HaiAn Zheng

Education

• BS, Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Shanghai Medical University
• MS, Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, University at Albany
• PhD, Pharmaceutical Science, School of Pharmacy, University of Connecticut

Courses Taught at ACPHS

• Pharmaceutics I & II
• Pharmaceutical and Analytical Techniques
• Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Experiences
• Botanical Medicines
• Molecular Foundation of Drug Actions
• Advanced Pharmaceutics I & II
• Drug Delivery Principles
• Regulatory Sciences
• Pharmaceutical Stability
• Special Topics in Pharmaceutics
• Thesis Research
• Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiences (APPE)
• Industrial Pharmaceuticals and Biopharmaceuticals Entrepreneurship
• Capstone Project

Research Interests

Complex Drug Products (CDP) have complex substances, formulations, and/or mechanisms, that are challenging to characterize chemically, formulate physically, assess biologically, and evaluate clinically. Our research is to provide insights for industry, regulators, and clinicians to improve the quality, safety, efficacy, approvability, and affordability of CDP for patients. Zheng’s group integrated an array of interdisciplinary approaches including structural-based drug design, computer modeling, formulation design, molecular characterization, and bioanalytical testing to close the gaps between product quality and clinical effects of:

• Biologics, Biosimilars, and Peptides: study, design, formulate, develop, and evaluatethe quality, efficacy and safety of therapeutic proteins and peptides.
• Botanical Drug Products (BDP) are made from natural complex substances. We applyanalytical techniques, translational strategies, and cutting-edge tools to demystify medicinal plants that can be developed into pharmaceutical or wellness products.
• Endocannabinoid System (ECS) Research: Cannabis is one of the most used and studied botanicals. The discovery of cannabinoids and then endocannabinoids revealed more fascinating molecular mechanisms between cannabinoids and the ECS. Dr Zheng has been focused on investigating the mechanisms of ECS and the “endocannabinoidome”, especially the ECS across the blood brain barrier (BBB) between the central nervous system and peripheral circulations. These studies are promising to unlock ECS’ therapeutic potentials for stroke, injury, pain, degenerative diseases, and substance use disorder (SUD).

These research projects help to empower patient-centered product design, enhance drug development, enable regulatory decisions, and reduce risks, including drug abuse.