Z. Ian Hu, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2015 | Stony Brook University of Medicine, Stony Brook, New York, US, MD |
| 2015 | Stony Brook University of Medicine, Stony Brook, New York, US, Medicine, Ph.D |
| 2006 | Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, US, Biology, ScB |
Postgraduate Training
| 2018-2021 | Fellowship, Medical Oncology, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland |
| 2015-2018 | Residency, Internal Medicine, Mount Sinai St. Luke's West, New York, New York |
Licenses & Certifications
| 2023 | Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure |
| 2023 | Florida Board of Medicine |
| 2023 | Georgia Composite Medical Board |
| 2023 | Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure |
| 2023 | Alabama Board of Medical Examiners |
| 2023 | Arizona Board of Medical Examiners |
| 2023 | Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners |
| 2023 | Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners |
| 2022 | Texas Medical License |
| 2021 | Missouri Medical License |
| 2020 | ABIM Medical Oncology |
| 2019 | Washington State Department of Health |
| 2018 | ABIM Internal Medicine |
| 2016 | New York State Medical License |
Experience & Service
Other Professional Positions
Assistant Professor, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2022 - Present
Intramural Institutional Committee Activities
Member, Medical Practice Committee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2026 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2015 | United States Public Health Service Excellence |
| 2007 | NIH Medical Scientist Training Fellowship |
| 2006 | Karen T. Romer Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award |
Professional Memberships
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2027 - 2032 |
| Title: | A phase II and biomarker study of targeting GHR/PD-L1/CTLA-4 in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma |
| Funding Source: | NIH |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | 1R01CA323207-01 |
| Date: | 2025 - 2025 |
| Title: | SPORE: The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center SPORE in Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Project 3: Targeting Growth Hormone Receptor in Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-Program Leader |
| ID: | FP21175_Project 3 |
| Date: | 2025 - 2029 |
| Title: | Selvigaltin, an oral galectin-3 inhibitor, plus atezolizumab and bevacizumab, as first-line therapy in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma |
| Funding Source: | Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | FP22770 l RP250240 R-25.1-IIRACT |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Dharia A, Xiao L, Abraham J, Saj F, Eluri M, Hu ZI, Lee SS, Hassan M, Muddassir S, Javle MM. Ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in survival outcomes among patients under 65 years with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a SEER analysis. J Gastrointest Oncol 16(5):2138-2145, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 41220765.
- Hu, Z, Pavlick, D, Ross, JS, Lee, SS, Eluri, M, Javle, M. Molecular Profiling of Biliary Tract Cancers in African American and Caucasian Patients. JCO Precision Oncology 9, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 39772832.
- Chamseddine, SM, Yavuz, BG, Mohamed, Y, Lee, SS, Yao, JC, Hu, Z, Lapelusa, M, Xiao, L, Sun, R, Morris, JS, Hatia, RI, Hassan, MM, Duda, DG, Diab, M, Mohamed, A, Nassar, A, Amin, H, Kaseb, A. Circulating Galectin-3. Journal of Immunotherapy and Precision Oncology 7(4):255-262, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39524465.
- Jain AJ, Lendoire M, Boyev A, Newhook TE, Tzeng CD, Tran Cao HS, Coronel E, Lee SS, Hu ZI, Javle M, Lee JH, Vauthey JN, Chun YS. Revisiting the Malignant Masquerade at the Liver Hilum: Have We Made Progress?. Ann Surg Oncol 31(5):3062-3068, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38282027.
- Mohamed YI, Lee SS, Demir T, Chamseddine S, Hu ZI, Xiao L, Elsayes K, Morris JS, Wolff RA, Hiatia R, Qayyum A, Rashid A, Duda DG, Yao JC, LaPelusa M, Koay EJ, Mahvash A, Al Azzam A, Dumbrava EE, Hassan M, Amin HM, Kaseb AO. Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) as a biomarker of response to therapy in advanced Hepatocellular carcinoma treated with Nivolumab. Cancer Biomark 41(1):83-91, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39269823.
- Azad N, Hu Z, Sahin I, Iyer R, Aranha O, Hochster H, Pathak P, Paulson AS, Kalyan A, Liao CY, Tran N, Kelley RK, Heestand G, Cosgrove D, El-Khoueiry A, Borad M, Gabrail NY, Majeed U, Du L, Kamath S, Shumway N, Shroff R, Goyal L, Rosales M, Javle M. COMPANION-002 A clinical trial of investigational drug CTX-009 plus paclitaxel vs paclitaxel in second line advanced BTC. Future Oncol 20(30):2241-2248, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38861293.
- Chamseddine S, LaPelusa M, Xiao L, Mohamed YI, Lee SS, Hu ZI, Hatia RI, Hassan M, Yao JC, Duda DG, Datar S, Amin HM, Kaseb AO. Plasma Growth Hormone as a Prognostic Biomarker to Durvalumab and Tremelimumab in Patients with Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma. J Hepatocell Carcinoma 11:455-461, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38463542.
- Chamseddine S, Mohamed YI, Lee SS, Yao JC, Hu ZI, Tran Cao HS, Xiao L, Sun R, Morris JS, Hatia RI, Hassan M, Duda DG, Diab M, Mohamed A, Nassar A, Datar S, Amin HM, Kaseb AO. Clinical and Prognostic Biomarker Value of Blood Circulating Inflammatory Cytokines in Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Oncology 101(11):730-737, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37467732.
- Gao W, Hu Z, Xu Z. A Screening Condition Imposed Stochastic Approximation for Long-Range Electrostatic Correlations. J Chem Theory Comput 19(15):4822-4827, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37387701.
- Wong NTY, Yuen KFK, FMAA A, Lai KKH, Hu Z, Chan KKW, Tham CCY, Pang CP, Chong KKL. Magnetic resonance imaging parameters on lacrimal gland in thyroid eye disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Ophthalmol 23(1):347, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37550660.
- Wang Y, Mulvihill E, Hu Z, Lyu N, Shivpuje S, Liu Y, Soley MB, Geva E, Batista VS, Kais S. Simulating Open Quantum System Dynamics on NISQ Computers with Generalized Quantum Master Equations. J Chem Theory Comput 19(15):4851-4862, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37233199.
- Hu ZI, Link VM, Lima-Junior DS, Delaleu J, Bouladoux N, Han SJ, Collins N, Belkaid Y. Immune checkpoint inhibitors unleash pathogenic immune responses against the microbiota. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 119(26):e2200348119, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35727974.
- Hu ZI, Miettinen M, Quezado M, Lebensohn AP, Aldape K, Agra M, Wagner C, Mallory Y, Hassan R, Ghafoor A. Meningiomas in Patients With Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Harboring Germline BAP1 Mutations. J Thorac Oncol 17(3):461-466, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 34628055.
- Ho AY, Barker CA, Arnold BB, Powell SN, Hu ZI, Gucalp A, Lebron-Zapata L, Wen HY, Kallman C, D'Agnolo A, Zhang Z, Flynn J, Dunn SA, McArthur HL. A phase 2 clinical trial?assessing the?efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab and radiotherapy in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. Cancer 126(4):850-860, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31747077.
- Alewine C, Ahmad M, Peer CJ, Hu ZI, Lee MJ, Yuno A, Kindrick JD, Thomas A, Steinberg SM, Trepel JB, Figg WD, Hassan R, Pastan I. Phase I/II Study of the Mesothelin-targeted Immunotoxin LMB-100 with Nab-Paclitaxel for Patients with Advanced Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma. Clin Cancer Res 26(4):828-836, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31792036.
- Hu ZI, Bendell JC, Bullock A, LoConte NK, Hatoum H, Ritch P, Hool H, Leach JW, Sanchez J, Sohal DPS, Strickler J, Patel R, Wang-Gillam A, Firdaus I, Yu KH, Kapoun AM, Holmgren E, Zhou L, Dupont J, Picozzi V, Sahai V, O'Reilly EM. A randomized phase II trial of nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine with tarextumab or placebo in patients with untreated metastatic pancreatic cancer. Cancer Med 8(11):5148-5157, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31347292.
- Hu ZI, Hellmann MD, Wolchok JD, Vyas M, Shia J, Stadler ZK, Diaz LA, O'Reilly EM. Acquired resistance to immunotherapy in MMR-D pancreatic cancer. J Immunother Cancer 6(1):127, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30458888.
- Drilon A, Hu ZI, Lai GGY, Tan DSW. Targeting RET-driven cancers: lessons from evolving preclinical and clinical landscapes. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 15(3):150, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29182164.
- Hu ZI, Shia J, Stadler ZK, Varghese AM, Capanu M, Salo-Mullen E, Lowery MA, Diaz LA, Mandelker D, Yu KH, Zervoudakis A, Kelsen DP, Iacobuzio-Donahue CA, Klimstra DS, Saltz LB, Sahin IH, O'Reilly EM. Evaluating Mismatch Repair Deficiency in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: Challenges and Recommendations. Clin Cancer Res 24(6):1326-1336, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29367431.
- Hu ZI, Smith DM. Cancer Screening Rates in a Student-Run Free Clinic. Ochsner J 16(1):37-40, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27046402.
- Hu ZI, Bangiyev L, Seidman RJ, Cohen JA. Dysphagia and Neck Swelling in a Case of Undiagnosed Lhermitte-Duclos Disease and Cowden Syndrome. Case Rep Oncol Med 2015:546297, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26448889.
- Hu ZI, Kotarba AM, Van Nostrand WE. Absence of Nitric Oxide Synthase 3 Increases Amyloid β-Protein Pathology in Tg-5xFAD Mice. Neurosci Med 4(2):84-91, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24159423.
Review Articles
- Hu ZI, O'Reilly EM. Therapeutic developments in pancreatic cancer. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 21(1):7-24, 2024. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37798442.
- Gok Yavuz, B, Datar, S, Chamseddine, SM, Mohamed, Y, Lapelusa, M, Lee, SS, Hu, Z, Koay, EJ, Tran Cao, HS, Jalal, P, Daniel-MacDougall, CR, Hassan, MM, Duda, DG, Amin, H, Kaseb, A. The Gut Microbiome as a Biomarker and Therapeutic Target in Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Cancers 15(19), 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37835569.
- Hu ZI, Lim KH. Evolving Paradigms in the Systemic Treatment of Advanced Gallbladder Cancer: Updates in Year 2022. Cancers (Basel) 14(5), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35267556.
- Hu ZI, Ghafoor A, Sengupta M, Hassan R. Malignant mesothelioma: Advances in immune checkpoint inhibitor and mesothelin-targeted therapies. Cancer 127(7):1010-1020, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33620732.
- Hu ZI, McArthur HL. Immunotherapy in Breast Cancer: the New Frontier. Curr Breast Cancer Rep 10(2):35-40, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29881518.
- Sahin IH, Askan G, Hu ZI, O'Reilly EM. Immunotherapy in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: an emerging entity?. Ann Oncol 28(12):2950-2961, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28945842.
- Ho AY, Hu ZI, Mehrara BJ, Wilkins EG. Radiotherapy in the setting of breast reconstruction: types, techniques, and timing. Lancet Oncol 18(12):e742-e753, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29208440.
- Hu ZI, Ho AY, McArthur HL. Combined Radiation Therapy and Immune Checkpoint Blockade Therapy for Breast Cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 99(1):153-164, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28816141.
- Hu ZI, McArthur HL, Ho AY. The Abscopal Effect of Radiation Therapy: What Is It and How Can We Use It in Breast Cancer?. Curr Breast Cancer Rep 9(1):45-51, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28344743.
- Levy B, Hu ZI, Cordova KN, Close S, Lee K, Becker D. Clinical Utility of Liquid Diagnostic Platforms in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Oncologist 21(9):1121-30, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27388233.
- Hu ZI, Schuster JA, Kudelka AP, Huston TL. Merkel Cell Carcinoma With Gastric Metastasis and Review of Literature. J Cutan Med Surg 20(3):255-8, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26676953.
Book Chapters
- Rohs N, Hu ZI. In: Malignant Mesothelioma in Mount Sinai Expert Guides, 2018.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified August 19, 2026