Hao Zhu, M.D.

Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center

Kern Wildenthal, M.D., Ph.D., Distinguished Professorship of Pediatric Research

Internal Medicine - Hematology/Oncology

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Biography

Hao Zhu, M.D., received his bachelor’s degree in biology from Duke University, and earned his M.D. at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received training in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and in medical oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. From 2008 to 2012, Dr. Zhu performed postdoctoral research at Boston Children’s Hospital, where he explored connections among RNA biology, cancer, and regeneration in mouse models.

In 2012, he joined the faculty of UT Southwestern and the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute (CRI) at UT Southwestern. He is also an attending physician in the Multidisciplinary Liver Cancer Clinic at Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Zhu is the recipient of a Burroughs Wellcome Career Award for Medical Scientists (2012), a CPRIT Scholar Award (2012), and a Stand Up To Cancer Innovative Research Grant (2016).

About the Zhu Laboratory

The Zhu laboratory is interested in understanding the relationship between injury, regeneration, and cancer. Researchers are focused on identifying the genes and mechanisms that regulate regenerative capacity in the liver and understanding how these contribute to hepatocellular carcinoma development, which is the third leading cause of cancer death in the world.

Zhu Laboratory

Education & Training

Fellowship - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (2007-2011), Hematology Oncology
Medical School - Harvard Medical School (2000-2005)
Residency - University of California, San Francisco (2005-2007), Internal Medicine

Honors & Awards

Member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation 2018
Magna cum laude and James Tolbert Shipley Prize for MD Honors Thesis, Harvard Medical School 2005
CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research 2012
Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Medical Scientists 2012
SU2C Innovative Research Grant 2016-2019

Books & Publications

Publications
- Characterization of embryonic globin genes of the zebrafish.
  Brownlie A, Hersey C, Oates AC, Paw BH, Falick AM, Witkowska HE, Flint J, Higgs D, Jessen J, Bahary N, Zhu H, Lin S, Zon L Developmental biology 2003 Mar 255 1 48-61
- A role for Lin28 in primordial germ-cell development and germ-cell malignancy.
  West JA, Viswanathan SR, Yabuuchi A, Cunniff K, Takeuchi A, Park IH, Sero JE, Zhu H, Perez-Atayde A, Frazier AL, Surani MA, Daley GQ Nature 2009 Aug 460 7257 909-13
- Identification of adult nephron progenitors capable of kidney regeneration in zebrafish.
  Diep CQ, Ma D, Deo RC, Holm TM, Naylor RW, Arora N, Wingert RA, Bollig F, Djordjevic G, Lichman B, Zhu H, Ikenaga T, Ono F, Englert C, Cowan CA, Hukriede NA, Handin RI, Davidson AJ Nature 2011 Feb 470 7332 95-100
- Lin28 enhances tissue repair by reprogramming cellular metabolism.
  Shyh-Chang N, Zhu H, Yvanka de Soysa T, Shinoda G, Seligson MT, Tsanov KM, Nguyen L, Asara JM, Cantley LC, Daley GQ Cell 2013 Nov 155 4 778-92
- Hepatic Arterial Infusion of Low-Density Lipoprotein Docosahexaenoic Acid Nanoparticles Selectively Disrupts Redox Balance in Hepatoma cells and Reduces Growth of Orthotopic Liver Tumors in Rats.
  Wen X, Reynolds L, Mulik RS, Kim SY, Van Treuren T, Nguyen LH, Zhu H, Corbin IR Gastroenterology 2015 Oct
- Knockdown of Anillin Actin Binding Protein Blocks Cytokinesis in Hepatocytes and Reduces Liver Tumor Development in Mice without Affecting Regeneration.
  Zhang S, Nguyen LH, Zhou K, Tu HC, Sehgal A, Nassour I, Li L, Gopal P, Goodman J, Singal AG, Yopp A, Zhang Y, Siegwart DJ, Zhu H Gastroenterology 2017 Dec
- Arid1b haploinsufficient mice reveal neuropsychiatric phenotypes and reversible causes of growth impairment.
  Zhu H, Celen C, Chuang JC, Luo X, Nijem N, Walker AK, Chen F, Zhang S, Chung AS, Nguyen LH, Nassour I, Budhipramono A, Sun X, Bok LA, McEntagart M, Gevers E, Birnbaum SG, Eisch AJ, Powell CM, Ge WP, Santen GW, Chahrour M eLife 2017 Jul 6
- Mice With Increased Numbers of Polyploid Hepatocytes Maintain Regenerative Capacity but Develop Fewer Tumors Following Chronic Liver Injury.
  Lin YH, Zhang S, Zhu M, Lu T, Chen K, Wen Z, Wang S, Xiao G, Luo D, Jia Y, Li L, MacConmara M, Hoshida Y, Singal A, Yopp A, Wang T, Zhu H, Gastroenterology 2020 Jan
- In vivo CRISPR screening identifies BAZ2 chromatin remodelers as druggable regulators of mammalian liver regeneration.
  Jia Y, Li L, Lin YH, Gopal P, Shen S, Zhou K, Yu X, Sharma T, Zhang Y, Siegwart DJ, Ready JM, Zhu H, Cell stem cell 2022 Jan
- A network of heterochronic genes including Imp1 regulates temporal changes in stem cell properties.
  Nishino J, Kim S, Zhu Y, Zhu H, Morrison SJ eLife 2013 2 0
- Non-Viral CRISPR/Cas Gene Editing In Vitro and In Vivo Enabled by Synthetic Nanoparticle Co-Delivery of Cas9 mRNA and sgRNA.
  Miller JB, Zhang S, Kos P, Xiong H, Zhou K, Perelman SS, Zhu H, Siegwart DJ Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) 2016 Dec
- Suppression of the SWI/SNF Component Arid1a Promotes Mammalian Regeneration.
  Sun X, Chuang JC, Kanchwala M, Wu L, Celen C, Li L, Liang H, Zhang S, Maples T, Nguyen LH, Wang SC, Signer RA, Sorouri M, Nassour I, Liu X, Xu J, Wu M, Zhao Y, Kuo YC, Wang Z, Xing C, Zhu H Cell stem cell 2016 Mar
- Arid1a loss drives non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in mice via epigenetic dysregulation of hepatic lipogenesis and fatty acid oxidation.
  Moore A, Wu L, Chuang JC, Sun X, Luo X, Gopal P, Li L, Celen C, Zimmer M, Zhu H Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.) 2018 Dec
- Modular degradable dendrimers enable small RNAs to extend survival in an aggressive liver cancer model.
  Zhou K, Nguyen LH, Miller JB, Yan Y, Kos P, Xiong H, Li L, Hao J, Minnig JT, Zhu H, Siegwart DJ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2016 Jan 113 3 520-5
- Lin28a transgenic mice manifest size and puberty phenotypes identified in human genetic association studies.
  Zhu H, Shah S, Shyh-Chang N, Shinoda G, Einhorn WS, Viswanathan SR, Takeuchi A, Grasemann C, Rinn JL, Lopez MF, Hirschhorn JN, Palmert MR, Daley GQ Nature genetics 2010 Jul 42 7 626-30
- The Polyploid State Plays a Tumor-Suppressive Role in the Liver.
  Zhang S, Zhou K, Luo X, Li L, Tu HC, Sehgal A, Nguyen LH, Zhang Y, Gopal P, Tarlow BD, Siegwart DJ, Zhu H Developmental cell 2018 Feb
- Analysis of thrombocyte development in CD41-GFP transgenic zebrafish.
  Lin HF, Traver D, Zhu H, Dooley K, Paw BH, Zon LI, Handin RI Blood 2005 Dec 106 12 3803-10
- The Lin28/let-7 axis regulates glucose metabolism.
  Zhu H, Shyh-Chang N, Segrè AV, Shinoda G, Shah SP, Einhorn WS, Takeuchi A, Engreitz JM, Hagan JP, Kharas MG, Urbach A, Thornton JE, Triboulet R, Gregory RI, Altshuler D, Daley GQ Cell 2011 Sep 147 1 81-94
- Precise let-7 expression levels balance organ regeneration against tumor suppression.
  Wu L, Nguyen LH, Zhou K, de Soysa TY, Li L, Miller JB, Tian J, Locker J, Zhang S, Shinoda G, Seligson MT, Zeitels LR, Acharya A, Wang SC, Mendell JT, He X, Nishino J, Morrison SJ, Siegwart DJ, Daley GQ, Shyh-Chang N, Zhu H eLife 2015 Oct 4
- TALEN mediated somatic mutagenesis in murine models of cancer.
  Zhang S, Li L, Kendrick SL, Gerard RD, Zhu H Cancer research 2014 Jul
- Fetal Deficiency of Lin28 Programs Life-Long Aberrations in Growth and Glucose Metabolism.
  Shinoda G, Shyh-Chang N, de Soysa TY, Zhu H, Seligson MT, Shah SP, Abo-Sido N, Yabuuchi A, Hagan JP, Gregory RI, Asara JM, Cantley LC, Moss EG, Daley GQ Stem cells (Dayton, Ohio) 2013 May
- Influence of Threonine Metabolism on S-Adenosylmethionine and Histone Methylation.
  Shyh-Chang N, Locasale JW, Lyssiotis CA, Zheng Y, Teo RY, Ratanasirintrawoot S, Zhang J, Onder T, Unternaehrer JJ, Zhu H, Asara JM, Daley GQ, Cantley LC Science (New York, N.Y.) 2012 Nov
- Regulation of the lmo2 promoter during hematopoietic and vascular development in zebrafish.
  Zhu H, Traver D, Davidson AJ, Dibiase A, Thisse C, Thisse B, Nimer S, Zon LI Developmental biology 2005 May 281 2 256-69
- Mutation in the transcriptional coactivator EYA4 causes dilated cardiomyopathy and sensorineural hearing loss.
  Schönberger J, Wang L, Shin JT, Kim SD, Depreux FF, Zhu H, Zon L, Pizard A, Kim JB, Macrae CA, Mungall AJ, Seidman JG, Seidman CE Nature genetics 2005 Apr 37 4 418-22
- Lin28b is sufficient to drive liver cancer and necessary for its maintenance in murine models.
  Nguyen LH, Robinton DA, Seligson MT, Wu L, Li L, Rakheja D, Comerford SA, Ramezani S, Sun X, Parikh MS, Yang EH, Powers JT, Shinoda G, Shah SP, Hammer RE, Daley GQ, Zhu H Cancer cell 2014 Aug 26 2 248-61
- Use of zebrafish models for the analysis of human disease.
  Zhu H, Zon LI Current protocols in human genetics / editorial board, Jonathan L. Haines ... [et al.] 2002 Nov Chapter 15 Unit 15.3
- Use of the DsRed fluorescent reporter in zebrafish.
  Zhu H, Zon LI Methods in cell biology 2004 76 3-12
- Liver homeostasis is maintained by midlobular zone 2 hepatocytes.
  Wei Y, Wang YG, Jia Y, Li L, Yoon J, Zhang S, Wang Z, Zhang Y, Zhu M, Sharma T, Lin YH, Hsieh MH, Albrecht JH, Le PT, Rosen CJ, Wang T, Zhu H, Science (New York, N.Y.) 2021 02 371 6532
- BMP signaling restricts hemato-vascular development from lateral mesoderm during somitogenesis.
  Gupta S, Zhu H, Zon LI, Evans T Development (Cambridge, England) 2006 Jun 133 11 2177-87
- Investigating monogenic and complex diseases with pluripotent stem cells.
  Zhu H, Lensch MW, Cahan P, Daley GQ Nature reviews. Genetics 2011 Apr 12 4 266-75
- Somatic Mutations Increase Hepatic Clonal Fitness and Regeneration in Chronic Liver Disease.
  Zhu M, Lu T, Jia Y, Luo X, Gopal P, Li L, Odewole M, Renteria V, Singal AG, Jang Y, Ge K, Wang SC, Sorouri M, Parekh JR, MacConmara MP, Yopp AC, Wang T, Zhu H, Cell 2019 Apr
- restrains pancreatic neoplasia formation.
  Wang SC, Nassour I, Xiao S, Zhang S, Luo X, Lee J, Li L, Sun X, Nguyen LH, Chuang JC, Peng L, Daigle S, Shen J, Zhu H Gut 2018 Oct
- Arid1a Has Context-Dependent Oncogenic and Tumor Suppressor Functions in Liver Cancer.
  Sun X, Wang SC, Wei Y, Luo X, Jia Y, Li L, Gopal P, Zhu M, Nassour I, Chuang JC, Maples T, Celen C, Nguyen LH, Wu L, Fu S, Li W, Hui L, Tian F, Ji Y, Zhang S, Sorouri M, Hwang TH, Letzig L, James L, Wang Z, Yopp AC, Singal AG, Zhu H Cancer cell 2017 Nov 32 5 574-589.e6

Research

RNA biology
Mechanisms of organ regeneration
Liver cancer
Epigenetics

Parkland Memorial Hospital

5200 Harry Hines Blvd.
Dallas, Texas 75235 214-590-8000 Directions to Parkland Memorial Hospital