Tian Zhang, M.D.

Biography

Tian Zhang, M.D., M.H.S., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Zhang was appointed Associate Director of Clinical Research in the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center in May 2024. She also serves as Director of Clinical Research within the Division of Hematology and Oncology in the Department of Internal Medicine. She specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of genitourinary malignancies, including kidney, prostate, bladder, and testicular cancers.

Dr. Zhang earned her medical degree from the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology (HST) program at Harvard Medical School. She completed a residency in internal medicine at Duke University, where she also received advanced training through a hematology-oncology fellowship. In addition, she earned a Master of Health Sciences in the Clinical Research Training Program at Duke in 2019.

Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in medical oncology, she joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2021.

Dr. Zhang is an accomplished clinical trialist and translational researcher focused on evaluating clinical development of novel therapeutics and evaluating biomarkers for genitourinary malignancies. She has gained an international reputation developing clinical trials in kidney, prostate, and bladder cancers. Notably, she serves as the study chair for PDIGREE, an NCI-funded phase III trial in metastatic renal cell carcinoma and has activated many trials for patients at UT Southwestern.

Dr. Zhang is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), and the Chinese American Hematology and Oncology Network (CAHON).

She serves on numerous committees, including as Co-chair of the National Cancer Institute Genitourinary (GU) Steering Committee Renal Task Force. She is a member of several ASCO and SITC clinical management guidelines committees as well as the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology GU Oncology and Immuno-Oncology Committees.

She brings a track record of research and mentoring to UT Southwestern. She has received multiple peer-reviewed grants, including notably the 2021 Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Scholar Rising Stars Award, and as co-PI on DOD and NCI-funded grants. Her laboratory focuses on correlative and biomarker studies for patients with GU cancers.