Research Summary

Li Zhang is a Full Professor in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. She is an associate member of UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (HDFCCC). Dr. Zhang has over fifteen years of experience applying statistical methods in medical research, including epidemiology studies, basic science studies, clinical trials design, and high-throughput sequencing data. Her statistical methodological research interests are cancer epidemiology and immunoinformatics, and she has more than 100 publications. Currently, Dr. Zhang serves on Global Action Plan 6 Project Steering Committee and UCSF site PI for the Movember Foundation and American Society of Clinical Oncology Career Development Award as a statistical reviewer.

Research Funding

  • August 1, 2021 - July 31, 2028 - Determinants of response to cancer immunotherapy , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R35CA253175
  • April 1, 2022 - November 10, 2026 - Development of advanced computational approaches for characterizing repertoire sequencing to unravel the mechanism of immune response to cancer immunotherapy , PI . Sponsor: NIH/NLM, Sponsor Award ID: R01 LM013763
  • March 1, 2021 - February 28, 2026 - Precision targeting of T cell cytotoxicity with PET , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA258297
  • December 1, 2020 - November 30, 2025 - Measuring Metabolic Activity in Prostate Cancer Bone Metastases Using Hyperpolarized 13C Pyruvate MRI for Improved Targeted Therapy Monitoring , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA256740
  • July 1, 2021 - March 31, 2025 - Developing a pretargeting strategy to detect Fe(II) for nuclear medicine applications , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01EB029429
  • April 20, 2021 - March 31, 2025 - New radiotracer development to study immune cell mobilization of granzyme proteolytic activity , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01AI161027
  • August 1, 2019 - July 31, 2024 - California-Mexico-Puerto Rico Partnership (CAMPO) Center for Prevention of HPV-related Cancer in HIV+ Populations , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U54CA242646
  • April 11, 2019 - March 31, 2024 - Hyperpolarized C-13 MRI for Early Detection of Aggressive Prostate Cancer in Active Surveillance Patients , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U01CA232320
  • September 15, 2021 - August 31, 2023 - Computational approaches to unravel immune receptor sequencing for cancer immunotherapy , PI . Sponsor: NIH/NCI, Sponsor Award ID: R21CA264381
  • June 1, 2017 - May 31, 2022 - Targeting Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer Using Multi-Probe Hyperpolarized 13C MRI for Improved Treatment and Therapeutic Monitoring , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA215694

Education

Southeast University, China, B. Eng, 1999, Civil Engineering
University of Florida, M.Stat, 2003, Statistics
University of Florida, Ph.D., 2006, Statistics

Honors & Awards

  • 2022    
    CTSI Impact Award
  • 2021
    Prostate Cancer Pilot Project Award, UCSF
  • 2021
    The Excellence Consultant Award, UCSF CTSI
  • 2021
    Outstanding Service Award, American Statistical Association
  • 2019
    Research Allocation Program Award, UCSF
  • 2017
    Consultation Services Training Grant, UCSF CTSI
  • 2017
    The Movember Foundation-Challenge Award, Prostate Cancer Foundation
  • 2016
    UCSF Global Oncology Pilot Project Award
  • 2016
    UCSF Research Allocation Program Award
  • 2014
    The Safeway Foundation-PCF Challenge Award - The NEXT Project: Network Enriched Crossover Trial, Prostate Cancer Foundation
  • 2012
    Innovator Award - Genomic Biomarkers of Lung Cancer Risk, Cleveland Clinic
  • 2005
    Keene Dissertation Fellowship Award, University of Florida

Selected Publications

  1. Bhasin N, LeBlanc DM, Yates S, Eichbaum Q, Pham A, Sharma D, Zhang L, Vichinsky EP, Sarode R. Physician perspectives about the diagnosis and management of acute chest syndrome. Transfusion. 2024 Nov; 64(11):2095-2103.  View on PubMed
  2. Field J, Fenton C, Zhang L, Brickman C, Mahadevan U. Inflammatory Bowel Disease and the Risk of Anal Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions and Anal Cancer in Men Who Have Sex With Men. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2024 Oct 03; 30(10):1796-1800.  View on PubMed
  3. Ng DL, Vuhahula E, Kimambo AH, Ndayisaba MC, Philipo GS, Mushi BP, Ho KE, Paciorek A, Illonga Z, Zhang L, Vohra P, Weidler J, Bates M, Mmbaga EJ, Van Loon K. Xpert Breast Cancer STRAT4 Assay using fine-needle aspiration biopsy samples in a resource-constrained setting: a prospective diagnostic accuracy study. Lancet Oncol. 2024 Nov; 25(11):1440-1452.  View on PubMed
  4. Flowers E, Stroebel B, Lewis KA, Aouizerat BE, Gadgil M, Kanaya AM, Zhang L, Gong X. Longitudinal associations between microRNAs and weight in the diabetes prevention program. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2024; 15:1419812.  View on PubMed
  5. Parikh AR, Chee BH, Tsai J, Rich TA, Price KS, Patel SA, Zhang L, Ibrahim F, Esquivel M, Van Seventer EE, Jarnagin JX, Raymond VM, Corvera CU, Hirose K, Nakakura EK, Corcoran RB, Van Loon K, Atreya CE. Minimal Residual Disease using a Plasma-Only Circulating Tumor DNA Assay to Predict Recurrence of Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Following Curative Intent Treatment. Clin Cancer Res. 2024 Jul 15; 30(14):2964-2973.  View on PubMed
  6. Diwanji D, Carrodeguas E, Seo Y, Kang H, Soe MH, Chiang JM, Zhang L, Liu C, Behr SC, Flavell RR. Comparative Uptake Patterns of Radioactive Iodine and [18F]-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in Metastatic Differentiated Thyroid Cancers. J Clin Med. 2024 Jul 06; 13(13).  View on PubMed
  7. Hekmatjah N, Turner CH, Mesfin Y, Zhang L, Han Y, O'Brien KS, Oatts JT. Factors associated with pediatric ophthalmology follow-up adherence before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. J AAPOS. 2024 Aug; 28(4):103963.  View on PubMed
  8. Lewis KA, Stroebel BM, Zhang L, Aouizerat B, Mattis AN, Flowers E. MicroRNAs Associated with Metformin Treatment in the Diabetes Prevention Program. Int J Mol Sci. 2024 May 23; 25(11).  View on PubMed
  9. Liu VN, Van Blarigan EL, Zhang L, Graff RE, Loeb S, Langlais CS, Cowan JE, Carroll PR, Chan JM, Kenfield SA. Plant-Based Diets and Disease Progression in Men With Prostate Cancer. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 05 01; 7(5):e249053.  View on PubMed
  10. He JY, Kim YJ, Mennillo E, Rusu I, Bain J, Rao AA, Andersen C, Law K, Yang H, Tsui J, Shen A, Davidson B, Kushnoor D, Shi Y, Fan F, Cheung A, Zhang L, Fong L, Combes AJ, Pisco AO, Kattah MG, Oh DY. Dysregulation of CD4+ and CD8+ resident memory T, myeloid, and stromal cells in steroid-experienced, checkpoint inhibitor colitis. J Immunother Cancer. 2024 Apr 19; 12(4).  View on PubMed
  11. Chang H, Marquez J, Chen BK, Kim DM, Cheng ML, Liu EV, Yang H, Zhang L, Sinha M, Cheung A, Kwek SS, Chow ED, Bridge M, Aggarwal RR, Friedlander TW, Small EJ, Anderson M, Fong L. Immune Modulation with RANKL Blockade through Denosumab Treatment in Patients with Cancer. Cancer Immunol Res. 2024 Apr 02; 12(4):453-461.  View on PubMed
  12. Phi Le
    Xingyue Gong
    Leah Ung
    Hai Yang
    Bridget P. Keenan
    Li Zhang
    Tao He. A robust ensemble feature selection approach to prioritize genes associated with survival outcome in high-dimensional gene expression data. Frontiers in Systems Biology. 2024; 4.  View on PubMed
  13. Keenan BP, Sibley A, Zhang L, Westring AF, Velazquez AI, Bank EM, Bergsland EK, Boreta L, Conroy P, Daras M, Hermiston M, Hsu G, Paris PL, Piawah S, Sinha S, Sosa JA, Tsang M, Venook AP, Wong M, Yom SS, Van Loon K. Evaluation of Culture Conducive to Academic Success by Gender at a Comprehensive Cancer Center. Oncologist. 2024 Mar 04; 29(3):e351-e359.  View on PubMed
  14. Wadhwa A, Wang S, Patiño-Escobar B, Bidkar AP, Bobba KN, Chan E, Meher N, Bidlingmaier S, Su Y, Dhrona S, Geng H, Sarin V, VanBrocklin HF, Wilson DM, He J, Zhang L, Steri V, Wong SW, Martin TG, Seo Y, Liu B, Wiita AP, Flavell RR. CD46-Targeted Theranostics for PET and 225Ac-Radiopharmaceutical Therapy of Multiple Myeloma. Clin Cancer Res. 2024 03 01; 30(5):1009-1021.  View on PubMed
  15. Bobba KN, Bidkar AP, Wadhwa A, Meher N, Drona S, Sorlin AM, Bidlingmaier S, Zhang L, Wilson DM, Chan E, Greenland NY, Aggarwal R, VanBrocklin HF, He J, Chou J, Seo Y, Liu B, Flavell RR. Development of CD46 targeted alpha theranostics in prostate cancer using 134Ce/225Ac-Macropa-PEG4-YS5. Theranostics. 2024; 14(4):1344-1360.  View on PubMed
  16. Soto M, Filbert EL, Yang H, Starzinski S, Starzinski A, Gin M, Chen B, Le P, Li T, Bol B, Cheung A, Zhang L, Hsu FJ, Ko A, Fong L, Keenan BP. Neoadjuvant CD40 Agonism Remodels the Tumor Immune Microenvironment in Locally Advanced Esophageal/Gastroesophageal Junction Cancer. Cancer Res Commun. 2024 01 25; 4(1):200-212.  View on PubMed
  17. Lewis KA, Stroebel B, Zhang L, Aouizerat B, Mattis A, Flowers E. MicroRNAs Associated with Metformin Treatment in the Diabetes Prevention Program. Res Sq. 2024 Jan 16.  View on PubMed
  18. Bongiovanni T, Pletcher MJ, Robinson A, Lancaster E, Zhang L, Behrends M, Wick E, Auerbach A. Electronic health record intervention to increase use of NSAIDs as analgesia for hospitalised patients: a cluster randomised controlled study. BMJ Health Care Inform. 2023 Dec 30; 30(1).  View on PubMed
  19. Mulvey CK, Paciorek A, Moon F, Steiding P, Shih B, Gubens MA, Zhang L, Bergsland EK, Cheng I. Survival outcomes for lung neuroendocrine tumors in California differ by sociodemographic factors. Endocr Relat Cancer. 2024 Jan 01; 31(1).  View on PubMed
  20. Sam R, Zhang L, Tuot DS, Chaudhry R. The Decrease in Serum Total Cholesterol and Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) Concentrations With the Initiation of Hemodialysis Despite a Concomitant Increase in Serum Albumin Concentrations. Cureus. 2023 Oct; 15(10):e47272.  View on PubMed

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