Yong Zhu, PhD, MA, MS

Full Member

Research Program:

Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences

Faculty Rank:

Professor

Campus:

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

College:

College of Public Health

Department:

Epidemiology

Cancer Research Interest

Disease Site Focus: GI, GU, Breast, Thoracic/ Lung, Leukemia/ Lymphoma
Research Focus Area: Detection, Diagnosis/ Prognosis, Prevention, Carcinogenesis
Type of Research: Population Sciences, Translational
Research Keywords: Molecular cancer epidemiology, cancer biomarker identification
Research Interest Statement: As a molecular epidemiologist, my research interests focus on identifying biomarkers associated with cancer risk, progression, and survival, as well as investigating their translational implications. Specifically, my laboratory examines the impact of circadian factors, such as night shift work and changes in circadian genes, on tumorigenesis. We also conduct translational research into small noncoding RNAs.

NIH/Nat. Cancer Institute – 1R21CA277412
“Explore piRNAs as a novel group of biomarkers for ovarian cancer early detection”
Principal Investigator
5/1/2024 – 4/30/2026

Baek JH, Zhu Y, Jackson CL, Park YM. Artificial Light at Night and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetes & metabolism journal. 2024 48(5):847-863. PMID: 39313230. PMCID: PMC11449813.
Cheng Y, Sun F, Alapat DV, [et al., including Zhu Y]. High NEK2 expression in myeloid progenitors suppresses T cell immunity in multiple myeloma. Cell reports. Medicine. 2023 4(10):101214. PMID: 37794587. PMCID: PMC10591052.
Zhu Y, Ferri-Borgogno S, Sheng J, [et al.]. SIO: A Spatioimageomics Pipeline to Identify Prognostic Biomarkers Associated with the Ovarian Tumor Microenvironment. Cancers. 2021 13(8). PMID: 33917869. PMCID: PMC8068305.
Gao M, Bai H, Jethava Y, [et al., including Zhu Y]. Identification and Characterization of Tumor-Initiating Cells in Multiple Myeloma. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2020 112(5):507-515. PMID: 31406992. PMCID: PMC7225664.
Xia J, He Y, Meng B, [et al., including Zhu Y]. NEK2 induces autophagy-mediated bortezomib resistance by stabilizing Beclin-1 in multiple myeloma. Molecular oncology. 2020 14(4):763-778. PMID: 31955515. PMCID: PMC7138399.