Rate My Professor Chao Zheng

Chao Zheng is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry, Chemistry, and Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Toronto. He serves as an Independent Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), affiliated with the Brain Health Imaging Centre and the Azrieli Centre for Neuro-Radiochemistry. Dr. Zheng earned a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Science and Technology of China and a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Peking University. Prior to his current roles, he completed postdoctoral training in molecular imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, followed by postdoctoral training in PET neuroimaging at Yale University. From 2021 to 2023, he held the position of Associate Research Scientist at the Yale School of Medicine.

Dr. Zheng’s research centers on the development and application of innovative radiopharmaceuticals for PET neuroimaging to advance the diagnosis and assessment of treatments for neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. His program integrates medicinal chemistry, radiochemistry, quantitative PET imaging, and pharmacology, with objectives including adapting advanced organic chemistry reactions for radiochemical use and creating novel PET methods to capture in vivo biochemical and phenotypic changes. He has received multiple honors, including Young Investigator Awards from the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) Radiopharmaceutical Sciences Council in 2021 and 2022, a 2022 Young Investigator Award from the SNMMI Center for Molecular Imaging Innovation and Translation Council, a 2022 Scholarship to Enhance and Empower Diversity for Early-Career Neuroscientists, a 2022 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference Fellowship, and recognition as a 2024 SNMMI “Ones to Watch.” His research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Alzheimer’s Association, and other institutions. Dr. Zheng has presented at numerous international conferences.