Wen (Cynthia) Zhou
About Wen (Cynthia) Zhou
Wen (Cynthia) Zhou is a Principal Scientist at BillionToOne, where she leads a team focused on clinical product design and development in oncology. She has extensive experience in molecular biology, data engineering, and statistical modeling, with over 1000 citations for her research work published in prestigious journals.
Current Role at BillionToOne
Wen (Cynthia) Zhou serves as Principal Scientist at BillionToOne, a position she has held since 2023. In this role, she leads one of the two small teams in the Research and Development (R&D) department, specifically focusing on oncology. Her responsibilities include overseeing end-to-end clinical product design and development, contributing to the advancement of innovative solutions in the field.
Previous Experience at McGill University
Zhou worked at McGill University from 2011 to 2013, where she held multiple roles including Lab Assistant in Microbiology and Immunology, and Undergraduate Researcher in Terry Hebert Lab. During her time at McGill, she focused on pharmacology and biotechnology, gaining valuable experience in research methodologies and laboratory techniques.
Career at Caltech
At Caltech, Zhou's career spanned from 2013 to 2020, where she initially worked as a Research Technician and later as a Graduate Researcher while pursuing her PhD. Her research during this period contributed to her expertise in molecular biology assay design and high-dimensional data analysis, which are critical skills in her current role.
Research Contributions and Publications
Zhou has made significant contributions to the scientific community, with over 1000 citations for her research work. She has authored first author publications in prestigious journals such as Science Immunology and Cell Systems. Her work also includes co-first authorship in Cell and second authorship in Nature Immunology and Neuron, highlighting her impactful research in the field.
Educational Background and Skills
Zhou holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from Caltech, where she studied from 2015 to 2021. She also earned a Bachelor of Science with Honors in pharmacology and a Minor in biotechnology from McGill University. Her technical skills include data engineering using SQL and Spark, programming in Python, R, and Matlab, and experience with next-generation sequencing and computational analysis.