Zhao Laboratory
Di Zhao, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
- Departments, Labs and Institutes
- Labs
- Di Zhao Laboratory
Areas of Research
- Prostate Cancer
- Targeted Therapy
- Immunotherapy
- Tumor Microenvironment
Over the past decade, large-scale cancer genome studies have uncovered emerging genetic alterations in malignancies. The Zhao Laboratory in the Experimental Radiation Oncology department focuses on functional genomics of prostate cancer, with a special interest in understanding crosstalk between cancer cells and immune components in the tumor microenvironment and metastatic niche.
Recent Publications
Shi W, Wang Y, Zhao Y, Kim JJ, Li H, Meng C, Chen F, Zhang J, Mak DH, Van V, Leo J, St Croix B, Aparicio A, Zhao D. Immune Checkpoint B7-H3 is a Therapeutic Vulnerability in Prostate Cancer Harboring PTEN and TP53 Deficiencies. Sci Transl Med. 15(695):eadf6724, 5/2023. Epub 2023 May. PMID: 37163614.
Li H, Wang Y, Lin K, Venkadakrishnan VB, Bakht M, Shi W, Meng C, Zhang J, Tremble K, Liang X, Song JH, Feng X, Van V, Deng P, Burks JK, Aparicio A, Keyomarsi K, Chen J, Lu Y, Beltran H, Zhao D. CHD1 promotes sensitivity to Aurora kinase inhibitors by suppressing interaction of AURKA with its coactivator TPX2. Cancer Res. 2022 Jun 30:can.22.0631. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-22-0631. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35771632.
Zhao D#, Cai L#, Lu X#, Liang X, Li J, Chen P, Ittmann MM, Shang X, Jiang S, Li H, Meng C, Flores I, Song JH, Horner JW, Lan Z, Wu CJ, Li J, Chang Q, Chen KC, Wang G, Deng P, Spring DJ, Wang YA, DePinho RA. Chromatin Regulator, CHD1, Remodels Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment in PTEN-Deficient Prostate Cancer. Cancer Discov. 2020 May 8; CD-19-1352. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.
Zhao D, Lu X, Wang G, Lan Z, Liao W, Li J, Liang X, Chen JR, Shah S, Shang X, Tang M, Deng P, Dey P, Chakravarti D, Chen P, Spring DJ, Navone NM, Troncoso P, Zhang J, Wang YA, DePinho RA. Synthetic essentiality of chromatin remodeling factor CHD1 in PTEN-deficient cancer. Nature. 2017; 542(7642): 484-488.
Our Funding
CPRIT Recruitment of First-Time Tenure-Track Faculty Award
06/2019-05/2024
NIH/NCI - 1R01CA275990
01/2023-12/2027
Prostate Cancer Foundation Challenge Award
01/2023-01/2025
DoD Prostate Cancer Research Program Idea Development Award
09/2024-08/2027
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Faculty Scholar Award
07/2023-06/2026
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Institutional Research Grant
09/2023-08/2024