Rate My Professor Qijing Zhang

Qijing Zhang is the Clarence Hartley Covault Distinguished Professor in Veterinary Medicine and Dr. Roger and Marilyn Mahr Chair in One Health in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine at Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, where he also serves as Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies. A leader in Agricultural and Veterinary Science, Zhang's research specializes in antimicrobial resistance, bacterial pathogenesis, pathogen-host interactions, food safety, and the prevention and control of infectious diseases, with a focus on zoonotic pathogens such as Campylobacter jejuni at the animal-human interface. His laboratory investigates mechanisms of antibiotic resistance development, persistence, fitness impacts, transmission from animal reservoirs to humans, and mitigation strategies. Zhang's work has identified emerging resistance threats, hypervirulent clones, and the roles of efflux pumps and mutations in virulence and resistance.

Zhang earned a B.V.Sc. in Veterinary Medicine from Shandong Agricultural University in 1983, an M.S. in Veterinary Microbiology from China's National Institute of Veterinary Biologics in 1986, a Ph.D. in Immunobiology from Iowa State University in 1994, and completed postdoctoral training in Molecular Microbiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia from 1994 to 1997. He served as Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University from 1998 to 2003 before joining Iowa State University in 2003, where he held the Endowed Frank K. Ramsey Chair in Veterinary Medicine from 2003-2012 and 2017-2021. His accolades include election to the National Academy of Sciences in 2022, the AAVMC Excellence in Research Award in 2024, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2018, Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 2015, Honorary Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists in 2017, and the Pfizer Award for Research Excellence in 2007. Zhang has authored more than 185 peer-reviewed papers, cited over 12,000 times, and secured over $25 million in grants from NIH, USDA, NSF, and FDA. Key publications include "Point mutations in the major outer membrane protein drive hypervirulence of a rapidly expanding clone of Campylobacter jejuni" (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 2016), "Wide but variable distribution of a hypervirulent Campylobacter jejuni clone in beef and dairy cattle in the United States" (Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 2017), "Structures and transport dynamics of the Campylobacter jejuni multidrug efflux pump CmeB" (Nature Communications, 2017), and "Molecular Evidence for zoonotic transmission of an emergent highly pathogenic Campylobacter jejuni clone in the United States" (J. Clin. Microbiol., 2012). His contributions have informed regulatory policies on antimicrobial use in animal production, enhancing animal health, public health, and food safety.