Kang Zhang, MD, PhD obtained his M.D. with Magna Cum Laude honors from Harvard Medical School and MIT joint MD program and his PhD in genetics from Harvard University. He completed his residency in ophthalmology at Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University and his retina fellowship at University of Utah. He was a faculty at Johns Hopkins University from 1999-2000, Cleveland Clinic Foundation from 2000-2002, University of Utah from 2002-2008. He is currently Professor of Ophthalmology and Human Genetics at University of California San Diego.

Among his honors include Burroughs Wellcome Fund Clinical Scientist Award in Translational Research; Lew R. Wasserman Merit Award from Research to Prevent Blindness; Macula Society membership; American Society of Clinical Investigation membership; Charles Schepens Award for Excellence in Retina Research; and Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions Clinician Scientist Award.

His research focuses on novel disease gene targets and therapies in macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and inherited retinal degenerations. He has numerous grants from National Institute of Health, and other foundations and holds 3 patents. Dr. Zhang has published or co-authored more than 70 peer reviewed manuscripts in top journals including Science, New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, Nature Genetics, Nature Medicine, Cell, PNAS, and JCI - covering a wide range of topics in genetics, molecular biology, and clinical trials in ophthalmology.

Dr. Zhang is bilingual in Chinese.