervised the 9th National Forum on Basic Medical Innovation Research and Experimental Design for College Students (2023), where the team won a National Bronze Award.

[4] Currently advising 3 Ph.D. candidates and 2 Master's students.

Academia positions

[1] 2025-present, Member of the Committee on Liver Disease Diagnosis, Treatment and Clinical Research, Guangdong Clinical Medical Association

[2] 2024-present, Member of the Vaccine Professional Committee, Guangdong Association of Respiratory and Health

[3] 2023-2024, Guest editor of Viruses journal

[4] 2019-present，Member of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL). 

Selected publications

[1] Wei T, Li J, Lei X, Lin R, Wu Q, Zhang Z, Shuai S, Tian R. Multimodal CRISPR screens uncover DDX39B as a global repressor of A-to-I RNA editing. Cell Rep. 2025;44(7):116009.

[2] Li Q, Wang C, Gou J, Kitanovski S, Tang X, Cai Y, Zhang C, Zhang X, Zhang Z, Qiu Y, Zhao F, Lu M, He Y, Wang J, Lu H. Deciphering lung granulomas in HIV & TB co-infection: unveiling macrophages aggregation with IL6R/STAT3 activation.Emerg Microbes Infect. 2024;13(1):2366359.

[3] Gnouamozi GV, Zhang Z, Prasad V, Lauber C, Seitz S, Urban S. Analysis of Replication, Cell Division-Mediated Spread, and HBV Envelope Protein-Dependent Pseudotyping of Three Mammalian Delta-like Agents. Viruses. 2024; 16(6):859.[4] Wang J, Li Q, Qiu Y, Kitanovski S, Wang C, Zhang C, Li F, Li X, Zhang Z, Huang L, Zhang J, Hoffmann D, Lu M, Lu H. Cell-type-specific expression analysis of liver transcriptomics with clinical parameters to decipher the cause of intrahepatic inflammation in chronic hepatitis B.iMeta. 2024;3(4):e221.

[5] Chi H, Qu B, Prawira A, Richardt T, Maurer L, Hu J, Fu RM, Lempp FA, Zhang Z, Grimm D, Wu X, Urban S, Dao Thi VL. An hepatitis B and D virus infection model using human pluripotent stem cell-derived hepatocytes. EMBO reports. 2024; 25(10):4311-4336.

[6] Groth C, Maric J, Lázaro I-G, Hofman T, Zhang Z, Ni Y, Keller F, Seufert I, Hofmann M, Neumann-Haefelin C, Sticht C, Rippe K, Urban S, Cerwenka A. Hepatitis D infection induces IFN-β-mediated NK cell activation and TRAIL-dependent cytotoxicity. Front Immunol. 2023 Dec 8:14:1287367.

[7] Gillich N#, Zhang Z#, Binder M, Urban S, Bartenschlager R. Determinants in LGP2 required for activation of the interferon response and suppression of hepatitis D virus replication. Journal of Hepatology. 2023; 78(1):78-89. (#, co-first author)[8] Zhang Z, Ni Y, Lempp F.A, Walter L, Mutz P, Bartenschlage R, Urban S. Hepatitis D virus-induced interferon response and administered interferons control cell division-mediated virus spread. Journal of Hepatology. 2022; 77(4):957-966.

[9] Zhang Z, Urban S. New insights into hepatitis D virus persistence: the role of interferon response and implications for upcoming novel therapies. Journal of Hepatology. 2021; 74(3):686-699.

[10] Wang W, Lempp FA, Schlund F, Walter L, Decker CC, Zhang Z, Ni Y, Urban S. Assembly and infection efficacy of hepatitis B virus surface protein exchanges in 8 hepatitis D virus genotype isolates. Journal of Hepatology. 2021; 75(2):311-323.[11] Zhang Z, Urban S. Interplay between Hepatitis D Virus and the Interferon Response. Viruses. 2020; 12(11): 1334.

[12] Ni Y, Zhang Z, Engelskircher L, Verch G, Tu T, Lempp FA, Urban S. Generation and characterization of a stable cell line persistently replicating and secreting the human hepatitis delta virus. Scientific Reports. 2019; volume 9, Article number: 10021.

[13] Lempp FA, Schlund F, Rieble L, Nussbaum L, Link C, Zhang Z, Ni Y, Stephan Urban. Recapitulation of HDV infection in a fully permissive hepatoma cell line allows efficient drug evaluation. Nature Communications. 2019; 10:2265.

[14] Zhang Z, Filzmayer C, Ni Y, Mutz P, Sültmann H, Hiet M-S, Vondran F W.R., Bartenschlager R, Urban S. Hepatitis D Virus replication is sensed by MDA5 and induces IFN-β/λ responses in hepatocytes. Journal of Hepatology. 2018; 69(1):25-35.