Zhen Lu

Dr. Zhen Lu is a Professor in the Department of Experimental Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine, at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her research focuses on ovarian cancer tumorigenesis and the function of tumor suppressor genes, particularly ARHI (DIRAS3).

Her work centers on ARHI (DIRAS3), an imprinted tumor suppressor gene downregulated in 60% of ovarian cancers. Re-expression of ARHI blocks cell growth, inhibits motility, induces autophagy, and establishes tumor dormancy. She developed the first inducible model for ovarian cancer dormancy using doxycycline-regulated ARHI expression in xenografts, enabling evaluation of anti-autophagic therapies to eliminate dormant cancer cells.

Over the past decade, Dr. Lu has served as Co-Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator on numerous NIH-funded grants. She has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles in cancer research. Her laboratory investigates therapeutic strategies targeting tumor dormancy and autophagy pathways in ovarian cancer.