Jia Jun Chia, President
Jia Jun is currently an Associate Scientist at Gilead Sciences working in the Virology department as a researcher on the Hepatitis B cure program. Prior to moving to the Bay Area, she was a graduate student at the University of Washington Seattle, where she earned an MS in Bioengineering and investigated the role of vascular smooth muscle cells in the calcification of the brain vasculature. She also obtained a BS in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. She joined CBA in 2017 as a volunteer to help with videography. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, doing escape rooms and spending time with her family.
Jade Hsu, Vice President
Jade joined CBA in 2023 and has been actively involved in organizing CBA events. Currently, she serves as the Business Development Manager at Biocytogen, a pre-clinical CRO specializing in gene editing, humanized animal/cell models, and disease models. With a background in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors, Jade brings extensive experience in research and development from both the United States and Taiwan. Her expertise spans pre-clinical drug development and product development in sequencing-related fields. During her academic endeavors, she focused on drug repurposing for lung cancer therapeutics.
Kaiqing Zhang, Director of Sponsorship
Frank Zhou, Director of Membership and Operations
Mengning “Frank” Zhou, Ph.D., ChFC ®, has been a lifetime member of CBA since 2010. He has volunteered for CBA for several years in different capacities. Beginning in 2020, he has taken the role of Director of Operation. He also volunteers for US-China Green Energy Council and is a Vice President there. He is a full-time Financial Planner at MassMutual Northern California with a fiduciary obligation to his clients. He also has a part-time appointment in Stanford University School of Medicine where he helps to push back the frontiers of cancer research. Prior to these positions, he was a research scientist developing biochemical assays and nucleic acid testing (NAT) for infectious diseases, leading to a USPTO granted patent. He earned his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University after he received his B.S. from Fudan University.
Dan Zhang, VP of Alliance
Dan is a dynamic business leader and Vice President at Q Bay Center, a Silicon Valley-based platform that connects innovation and entrepreneurship. With a background in journalism, Dan has extensive experience in media and communication, which she brings to her work in entrepreneurial eco-system building, event organization, and business development.
Prior to her current role at Q Bay, Dan held several senior positions in the tech industry, including Director of Marketing & BD at Hanhai Investments and Director of Sales/BD at Vobile (03738.HK). Dan is also a committed community leader and currently serves as the Executive Director of HYSTA (HUA YUAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION), a leading non-profit organization that empowers Chinese American entrepreneurs and leaders.
Charlie Ao, VP of Alliance
Charlie is currently a business development manager at Sino Biological, a biotech company provides antibody, protein and CRO services. He received his Master degree in from Project Management in New York University. He joined CBA in 2023.
Xinxin Li, Director of Volunteer
Xinxin is currently VP of strategic partnerships at MyBioGate where she leads deal sourcing for company investment. Xinxin devotes herself to helping scientists and entrepreneurs in advancing their venture to commercialize innovative technologies. Prior to 2020, Xinxin has organized 10+ international conferences in the U.S. and Europe including the US China Investment and Innovation Summit and the China Focus Partnering Conferences. Xinxin obtained her B.S in Chemistry from Peking University and MSPH from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. In her free time, Xinxin enjoys sport climbing and traveling.
Audrey Hong, Secretary
Audrey is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University School of Medicine, where she conducts research on the skin differentiation process using multi-omics approaches. Prior to her current position, Audrey earned her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from UC San Diego, where she studied the regulatory mechanisms of the Hippo pathway in stress response. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley. In her free time, Audrey enjoys playing badminton and ultimate frisbee, as well as spending time with friends and family.
Weicheng Li, Director of Communications (Proceedings)
David Hsieh, Director of Marketing
David is a biopharmaceutical researcher with more than 10 years of experience in drug discovery, spanning cancer research, virology, and cell and gene therapy. His primary focus is preclinical cancer research for small molecule therapeutics, informed by his study of targeted therapeutics in lung cancer in the Thoracic Oncology Laboratory at UCSF. He holds a B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology from UC Berkeley and a M.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from UCLA.
Kai-wen Cheng, Treasurer
Ruowei (Rylie) Liu, Webmaster
Ruowei (Rylie) Liu is currently a medical writer at Genentech, Product Development Regulatory. She has various experiences with regulatory documentation across therapeutic areas, from IND to post-marketing license maintenance. Prior to moving to the Bay Area in 2017, she worked as a clinical research coordinator to conduct clinical trials for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and other Gastrointestinal research projects. She obtained a Master’s Degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Southern California.