Zheng Jenny Zhang, MD
Research Professor , Surgery
Research Program
Cancer-Focused Research
Cell/organ transplantation are preferred treatment for patients with end stage organ failure caused by chronic diseases as well as cancer. However, people who have had solid organ transplants (lung, heart, liver, kidney) have a higher risk of developing cancer. Immunosuppressive medicines that are used to prevent the immune system from rejecting the organ are considered as a significant factor that can cause this increase. Research in my lab has been focused on investigating cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying rejection responses and immune regulations and to develop novel strategies to prevent transplant rejection by inducing donor specific transplant tolerance, thereby minimizing the use of immunosuppressive medicine and reducing the risk of cancer in transplant patients. Specifically, our main approaches include 1) investigating role of innate immunity in promoting allogenic adaptive immune response against alloantigens in the context of cell transplant and solid organ transplant; 2) exploring cell stress in transplant rejection and tolerance induction ; and 3) developing organ-specific or tissue-specific immune therapies using nanotechnology.