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Yuanyuan “Faith” Zhang, M.D.,  Ph.D.

Yuanyuan “Faith” Zhang, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

School
Medical School
Department
Radiation Oncology
Graduate Programs
Genetics, Development and Disease

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  • Biography

    Yuanyuan “Faith” Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at UT Southwestern Medical Center specializing in the treatment of lung cancer. She earned both her medical degree and Ph.D. from UT Southwestern Medical Center and completed a transitional year program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Her radiation oncology residency training was completed at UT Southwestern. 

    As the principal investigator of the Zhang (Faith) Lab, Dr. Zhang's research focuses on leveraging the microenvironmental immunometabolism to enhance the efficacy of radiation therapy. Her work encompasses basic science, preclinical studies, and clinical trials, all aimed at improving patient outcomes through personalized radiotherapy.

    Dr. Zhang offers advanced treatment options such as SCINTIX® biology-guided radiation therapy, adaptive radiotherapy guided by CT and MRI, and personalized ultrafractionated stereotactic adaptive radiotherapy (PULSAR®).

    Dr. Zhang is an active member of several professional societies, including the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), and the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). She has also received numerous accolades, including the ASCO Young Investigator Award, the Clinical and Translational Research Scholar (KL2) Award, the Distinguished Researcher Award from the President’s Research Council, the American Cancer Society Award, and the NCI-UTSW Lung SPORES Career Enhancement Award.

  • Education
    Other Post Graduate Training
    UT Southwestern Medical School (2016)
    Graduate School
    UT Southwestern Medical School (2016), Medical Sciences
    Medical School
    UT Southwestern Medical School (2016)
    Internship
    Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (2017), Transitional Year
    Residency
    UT Southwestern Medical Center (2021), Radiation Oncology
  • Research Interest
    • Cancer metabolism
    • Immunotherapy
    • Personalized ultrafractionated stereotactic adaptive radiotherapy (PULSAR)
    • Radiobiology
  • Publications
    Adapt-On-Demand: A Novel Strategy for Personalized Adaptive Radiation Therapy for Locally Advanced Lung Cancer
    Li R, Zhuang T, Montalvo S, Wang K, Parsons D, Zhang Y, Iyengar P, Wang J, Godley A, Cai B, Lin MH, Westover K Practical Radiation Oncology 2024 Sep 14 e395-e406
    Mitochondrial complex I promotes kidney cancer metastasis
    Bezwada D, Perelli L, Lesner NP, Cai L, Brooks B, Wu Z, Vu H, Sondhi V, Cassidy DL, Kasitinon SY, Kelekar S, Cai F, Aurora AB, Patrick M, Leach A, Ghandour R, Zhang Y, Do D, McDaniel P, Sudderth JA, Dumesnil D, House S, Rosales TI, Poole AM, Lotan Y, Woldu S, Bagrodia A, Meng X, Cadeddu JA, Mishra P, Garcia Bermudez J, Pedrosa I, Kapur P, Courtney KD, Malloy CR, Genovese G, Margulis V, DeBerardinis RJ Nature 2024 Aug 633 923-931
    Concerning safety and efficacy of concurrent and consolidative durvalumab with thoracic radiotherapy in PDL1-unselected stage III non-small cell lung cancer: brief report
    Zhang Y, Iyengar P, Montalvo SK, Westover KD, Rashdan S, Donthireddy KR, Kim J, Dowell JE, Drapkin BJ, Bhalla S, Chukwuma C, Nadeem U, Ahn C, Timmerman R, Gerber DE International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics 2024 Aug S0360-3016 03177-8
    Beyond conventional bounds: Surpassing system limits for stereotactic ablative (SAbR) lung radiotherapy using CBCT-based adaptive planning system
    Gonzalez Y, Visak J, Overman L, Liao CY, Yen A, Zhuang T, Cai B, Godley A, Zhang Y, Timmerman R, Iyengar P, Westover K, Parsons D, Lin MH Journal of applied clinical medical physics 2024 Aug 25
    Electron transport chain inhibition increases cellular dependence on purine transport and salvage
    Wu Z, Bezwada D, Cai F, Harris RC, Ko B, Sondhi V, Pan C, Vu HS, Nguyen PT, Faubert B, Cai L, Chen H, Martin-Sandoval M, Do D, Gu W, Zhang Y, Zhang Y, Brooks B, Kelekar S, Zacharias LG, Oaxaca KC, Patricio JS, Mathews TP, Garcia-Bermudez J, Ni M, DeBerardinis RJ Cell Metabolism 2024 Jul 36 1504-1520.e9
    Elucidating the Mechanism of Radiation Therapy on Mesenchymal Cell Fate in Preventing Heterotopic Ossification
    Hsieh M, Choi JH, Korlakunta S, Zhang Y, Levi B Annals of Surgery 2024 Jun
    Predictive Clinical Factors for Geometric Response to Adaptive Radiotherapy in Thoracic Malignancy
    Li R, Montalvo SK, Wang K, Parsons D, Zhang Y, Iyengar P, Wang J, Godley A, Cai B, Lin M Practical Radiation Oncology 2024 Apr S1879-8500
    An AI-based approach for modeling the synergy between radiotherapy and immunotherapy
    Peng H, Moore C, Zhang Y, Saha D, Jiang S, Timmerman R Scientific reports 2024 14
    Systemic immune parameters after prior radiation therapy in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors
    Mundra V, Yang Y, von Itzstein MS, Fattah F, Gonugunta AS, Hannan R, Pop LM, Zhang Y, Wang Y, Sheffield T, Xie Y, Dowell JE, Homsi J, Rashdan S, Park J, Li Q, Wakeland EK, Gerber DE Translational Oncology 2023 Aug 34
    DNA-PKcs and ATM modulate mitochondrial ADP-ATP exchange as an oxidative stress checkpoint mechanism
    Chen WM, Chiang JC, Shang Z, Palchik G, Newman C, Zhang Y, Davis AJ, Lee H, Chen PB EMBO Journal 2023 Mar 42
  • Honors & Awards
    • American Cancer Society - Institutional Research Grant (ACS-IRG) Award
      (2024)
    • Forbeck Foundation Research Scholar Award
      (2023)
    • Clinical and Translational Science Pilot Grant
      (2022)
    • Clinical and Translational Science Pilot Grant
      (2022)
    • Distinguished Researcher Award from the President Research Council
      (2022)
    • Lung SPORES Career Enhancement Award
      (2022)
    • ASCO Young Investigator Award
      (2021)
    • Clinical and Translational Research Scholar (KL2) Award
      (2021-2023)
    • Finalist for J. Mitchell, George and Stephen Brown Award for Resident Excellence in Radiation Oncology
      (2021)
    • Roentgen Resident/Fellow Research Award
      (2021)
    • Radiation Oncology Early Career Development Award
      (2020)
    • Holman Research Fellow
      (2018-2020)
    • Gold Humanism Honors Society
      (2015)
    • The 29th Annual Ida M Green Award
      (2015)
    • Christine Wilson Award for Outstanding Student Research
      (2007)
    • Merrill Presidential Scholar
      (2007)
  • Professional Associations/Affiliations
    • American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (2020)
    • American Board of Radiology B. Leonard Holman Research Pathway (2011-2012)
    • American Physician Scientists Association (APSA) (2009-2016)
    • American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) (2017)
    • American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (2018)
    • Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology (ARRO) (2016-2021)
    • Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology (ARRO) Global Health Subcommittee (2018-2019)
    • Chinese American Hematologist and Oncologist Network (CAHON) (2021-2023)
    • Cornell Health International (2005-2007)
    • Radiation Research Society (RRS) (2022-2024)
    • Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) (2018)
    • Society of Women in Radiation Oncology (SWRO) (2020-2023)
    • Students Emerging Academy of Leaders (SEALs) at UTSW (2013-2015)
    • Women in Science and Medicine (WISMAC) at UTSW (2009-2016)