New Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Nan Zhao in MEES

Dr. Nan Zhao is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science (MEES) at UNC Charlotte. He earned his B.S. from Northwest A&F University and his M.S. from North Carolina A&T State University, both in Bioengineering. In 2019, he completed a Ph.D. in Biongineering at Penn State, where he developed novel hydrogels to promote blood-vessel formation. After his Ph.D., he joined Peter C. Searson’s lab at Johns Hopkins University as a postdoctoral fellow and later as an associate research scientist, developing advanced blood–brain barrier (BBB) models to investigate brain angiogenesis and early BBB dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases. His work produced multiple brain microvessel models with substantially improved physiological fidelity, revealed a new role for pericytes in brain angiogenesis, demonstrated immune-cell transmigration across the BBB, and identified early barrier defects in Alzheimer’s disease—contributing to several NIH grant proposals. He has published over 30 first-author papers and has a h-index of 26. He also serves as a guest editor and on the editorial boards of multiple international journals. Upon joining UNC Charlotte in August 2025, Dr. Zhao founded the Microvascular Engineering & Regeneration Laboratory, which focuses on engineering human microcirculation systems to build vascularized tissues. His lab is dedicated to advancing human cell-based models and training the next generation of biomedical engineers.