On Dec 2, 2020, Ghadeer Bukhari successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation titled “The Origin and Evolution of Flower Characters in Angiosperms with a Case Study on the Genetic Basis of Zygomorphic Corolla Development in Bee and Hummingbird Pollinated Species of Schizanthus (Solanaceae).”
In January 2021, Dr. Bukhari left VCU and started her new journey with her wonderful husband Hamza, her two lovely daughters Eleen and Sarah, and a Ph.D. degree. Now, Dr. Bukhari is an assistant professor in the Biological Science Department at King Abdulaziz University (KAU).
We wish you all the best in your new roles, Ghadeer!!
It was a pleasure to have Dr. Bharti Sharma (Cal Poly Pomona) presents her elegant work on "The genetic basis of floral novelty in Aquilegia (Columbines)".
Wenheng Zhang gives an invited plenary talk, presenting the exciting contributions in the field of Evo-Devo at the 3rd Biennual Pan-American Society for Evolutionary Developmental Biology coference.
Congratulations to Ghadeer Bukhari on receiving the Outstanding PhD Student Award in the Department of Biology!
Ghadeer Bukhari presents oral paper on transcriptomic analyses of the basis of floral zygomoprhy in the genus Schizanthus at the ILSSO Research Symposium in honor of Charles Darwin!
Joon Kim presents a poster paper on the functional role of CYC2 genes in Solanaceae at the ILSSO Research Symposium in honor of Charles Darwin!
Congratulations to our graduate student, Farah Khojayori, for defending her thesis titled "Floral symmetry genes elucidate the development and evolution of oil-bee pollinated flowers of Malpighiaceae and Krameriaceae". Congratulations, Farah!
Thank you for another wonderful coference at Botany 2018! We had so much fun presenting, learning, and meeting fantastic people! We presented a total of 9 abstracts and were supported by a post-doctoral travel grant from VCU to Jingbo Zhang, a Vernon I. Cheadle award to Farahnoz Khojayori, and funding by NSF and VCU.
See the featureon our study of the evolution and development of plants highlighted on the VCU homepage! Photo of Dr. Zhang courtesy of Kevin Morley and article by Leah Small! It was a pleasure to share our work with Leah and Kevin, and we are excited for you to read about our research! Come see us at Botany 2018!
.jpg)
Congratulations to our post-doc for receiving the VCU post-doctoral fellow travel grant to attend the Botany 2018! This year Dr. Jingbo Zhang will be presenting 4 papers at the conference. Congratulations, Jingbo!
Congratulations to the GOBS 2018 Faculty of the Year, Dr. Wenheng Zhang! Dr. Wenheng Zhang is one of the kindest and most caring people in the world. Her creativity and passion drives everything she does, especially encouraging her students to live courageously. Her ambitions for her students are to ask questions that they feel invested in so as to continuously explore the frontiers of knowledge. We would summarize her as ambitious, trustworthy, supportive, encouraging, and intelligent beyong compare. She deserves the faculty of the year award, because we love her and her work shines beyond compare.
.jpg)
Congratulations to our graduate student Farah Khojayori for receving the Outstanding Biology Masters Student in Evolution and the Vernon I. Cheadle Award from the Developmental and Structural Section of the Botanical Society of America!
.jpg)
Ghadeer Bukhari presents our research and inspires young women to pursue careers in STEM fields at a Girl Scouts of America Science Day hosted by Women in Science at VCU!
“Let's go back to the basics (start with morphology)." (Wenheng Zhang, 2017). Read the debate on the origins of the first flower from Nature.
Happy New Year from our lab, across the world!
Congratulations to Ghadeer, Bukhari, Jingbo Zhang, Peter F. Stevens, and Wenheng Zhang on their successful publication of "Evolution of the process underlying floral zygomorphy development in pentapetalous angiosperms"!
Congratulations to Jingbo Zhang, Peter F. Stevens, and Wenheng Zhang on their successful publication of "Evolution of floral zygomorphy in androecium and corolla in Solanaceae"!
Congratulations to Ao Gao, Jingbo Zhang, and Wenheng Zhang on their successful publication of "Evolution of RAD-and DIV-Like Genes in Plants"!
Dr. Jingbo Zhang and Dr. Wenheng Zhang present at the XIX International Botanical Congress (IBC) in Shenzhen, China.
Ghadeer Bukhari and Dr. Wenheng Zhang present "Evolution of the process underlying floral zygomorphy development in pentapetalous angiosperms" at the XIX International Botanical Congress (IBC) in Shenzhen, China.
Dr. Jingbo Zhang presents "Floral symmetry genes and the development of floral zygomorphy in Solanaceae" at the XIX International Botanical Congress (IBC) in Shenzhen, China.
Joon Kim presents a poster titled "Effect of silencing CYC2-like genes on floral development inSolanum lycopersicum L. andNicotiana obtusifolia M.Martens & Galeotti (Solanaceae)" at Botany 2017.
Farah Khojayori presents "CYC2-like genes elucidate floral symmetry evolution following a major biogeographic disjunction" at Botany 2017.
Congratulations to our graduate student Farah for receiving the Vernon I. Cheadle Student Travel Award to attend the Botany 2017 at Fort Worth, Texas! Congratulations, Farah!
Congratulations to our post-doc for receiving the VCU post-doctoral fellow travel grant to attend the International Botanical Congress (IBC) 2017 in China! Congratulations, Dr. Jingbo Zhang!
Happy birthday, Dr. Zhang! Thank you for building a home for each and every one of us. and inspiring us everyday to live courageous lives full of passion, integrity, and curiosity! we love you! and we wish you a happy birthday and health, love, and laughter!
Congratulations to our graduate student Ao Gao for defending his thesis titled "EVOLUTION OF ANTAGONISTIC RELATIONSHIPS IN PROTEINS: A CASE STUDY OF RADIALIS- AND DIVARICATA-LIKE GENES" Congratulations, Ao!
Congratulations to our undergraduate student Kenji MIzoguchi for his successful graduation from the Biology Department at VCU! Congratulations, Kenji!
Congratulations to our outstanding Graduate Student in Cell and Molecular Biology, Joon!
Ghadeer volunteers with VCU's Women in Science to help spread our passion for plants and their pollinators.
Happy Thanksgiving from the Zhang Lab! Our family keeps expanding!
Dr. Wenheng Zhang’s paper titled “Differential Expression of CYC2 Genes and the Elaboration of Floral Morphologies in Hiptage, an Old World Genus of Malpighiaceae” is chosen for the cover of the International Journal of Plant Sciences. Congratulations, Dr. Zhang!
Welcome to our new Ph.D candidate Ghadeer Bukhari, and our new graduate student Farahnoz Khojayori.
We successfully made it to the Botany 2016 in Savannah, Georgia! Thank you Joon for driving us there safely on the 7 hour route.
Dr. Qiu-Yun (Jenny) Xiang and Dr. Wenheng Zhang host a symposium titled “Evolution, Development, and Genetics of Floral Display - Form, Size, and Arrangement”. Thank you to our great guest speakers for their contribution! Dr. Xiang, you were terribly missed at the symposium!
Thank you to our wonderful guest speakers for presenting their fantastic research!
Our wonderful lab members presented their current projects at the poster symposium. Congratulations to Ghadeer Bukhari, Jingbo Zhang, Ao Gao, and Joonseog Kim!
Our undergrad, Farah Khojayori, presented her first talk at the international Botany 2016 conference.
The Zhang Lab begins their first collaborative volunteer effort with the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden as part of the Zhang Community Outreach Program (ZCOP).
Congratulations to our graduate student Ghadeer Bukhari for defending her thesis titled “INDEPENDENT ORIGINATION OF FLORAL ZYGOMORPHY, A PREDICTED ADAPTIVE RESPONSE TO POLLINATORS: DEVELOPMENTAL AND GENETIC MECHANISMS”. Congratulations, Ghadeer!
Congratulations to our outstanding Graduate Student in Evolution, Ghadeer!
Congratulations to our outstanding Undergraduate Student in Evolution, Farah!
Congratulations to our undergraduate for receiving the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU). Congratuations, Farah!
Congratulations to our new postdoctoral fellow for successfully defending his Ph.D. from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing, China). Congratulations, Jingbo!