On Wednesday, January 21, the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine will host an investiture ceremony to bestow an endowed chair and professorship on two veterinary faculty members. A named faculty appointment signifies excellence and prominence in the areas of research, teaching, or service.
Please read below for information about our recipients. Dr. Weiping Zhang will be named the Inaugural H.J. Detmers Chair in Veterinary Microbiology. Dr. Ying Fang will become the Inaugural Distinguished Professor in Diagnostic Test and Vaccine Development.
Dr. Weiping Zhang
Inaugural H.J. Detmers Chair in Veterinary Microbiology
Using novel computational and structural biological technologies, Dr. Weiping Zhang has achieved something that researchers have been seeking for 40 years: an effective vaccine strategy against diarrheal disease caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC).
Previously, ETEC’s many strains and virulence factors put the creation of a single effective vaccine beyond reach. Dr. Zhang developed a platform that enables the placement of multiple pathogen epitopes—the part of the pathogen that the body’s immune system responds to—on a single immunogenic backbone.
Today the Zhang laboratory focuses on developing a protein-based multivalent vaccine that protects against not only ETEC but also other diarrheal bacteria, including Shigella spp. and Vibrio cholerae. Each year these bacteria cause more than 200,000 deaths worldwide, as well as hundreds of millions of cases of diarrhea. WHO and many other public health institutes have made development of effective vaccines against these enteric bacteria a top priority.
This breakthrough technique for a single vaccine against bacteria responsible for diarrheal disease will also benefit the global livestock industry, which suffers significant economic losses, especially related to diarrheal deaths in weanling pigs.
Dr. Zhang has received nearly $27 million in research funding, with grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other entities. He has published in prestigious research journals, including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and holds several patents.
His leadership within the scientific community includes serving as the president of the Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases, serving on the editorial board of Journal of Veterinary Medicine and Research, and mentoring 18 graduate students.
Dr. Zhang earned a master’s degree from Southwestern Forestry University in Kunming, China, and a Ph.D. from Iowa State University. He spent 2002 to 2012 at South Dakota State University, leaving as an associate professor to take a position at Kansas State University. In 2018 he joined the faculty at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine.
About H.J. Detmers: This prestigious chair is named for Dr. Heinrich J. Detmers, the first veterinarian to teach at the Illinois Industrial University (as our university was originally called). He is mentioned in the 1871 annual report of the Board of Trustees as having conducted “with great success, a free veterinary infirmary, to give his class, numbering 26 students, opportunity to witness and assist in the treatment of sick animals.” Dr. Detmers went on to teach at Iowa, Missouri, Kansas State, and Ohio State.
Dr. Ying Fang
Inaugural Distinguished Professor in Diagnostic Test and Vaccine Development
For nearly 25 years, Dr. Ying Fang has advanced our understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which viruses cause disease. Her discoveries have led to real-world applications for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of these diseases.
Much of her work has focused on porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), one of the most economically important viral pathogens in the global swine industry. She was the first to establish a reverse genetics system for North American PRRSV-1 in the U.S. and the first to perform in-depth studies on the function of nonstructural proteins in the PRRSV. This work led to later discoveries of viral replication mechanisms. Her research also resulted in commercialization of an effective PRRS vaccine as well as diagnostic test kits for PRRSV, swine influenza virus, and porcine circovirus.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Fang rapidly adapted her lab technologies for coronavirus research. She helped diagnose the first Illinois case of a SARS-CoV-2 infection in a dog and is currently leading an NIH-funded project to establish a feline model to study SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis and epidemiology. In July 2023, her lab published a paper on a monoclonal antibody-based test able to detect SARS-CoV-2 in any species, including humans.
Because of her many patents and inventions, she was elected to the National Academy of Inventors in 2024.
Dr. Fang earned a master’s degree from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. degree in microbiology from South Dakota State University. Before joining the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine in 2019, she held faculty appointments at South Dakota State University and at Kansas State University. She has published widely in prestigious journals, including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Journal of Virology. Over her career she has mentored many students, from undergraduates to postdoctoral fellows. Within the field of PRRS research, her leadership includes invited/keynote talks around the world, serving on grant review panels for multiple funding agencies, including USDA and NIH, and organizing international meetings, such as the NAPRRS/NC229: ICVSD conference held each year in Chicago.
