Co-Founder & Lead Principal Investigator

Dr. Caimei Zhang is the Co-Founder and Lead Principal Investigator at OncoVanta Therapeutics, where she drives scientific innovation and preclinical development of TCR-T cell therapies targeting mutant p53 in solid tumors. A seasoned cellular immunotherapy scientist, Dr. Zhang brings over 15 years of research experience spanning CAR-T, NK cell, and TCR-based oncology platforms.

Before co-founding OncoVanta, Dr. Zhang served as Principal Scientist at BlueWhale Bio, where she established and led a high-performing cell biology team and advanced key R&D programs toward commercialization. Previously, she was a Senior Research Investigator at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, where she developed novel NK cell platforms, engineered PD-1 switch receptor–armored CAR-T cells, and designed lentiviral vectors for precision gene control.

Dr. Zhang completed her Postdoctoral Fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where her work focused on cardiomyocyte regeneration and cellular mechanotransduction. She earned her Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine in China.

Her research and publications reflect a consistent focus on advancing the next generation of immune cell therapies and translating scientific discovery into transformative cancer treatments.