Ru-Yi Zhu PhD (PI)
Ru-Yi was born and raised in Nanjing before relocating to Chongqing at 12, since then, he has fallen in love with the spicy food there but definitely not the weather. After spending 7 years in Chongqing, Ru-Yi moved to Beijing and obtained his BS with honors in chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Zhang-Jie Shi at Peking University in July 2013. Then he moved to the Scripps Research Institute and received his PhD in chemistry with Prof. Jin-Quan Yu in November 2018, focusing on tackling challenging aliphatic carbon-hydrogen (C-H) bond activation with novel ligands and directing groups. After that, he decided to stay in sunny California and joined Prof. Eric T. Kool’s lab at Stanford University as a postdoc to develop chemical tools to study DNA, RNA, and associated proteins for therapeutic applications. Recently, Ru-Yi was awarded the prestigious NUS Presidential Young Professorship (PYP) in April 2021. He joined the Department of Chemistry as a NUS PYP Assistant Professor in September 2021. His research will be focusing on designing novel DNA/RNA mimetics for biomedicine and catalysis.
We are a highly interdisciplinary team, people with catalysis, medicinal chemistry, nucleic acid chemistry, drug delivery, molecular biology, biophysics, and nanomaterial fabrication backgrounds come together to solve the most urgent problems in health and catalysis with multidisciplinary approaches. We are actively collaborating with biologists and oncologists in Singapore and beyond to discover the next generation medicines.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not represent the views and opinions of the National University of Singapore or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates
Postdoctoral Fellow
Yang Zheng (Since Mar 2024)
Ph.D., Soochow University, 2019 (PhD Advisor: Prof. Xinfang Xu)
B.S., Soochow University, 2013
Zheng-Yang Gu (Since Jul 2024)
Ph.D., Soochow University, 2018 (PhD Advisor: Prof. Shun-Jun Ji)
B.S., Soochow University, 2013
Jinxiang Ye (Since Jul 2024)
Ph.D., Wuhan University, 2023 (PhD Advisor: Prof. Qianghui Zhou)
B.S., Tianjin University of Science and Technology, 2016
Gao-Yin Wang (Since Aug 2024)
Ph.D., SIOC, 2024 (PhD Advisor: Prof. Kuiling Ding and Prof. Xiaoming Wang)
B.S., USTC, 2018
Wen-Qian Zhang (Since Oct 2024)
Ph.D., USTC, 2024 (PhD Advisor: Prof. Liu-Zhu Gong)
B.S., Hunan University, 2019
Xianjing Zhou (Since Sep 2025)
Ph.D., Zhejiang University, 2024 (PhD Advisor: Prof. Sunliang Cui)
B.S., Anhui Meidical University, 2020
Yue Jia (Since Sep 2025)
Ph.D., Central China Normal University, 2025 (PhD Advisor: Prof. Liang-Qiu Lu and Prof. Wen-Jing Xiao)
B.S., Central China Normal University, 2018
Linwei Zeng (Since Oct 2025)
Ph.D., Zhejiang University, 2021 (PhD Advisor: Prof. Sunliang Cui)
B.S., Zhejiang University of Technology, 2012
Xiaoming Xu (Since Oct 2025)
Ph.D., Nankai University, 2025 (PhD Advisor: Prof. Chunming Cui)
B.S., Weinan Normal University, 2017
Graduate Student
RS: Research Scholarship; IRP: Industry Relevant PhD Scholarship; PGF: President’s Graduate Fellowship; DGF: Dean’s Graduate Fellowship
Zhaoyang Li (G4) (Since Jan 2022)
FoS PhD Conference Award
NUS IRP
M.S., USTC, 2021
B.S., Southwest University, 2018
Junsong Guo (G4) (Since Jan 2022)
NUS RS
M.S., Sun Yat-sen University, 2020
B.S., China Pharmaceutical University, 2017
Qi Shi (G4) (Since Aug 2022)
NUS IRP
B.S., Nanyang Technological University, 2019
Zhengyu Lin (G3) (Since Jan 2023)
NUS RS
M.Res. and B.S., Imperial College London, 2021 and 2020
Kha Tuan-Khoa (G3) (Since Aug 2023)
NUS PGF
B.S., Nanyang Technological University, 2021
Kelly Koh Kar Yun (G3) (Since Aug 2023)
NUS Graduate Tutorship
B.S., National University of Singapore, 2023
Philip Mark Tan Leetiong (G3) (Since Aug 2023)
NUS PGF
B.S., Nanyang Technological University, 2023
Yiran Zhao (G3) (Since Aug 2023)
NUS PGF
B.S., Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2023
Kuan Kok How (G2) (Since Jan 2024)
NUS IRP
B.S., National University of Singapore, 2022
Song Chen (G2) (Since Jan 2024)
NUS RS
M.S., Fudan University, 2023
B.S., Anhui Medical University, 2020
Angel Foo (G2) (Since Jul 2024)
NUS Graduate Tutorship
B.S., National University of Singapore, 2024
Tingyao (Evelyn) Zhang (G2) (Since Aug 2024)
NUS PGF
B.S., Purdue University, 2024
Kexin Shen (G2) (Since Aug 2024)
NUS DGF
B.S., Wuhan University, 2024
Nguyen Thi Thao Nhung (G1) (Since Aug 2025)
NUS IRP
B.S., University of Medicine and Pharmacy at HCMC, 2022
Master and Undergraduate Student
Yihan Li (Since Aug 2024)
UROPS, FYP
Y4 Undergrad, NUS
Shania Daryani (Since Aug 2024)
UROPS, FYP
Y4 Undergrad, NUS
Benjamin Khor Geng Jun (Since Aug 2025)
FYP
Y4 Undergrad, NUS
Mingliang Xian (Since Aug 2025)
MSc
B.S., Sun Yat-sen University, 2025
Zhengyang Zhang (Since Aug 2025)
Master by research
B.S., The University of Western Ontario, 2025
Jiaxuan Li (Since Aug 2025)
MSc
B.S., Soochow University, 2025
Liyun Wu (Since Aug 2025)
MSc
B.S., China Pharmaceutical University, 2025
Mingxuan Shi (Since Oct 2025)
MSc
B.S., Beijing Normal-Hong Kong University, 2024
Yingzhen Cao (Since Oct 2025)
MSc
B.S., Soochow University, 2025
Yiwen Zhang (Since Oct 2025)
MSc
B.S., Soochow University, 2025
Junyao Zhu (Since Oct 2025)
MSc
B.S., Shanghai Normal University, 2025
Baixi Chen (Since Aug 2025)
MSc
B.S., Beijing Normal University, 2025
Lichen Huang (Since Oct 2025)
MSc
B.S., University of Nottingham Ningbo, 2024
Rao Dai (Since Aug 2025)
MSc
B.S., Soochow University, 2025
The Zhu Lab 