NAME: Jun Zhang, MD

eRA COMMONS USER NAME (credential, e.g., agency login): JZHANG24

POSITION TITLE: Director of Thoracic Oncology, Houston Neal Cancer Center, Houston Methodist Hospital

EDUCATION/TRAINING (Begin with baccalaureate or other initial professional education, such as nursing, include postdoctoral training and residency training if applicable. Add/delete rows as necessary.)

A.        Personal Statement
I am an Assistant Professor in Medicine specializing in thoracic oncology and head & neck cancer. Since joining the Section of Hematology and Oncology at Baylor College of Medicine in 2012, my clinical research has been dedicated to enhancing patient care in these areas. A significant achievement during my tenure was the establishment and leadership of the thoracic and head & neck oncology outpatient clinic at Smith Clinic within Harris County Healthcare System from 2013 to 2018. This initiative provided comprehensive, state-of-the-art care that benefitted numerous lung cancer and head & neck cancer patients.In conjunction with this clinical effort, I have played an active role in multidisciplinary tumor boards, including weekly participation in the thoracic tumor board at Ben Taub Hospital and bi-weekly sessions at CHI St. Luke's, as well as the ENT tumor board every two weeks. These collaborations have not only facilitated patient recruitment for clinical trials but also fostered close interdisciplinary partnerships.To advance my clinical research skills, I completed a rigorous year-long Clinical Scientist Training Program at Baylor College of Medicine in 2014, obtaining a qualification certificate. This training enabled me to propose and launch an investigator-initiated phase II trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of lenalidomide maintenance therapy in patients with stage IIIB/IV non-small cell lung cancer post first-line chemotherapy response at BCM. Despite the trial's premature closure due to evolving treatment paradigms in lung cancer, I maintained my focus on clinical research, particularly in head & neck cancer and thoracic oncology, upon joining Houston Methodist Cancer Center in 2018. At Houston Methodist, I serve as Director of the Head and Neck Cancer Tumor Board and actively contribute to the Thoracic Oncology Tumor Board. Additionally, I am involved as the institutional Principal Investigator and co-Principal Investigator in multiple intergroup lung cancer clinical trials at Houston Methodist Hospital.Since 2019, I have held the role of Program Director for the Houston Methodist Hematology Oncology Fellowship. Under my leadership, several trainees have received ASCO merit awards and presented their research at national meetings, with one fellow receiving the ASCO Young Investigator Award in 2022. Most recently, I was appointed Director of Thoracic Oncology at Houston Methodist Neal Cancer Center. My overarching goal remains the pursuit of innovative and effective treatments through clinical trials for cancer patients, particularly those with lung cancer.

B.        Positions, Scientific Appointments, and Honors
 

Other Experience and Professional Memberships

Honors

2011-2012                             Award for Clinical Research Institute Training, American Society of Hematology

C.        Contributions to Science
 

1.         My interest in clinical research started from Hematology Oncology fellowship training. I have been involved in a few projects in lung cancer and sickle cell disease. Through this work, I realize the importance of bringing the bench study results to everyday bedside clinical practice.

1. Zhang J, Gay H, Russo S.M, Walker P. R (2011) Phase II study of low-dose paclitaxel with timed thoracic radiotherapy (TTR) followed by gemcitabine and carboplatin consolidation in patients with unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): NCT 00449657; J Clin Oncol 29: 2011 (suppl; abstr 7044). 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting Poster Presentation, Abstract ID 7044.
2. Zhang J, J. Biswas, T. Fried,TB et al: Full-dose irinotecan plus platinum (IP) with concurrent thoracic radiotherapy (C-TRT) in unresectable locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC). J Clin Oncol 30, 2012 (suppl; abstr e17547)
3. Zhang J, Gay, H. Russo,S. Parent, T. Aljumaily, R. Walker, PR. Phase II study of low-dose paclitaxel with timed thoracic radiotherapy followed by adjuvant gemcitabine and carboplatin in unresectable stage III non-small cell lung cancer. Lung Cancer. 2014 Jan; 83(1):67-72
4. Zhang Y, Berka V, Wang W, Zhang W, Zhang J, Safo M, Tsai A , Juneja H. S, Xia Y Elevated sphingosine-1-phosphate promotes sickling and sickle cell disease progression. J Clin Invest. 2014;124(6):2750-2761

2.         The application of immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors has brought revolutionary treatment paradigm changes in different tumor types in recent years. However, only a small percentage of cancer patients benefit from this treatment approach. Understanding tumor immune microenvironment is crucial to extend the benefit of immunotherapy to more cancer patients. I participated in multiple clinical studies investigating the role of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer treatments, and biomarkers related to immunotherapy.

1. Pai S, Cohen EE, Lin D, Fountzilas G, Kim ES, Mehlhorn H, Baste N, Clayburgh D, Lipworth L, Resteghini C, Shara N, Fujii T, Zhang J, Stokes M, Wang HF, Twumasi-Ankrah P, Wildsmith S, Khaliq A, Melillo G, Shire N: SUPREME-HN: a retrospective biomarker study assessing the prognostic value of PD-L1 expression in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. J Transl Med 17(1). 429 (2019)
2. Kevin T Tran , Neil C Chevli , Jay A Messer , Waqar Haque , Andrew M Farach , Raj Satkunasivam, Jun Zhang , Jorge Darcourt , Simon S Lo , Shankar Siva , Edward B Butler , Bin S Teh : Prognostic impact of biologically equivalent dose in stereotactic body radiotherapy for renal cancer. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol. 2023 Feb 8;39:100592
3. Burns EA, Gee K, Kieser RB, Xu J, Zhang Y, Crenshaw A, Muhsen IN, Mylavarapu C, Esmail A, Shah S, Umoru G, Sun K, Guerrero C, Gong Z, Heyne K, Singh M, Zhang J, Bernicker EH, Abdelrahim M. Impact of Infections in Patients Receiving Pembrolizumab-Based Therapies for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Cancers. 2023; 15(1):81. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15010081
4. Guan J, Sun K, Guerrero CA, Zheng J, Xu Y, Mathur S, Teh BS, Farach A, Zhang J, Butler E, et al.  A Phase 2 study of In Situ Oncolytic Virus Therapy and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy Followed by Pembrolizumab in Metastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 23:S0360-3016(23)07836-7, 2023 
5. Burns EA, Chen WH, Mathur S, Kieser RB, Zhang J, Bernicker EH, Treatment at Twilight: An analysis of therapy patterns and outcomes in adults 80 years and older with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, JTO Clinical and Research Reports (2023), doi: https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.jtocrr.2023.100570.