Dr. Zhao has authored and co-authored over 420 research articles and over 30 issued and pending patent applications. In addition, he has given over 470 plenary, keynote, or invited lectures. Thirty-six (36) of his former graduate students and postdocs became professors or principal investigators around the world. Dr. Zhao received numerous research and teaching awards and honors such as AIChE FP&B Division Award, ECI Enzyme Engineering Award, ACS Marvin Johnson Award, and SIMB Charles Thom Award. His primary research interests are in the development and applications of synthetic biology, machine learning, and laboratory automation tools to address society’s most daunting challenges in health, energy, and sustainability.