Yuqi Zhang
Portrait of Yuqi Zhang

Yuqi Zhang (张钰奇)

PhD Student in Computer Science @ Kent State University

I am a PhD student focusing on Quantum Computing. My research bridges the gap between quantum algorithms and real-world drug discovery challenges, utilizing both utility-level quantum processors (IBM Eagle/Heron) and HPC systems.

🎓 PhD Advisor: Dr. Qiang Guan
🔬 Visiting Researcher @ Cleveland Clinic (PI: Dr. Feixiong Cheng)
🏔️ 2023-Quantum Talents Climbing Program @ SZIQA
(Advisor: Dr. Juan Yao)

Research Focus

My work involves Variational Quantum Algorithms (VQA), Quantum-HPC hybrid frameworks, and Quantum-AI integration. I specifically target protein structure prediction, energy surface reconstruction, and molecular docking.

End-to-End Quantum Frameworks

Building practical frameworks on utility-level hardware. Utilizing algorithms like VQE on IBM Eagle (127q) and Heron (156q) processors to identify low-energy conformations for stable protein structures.

Hybrid Quantum-AI Algorithms

Integrating Generative AI and classical optimization to expand system information capacity. This approach allows quantum algorithms to transcend intrinsic QPU limitations and noise constraints.

Cross-Scale Drug Discovery

Designing algorithms that bridge hierarchical levels—from protein folding to ligand docking—across physical and chemical scales to advance the era of quantum-enabled drug design.

Hyper-Scale Fusion

Developing high-throughput fusion protocols that integrate massive-scale classical datasets with quantum feature spaces. This approach leverages HPC clusters to process "super-volume" biological data, enhancing the scalability of quantum simulations.

Selected Publications

  • Advanced Science A Quantum Framework for Protein Binding-Site Structure Prediction on Utility-Level Quantum Processors
    Yuqi Zhang, Yuxin Yang, Weiwen Jiang, Ruth Nussinov, Joseph Loscalzo, Qiang Guan*, Feixiong Cheng*, et al.
    Advanced Science (IF = 14.3), 2025, e13641.
    DOI Google Scholar
  • SC '25 QDockBank: A Dataset for Ligand Docking on Protein Fragments Predicted on Utility-Level Quantum Computers
    Yuqi Zhang, Yuxin Yang, Cheng-Chang Lu, Weiwen Jiang, Feixiong Cheng, Bo Fang, Qiang Guan*.
    In Proceedings of the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis (SC '25), St. Louis, MO, USA, Nov 2025, pp 746–761.
    ACM DL Artifacts Google Scholar
  • Under Review A Hybrid Quantum-AI Framework for Protein Structure Prediction on NISQ Devices
    Yuqi Zhang, Yuxin Yang, Feixiong Cheng, Nima Saeidi, Samuel L. Volchenboum, Junhan Zhao, Siwei Chen, Qiang Guan*, et al.
    Under Review, 2025.
    Google Scholar

Acknowledgements

I am deeply grateful to my advisor Dr. Qiang Guan, and mentors Dr. Juan Yao (SZIQA), Dr. Zhaofeng Su (USTC), Dr. Sanjiang Li (UTS), and Dr. Yuan Feng (THU).

Special thanks to the 419 Lab team (Hang Yu, Yiyan Cheng, Rongqi Lu, Zhuoqing Xiao, Yongzhi Li, Yao Xiao) and my friend Haojie Zhang for guiding me into the quantum world.

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