Professor Haiyan Zhou is a Professor of Genetic Medicine at University College London (UCL) and a UK Harrington Rare Disease Scholar. Her research specializes in the preclinical development and clinical translation of nucleic acid therapies (NAT) for rare genetic disorders. Prof. Zhou is the Director of the UK Platform of Nucleic Acid Therapy (UPNAT), a specialized initiative for rare diseases funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and the NIHR. As the principal investigator on a range of research projects, she is at the forefront of developing RNA-based therapeutics for a wide spectrum of genetic disorders. She serves as the Deputy Theme Lead for the Novel Therapy Theme at the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at UCL Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH BRC), where she leads the Individualized RNA Therapy Program for paediatric rare diseases. In addition to her research, Prof. Zhou directs the postgraduate MSc programme on Cell, Gene and Novel Therapies at UCL, and plays a key role in training the next generation scientists in cutting-edge therapeutic development.