Biography

Dr. Zhang obtained his Bachelor’s degree from Wuhan University in China in 2001 followed by a Ph.D study working with Dr. Jennifer Grandis at Department of Pharmacology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine until Late 2005. From 2006 to early 2013, He worked as a postdoctoral fellow (2006-06/2011) and an instructor (07/2011-01/2013) in the lab of Nobel Laureate Dr. William Kaelin Jr. at Dana Farber Cancer Institute on prolyl hydroxylase and oxygen sensing pathway in cancer. He became an assistant professor at Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Feb of 2013. He was promoted to associate professor with tenure in Feb of 2019 at UNC Chapel Hill and now he is an associate professor with tenure in the Department of Pathology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He is currently holding the title of Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Scholar in Cancer Research.

His research has been continuously funded by the National Institute of Health. Currently his research is supported by the National Cancer Institute, Department of Defense (DOD), American Cancer Society (ACS), CPRIT as well as Kidney Cancer Research Alliance (KCCure).

He is a member of both the American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP) and American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). He obtained various awards, including CPRIT Rising Star Award, ASIP Ramzi Cotran Early Career Investigator Award, ASIP Outstanding Investigator Award, DOD KCRP Idea Development Award, ACS Research Scholar Award, Kimmel Scholar Award, V Scholar Award, Susan. G. Komen Career Catalyst Award and Mary Kay Foundation Award. He also served as the Associate Scientific Advisor at Science Translational Medicine. He currently serves as chart member for ACS Tumor Biochemistry and Endocrinolgy (TBE) as well as NIH Biochemical and Cellular Oncogenesis (BCO) study sections. He is also currently serving as a programmatic panel member for DoD kidney cancer research program.

Education

Undergraduate
Wuhan University (2001), Biochemistry
Graduate School
University of Pittsburgh (2005), Pharmacology

Research Interest

  • kidney cancer, breast cancer, hypoxia signaling, VHL, post-translational modification

Publications

Featured Publications LegendFeatured Publications

Honors & Awards

  • ASIP Outstanding Investigator Award
    (2024)
  • ASIP Ramzi Cotran Early Career Investigator Award
    (2020)
  • CPRIT Rising Star Award
    (2019-2024)
  • UT System Rising STARs Award
    (2019-2022)
  • American Cancer Society Research Scholar
    (2018-2022)
  • Associate Scientific Advisor, Science Translational Medicine
    (2018)
  • Susan G. Komen Career Catalyst Award
    (2015-2018)
  • The V Scholar Award
    (2015-2017)
  • Kimmel Scholar Award
    (2014-2016)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

  • American Association for Cancer Research (2006)
  • American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
  • American Society for Investigative Pathology (2015)