Tian Zhang

Tian Zhang, M.D., M.H.S., serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and holds dual leadership roles as Associate Director of Clinical Research for the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center and Director of Clinical Research within the Division of Hematology and Oncology. She specializes in genitourinary malignancies including kidney, prostate, bladder, and testicular cancers through a data-driven clinical approach.

Her educational background includes a medical degree from Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard Medical School, internal medicine residency at Duke University, hematology-oncology fellowship at Duke, and a Master of Health Sciences in Clinical Research Training Program from Duke. She is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in medical oncology.

Dr. Zhang's research focuses on clinical development of novel therapeutics and biomarker evaluation for genitourinary cancers, with particular emphasis on immunotherapy combinations and treatment resistance mechanisms. Her work bridges translational science with clinical trial design to advance personalized cancer care.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals dominant themes in renal cell carcinoma immunotherapy, prostate cancer treatment sequencing, and biomarker validation. Key trends include exploration of novel immune checkpoint targets beyond PD-1, socioeconomic disparities in treatment access, and molecular characterization of tumor heterogeneity.

• 2021 Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas Scholar Rising Stars Award

She maintains an active grant portfolio as co-PI on Department of Defense and National Cancer Institute-funded projects while mentoring trainees in clinical research. Her leadership extends to national committees including Co-chair of the NCI Genitourinary Steering Committee Renal Task Force and membership in ASCO and SITC clinical management guidelines committees.

Dr. Zhang collaborates with multidisciplinary teams at UT Southwestern to advance correlative biomarker studies through her laboratory, focusing on optimizing therapeutic strategies for patients with genitourinary cancers in both clinical trial and real-world settings.