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Tian Yi Zhang, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Medicine (Hematology)

BioDr. Zhang is a board-certified hematologist. She is also an assistant professor of hematology at Stanford University School of Medicine. In addition to her medical degree, she holds a PhD in cellular and molecular immunology.

In her clinical practice, she treats patients with all forms of hematological malignancies, offering specialized expertise in acute myeloid leukemia, including therapy-resistant cases. For each patient, she develops a personalized care plan encompassing novel treatment options.

Her research activities include conducting early phase clinical trials, investigator initiated clinical trials (IITs), studying the immune repertoire in patients with myeloid malignancies, and exploring cholesterol metabolic dependencies of acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

She was the recipient of an A.P. Giannini Foundation fellowship award, which supports innovative research. The award helped fund Dr. Zhang’s study of how AML cells interact with other cells in bone marrow. A significant finding confirmed that AML cells secrete a protein that suppresses the production of red blood cells, the same protein that causes inflammation in disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease.

Her many other honors include the National Cancer Institute Career Development (K08) Award, the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Research Training Award for Fellows, Stanford Cancer Institute - American Cancer Society (SCI-ACS) Pilot Grant and Best ASH Abstract Award two years in a row. She also has earned recognition from the National Institutes of Health and American College of Physicians.

She has published her research findings on topics such as advanced therapy for high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes and reversal of bone marrow failure induced by AML. Her work has appeared in Leukemia & Lymphoma, Science Translational Medicine, Cancer Research, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Immunology, and elsewhere.

Dr. Zhang is a member of the American Association of Cancer Research and American Society of Hematology. She advises and mentors Stanford medical students, residents and fellows. She delivers invited lectures to faculty and fellows. In addition, she has been an invited speaker on the topic of acute myeloid leukemia at the Association of Northern California Oncologists Update on Hematological Malignancies.