Dr. Hong Zhang is a New Cornerstone Investigator, and also an Investigator in the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He graduated from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and had his postdoc training in the MGH Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School. Currently, the research in Zhang’s lab focuses on the mechanism and role of phase separation of autophagy proteins and regulators in various aspects of autophagy, including execution and regulation of autophagy and also degradation of protein aggregates. The awards he has won in recent years include the VCANBIO Award for Biosciences and Medicine-Achievement Award, the Second Prize of The State Natural Science Award, the Outstanding Achievement Award of the Chinese Society for Cell Biology, and an HHMI International Early Career Scientist Award. Dr. Hong Zhang is an Associate Editor for Autophagy and is also on the Editorial Board for Trends in Biochemical Sciences, Journal of Cell Biology, eLife, EMBO reports, JCS and Cell Death & Differentiation.