Dr. Tongtong Zhao is an award-winning scientist and biotech innovator with deep expertise in genomics, oncology, and cellular engineering, and a track record of advancing concepts from discovery to application.

Her academic research at Cambridge, Harvard, and the Broad Institute yielded foundational insights in cell biology, neuronal signaling, and tumor evolution, resulting in first-author publications in Science and Nature, as well as co-authorship on other high-profile studies. At the Broad Institute, she developed new spatial and single-cell genomic technologies that bridged computation, engineering, and translational biology, contributing to licensed IP and reshaping how tumor heterogeneity can be studied in patient tissues.

Tongtong was the first scientist at Xap Therapeutics, where she translated an innovative early scientific vision into an emerging in vivo gene therapy platform. She helped build the company’s R&D capabilities from the ground up, directed programs spanning discovery and translational biology, and delivered critical data that secured successive rounds of venture funding. She is also an experienced team builder and mentor, committed to fostering culture and guiding early-career scientists.

Following her undergraduate studies at Imperial College London and Heidelberg University, where she graduated as top student of her year, Tongtong earned her PhD in Genetics at the University of Cambridge. Working at the Wellcome Trust Gurdon Institute, she developed new mRNA-labeling assays, collaborated with biophysicists and engineers to quantify intracellular forces, and served as a Teaching Fellow in Cell and Developmental Biology at Cambridge. She subsequently pursued postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School, characterizing a new pathway by which mitochondrial damage and hypoxia alter neurotransmission and behavior, and connected industry leaders, investors, and scientists around collaborative, high-impact programs as part of the MGH Research Institute’s Strategic Alliance Initiative.

Her work has been recognized with highly competitive awards, including the Human Frontier Science Program and Jane Coffin Childs postdoctoral fellowships, as well as the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds and FAZIT Foundation PhD fellowships.