Dr. Yun-Feng Zhang got his Ph.D. degree in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2011. During 2011-2016, he worked as an assistant professor in School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, China. As the project leader, he has finished two projects: The National Natural Science Foundation for Young Scientists of China (a highly competitive national award with an annual funding rate of only 20% or lower) (No.81301117) and The Wenzhou Science and Technology Plans (No.Y20140049), which are focused on decoding the neural microcircuit mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of epilepsy based on multi-neuron whole-cell patch clamp recordings. Now he is a postdoc research fellow in the Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Yun-Feng Zhang is interested on deciphering mechanisms underlying abnormal behaviors of neurological diseases (e.g. depression, anxiety and epilepsy) at cellular, neural microcircuit network and behavioral levels using a combination of electrophysiological, optogenetic, morphological and behavioral techniques. His current studies depend on multi-neuron whole-cell patch clamp recordings, 3D neuronal morphological reconstructions and behavioral assays to explore neural microcircuit properties in the mouse cerebral cortex.