Zhang Named BME Department Head

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Xiaohui (Frank) Zhang, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, will serve as the next Department Head of Biomedical Engineering. He will begin his new role on September 1, 2025, and serve a 5-year term concluding on August 31, 2030.

Zhang has been a valued faculty member in BME since Fall 2022, having joined UMass Amherst from his previous role as professor of bioengineering at Lehigh University. At UMass, he leads a multidisciplinary team comprising bioengineers, mechanical engineers, biophysicists, and biologists. The group’s research centers around the biomechanical properties of cells and proteins, the development of novel experimental and diagnostic techniques based on single-molecule manipulation and detection methods, and their application to study cardiovascular diseases, blood clotting, tissue repair, and viral infection. Zhang has also been serving as Associate Department Head in BME.

Zhang holds a Ph.D. in Physiology and Biophysics from the University of Miami School of Medicine, a master’s degree in Biophysics from The University of Hong Kong, and a bachelor’s degree in Physics from Sun Yat-sen University. He completed his postdoctoral training with Prof. Timothy A. Springer at Harvard Medical School. 

The outgoing BME Department Head is S. Thai Thayumanavan, who has provided outstanding service to BME in his role as Department Head since 2021. Thayumanavan has had a tremendous impact on the growth of the department, and he has been a valuable part of the senior leadership team of the College of Engineering. Thayumanavan will be returning to his primary appointment in the Department of Chemistry, as well as continuing to lead the Center for Bioactive Delivery within the Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS), but will maintain a 25% appointment in BME and will continue to contribute to BME moving forward.