Emily Z. Keung, MD, AM, FACS, FSSO
Department of Surgical Oncology, Division of Surgery
About Dr. Emily Z. Keung
Dr. Keung is a surgeon-scientist, Associate Professor, and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Surgical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center specializing in the care of patients with soft tissue sarcoma. Dr. Keung received her undergraduate degree from Harvard College and her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. She completed her general surgery residency and surgical critical care fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School and fellowship in Complex General Surgical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Keung also leads a translational laboratory research group focused on understanding the molecular pathogenesis and tumor immune microenvironment of 3 of the most common types of soft tissue sarcoma in adults: undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma, liposarcoma, and leiomyosarcoma. The goals of the Keung lab are to expand our understanding of fundamental soft tissue sarcoma biology, to identify novel therapeutic vulnerabilities and targets, to develop innovative treatment strategies, to translate these to patients through clinical trials and to improve outcomes for those with these challenging cancers.
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2008 | Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, MD |
| 2003 | Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Biochemical Sciences, AB |
| 2003 | Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, AM |
Postgraduate Training
| 2017-2018 | T32 Research Fellowship, Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
| 2016-2019 | Clinical Fellowship, Complex General Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
| 2012-2014 | T32 Research Fellowship, Departments of Surgical Oncology and Genomic Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
| 2011-2012 | Clinical Fellowship, Surgical Critical Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts |
| 2008-2016 | Residency, General Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts |
Licenses & Certifications
| 2021 | Fellow, American College of Surgeons |
| 2020 | American Board of Surgery, Complex General Surgical Oncology |
| 2018 | American Board of Medical Quality, Certificate in Medical Quality |
| 2017 | American Board of Surgery, General Surgery |
| 2017 | American Board of Surgery, Surgical Critical Care |
| 2016 | Texas State Medical License |
Experience & Service
Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities
Associate Professor, Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, 2025 - Present
Vice Chair of Research, Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, 2024 - Present
Assistant Professor, Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2019 - 2025
Administrative Fellow, Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowship, Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, 2018 - 2019
Education Fellow, Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowship, Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, 2017 - 2018
Editorial Activities
Editorial Board, Surgical Oncology Insight, 2023 - Present
Editorial Panel, American Cancer Society Liposarcoma Educational Hub, 2022 - Present
Sarcoma Section Editor, Global Medical Knowledge Alliance, 2022 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2026 - Present | Society of Surgical Oncology / European Society of Surgical Oncology Observership Program, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2025 - Present | Top 1% Provider, Perfect Score: Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG CAHPS), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2025 | Sabin Award, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2024 | Membership to Society of University Surgeons |
| 2024 | Faculty Scholar Award, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2023 | Top 10% Provider: Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG CAHPS), MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2023 | Membership to Surgical Biology Club |
| 2023 | ASCO/AACR Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop |
| 2023 | Robert M. Chamberlain Distinguished Mentor Award Nominee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Postdoctoral Association |
| 2023 | Society of Asian Academic Surgeons Visiting Professor, Association of Women Surgeons Hong Mo and Hsi Mei Chen Lectureship |
| 2022 | Top 1% Provider: Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG CAHPS), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2022 | Women in Cancer Immunotherapy Network Leadership Institute Program, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer |
| 2021 | Top 1% Provider: Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG CAHPS), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2021 | Young Investigator Travel Award, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer |
| 2019 | Junior Faculty Award, Society of Asian Academic Surgeons |
| 2019 | The Charles Balch Clinical Research Award, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2018 | Resident/Fellow Development Award, Society of Asian Academic Surgeons |
| 2018 | Travel Award to the 21st Annual Meeting of the CSCO, Society of Surgical Oncology/Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology |
| 2018 | The Harter Prize for Excellence in Clinical Training Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2018 | Thomas H. and Mayme P. Scott Fellowship in Cancer Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2018 | AACR Scholar-in-Training Award in Memory of William Maness, American Association for Cancer Research |
| 2017 | The Connie and Jim Walter Endowed Fellowship Award in Sarcoma Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2017 | Trainee Research Day Competition Finalist, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2025 - 2027 |
| Title: | Spatially resolved multiomics of primary soft tissue sarcomas and their matched metastases |
| Funding Source: | Society of Surgical Oncology |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | Clinical Investigator Award |
| Date: | 2024 - 2026 |
| Title: | Elucidation of intratumoral spatial immune features of primary undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcomas associated with metastasis |
| Funding Source: | Society of University Surgeons Early Stage Investigator Award |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2024 - 2026 |
| Title: | Elucidation of Intratumoral Immune Microenvironment Characteristics of Primary Soft Tissue Sarcomas and Their Matched Regional and Distant Metastases |
| Funding Source: | Leiomyosarcoma SPORE |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | Developmental Research Program |
| Date: | 2024 - 2028 |
| Title: | Physician-Scientist Program |
| Funding Source: | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2023 - 2025 |
| Title: | Elucidation of tumor-specific B-cell antigens as novel therapeutic targets in soft tissue sarcoma |
| Funding Source: | Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | Rosenberg Scholar Award |
| Date: | 2022 - 2025 |
| Title: | The interactions between T-regulatory cells and B-cells as new therapeutic targets for immunotherapy in soft tissue sarcoma |
| Funding Source: | National Cancer Institute |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | Early-Stage Surgeon-Scientist Program |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Xiao JF, Ko EY, Smith A, Piras R, Fowler A, Ishaya K, Wang L, Wang B, Paulucci-Holthauzen A, Landers SM, Bhalla AD, Torres KE, Shamsutdinova D, Wani KM, Lazar AJ, Keung EZ, Somaiah N, Nassif Haddad EF, Guarnerio J. LPAR4 mediates resistance to interferon-induced stress in soft tissue sarcoma. Sci Adv 12(24):eaef1962, 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 42284392.
- Amaria RN, Postow M, Burton EM, Tezlaff MT, Ross MI, Torres-Cabala C, Glitza IC, Duan F, Milton DR, Busam K, Simpson L, McQuade JL, Wong MK, Gershenwald JE, Lee JE, Goepfert RP, Keung EZ, Fisher SB, Betof-Warner A, Shoushtari AN, Callahan M, Coit D, Bartlett EK, Bello D, Momtaz P, Nicholas C, Gu A, Zhang X, Korivi BR, Patnana M, Patel SP, Diab A, Lucci A, Prieto VG, Davies MA, Allison JP, Sharma P, Wargo JA, Ariyan C, Tawbi HA. Neoadjuvant relatlimab and nivolumab in resectable melanoma. Nature 611(7934):155-160, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36289334.
- Vellano CP, White MG, Andrews MC, Chelvanambi M, Witt RG, Daniele JR, Titus M, McQuade JL, Conforti F, Burton EM, Lastrapes MJ, Ologun G, Cogdill AP, Morad G, Prieto P, Lazar AJ, Chu Y, Han G, Khan MAW, Helmink B, Davies MA, Amaria RN, Kovacs JJ, Woodman SE, Patel S, Hwu P, Peoples M, Lee JE, Cooper ZA, Zhu H, Gao G, Banerjee H, Lau M, Gershenwald JE, Lucci A, Keung EZ, Ross MI, Pala L, Pagan E, Segura RL, Liu Q, Borthwick MS, Lau E, Yates MS, Westin SN, Wani K, Tetzlaff MT, Haydu LE, Mahendra M, Ma X, Logothetis C, Kulstad Z, Johnson S, Hudgens CW, Feng N, Federico L, Long GV, Futreal PA, Arur S, Tawbi HA, Moran AE, Wang L, Heffernan TP, Marszalek JR, Wargo JA. Androgen receptor blockade promotes response to BRAF/MEK-targeted therapy. Nature 606(7915):797-803, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35705814.
- Guadagnolo BA, Bassett RL, Mitra D, Farooqi A, Hempel C, Dorber C, Willis T, Wang WL, Ratan R, Somaiah N, Benjamin RS, Torres KE, Hunt KK, Scally CP, Keung EZ, Satcher RL, Bird JE, Lin PP, Moon BS, Lewis VO, Roland CL, Bishop AJ. Hypofractionated, 3-week, preoperative radiotherapy for patients with soft tissue sarcomas (HYPORT-STS): a single-centre, open-label, single-arm, phase 2 trial. Lancet Oncol 23(12):1547-1557, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36343656.
- Landry JP, Schertz KL, Chiang YJ, Bhalla AD, Yi M, Keung EZ, Scally CP, Feig BW, Hunt KK, Roland CL, Guadagnolo A, Bishop AJ, Lazar AJ, Slopis JM, McCutcheon IE, Torres KE. Comparison of cancer prevalence in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 at an academic cancer center vs in the general population from 1985 to 2020. JAMA Netw Open 4(3):e210945, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33734413.
- Kochat V, Raman AT, Landers SM, Tang M, Schulz J, Terranova C, Landry JP, Bhalla AD, Beird HC, Wu CC, Jiang Y, Mao X, Lazcano R, Gite S, Ingram DR, Yi M, Zhang J, Keung EZ, Scally CP, Roland CL, Hunt KK, Feig BW, Futreal PA, Hwu P, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Slopis JM, Wilson-Robles H, Wiener DJ, McCutcheon IE, Wustefeld-Janssens B, Rai K, Torres KE. Enhancer reprogramming in PRC2-deficient malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors induces a targetable de-differentiated state. Acta Neuropathol 142(3):565-590, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34283254.
- Helmink BA, Reddy SM, Gao J, Zhang S, Basar R, Thakur R, Yizhak K, Sade-Feldman M, Blando J, Han G, Gopalakrishnan V, Xi Y, Zhao H, Amaria RN, Tawbi HA, Cogdill AP, Liu W, LeBleu VS, Kugeratski FG, Patel S, Davies MA, Hwu P, Lee JE, Gershenwald JE, Lucci A, Arora R, Woodman S, Keung EZ, Gaudreau PO, Reuben A, Spencer CN, Burton EM, Haydu LE, Lazar AJ, Zapassodi R, Hudgens CW, Ledesma DA, Ong S, Bailey M, Warren S, Rao D, Krijgsman O, Rozeman EA, Peeper D, Blank CU, Schumacher TN, Butterfield LH, Zelazowska MA, McBride KM, Kalluri R, Allison J, Petitprez F, Fridman WH, Sautès-Fridman C, Hacohen N, Rezvani K, Sharma P, Tetzlaff MT, Wang L, Wargo JA. B cells and tertiary lymphoid structures promote immunotherapy response. Nature 577(7791):549-555, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31942075.
Book Chapters
- Witt RG, Keung EZ. Melanoma. In: Clinical Scenarios in Surgery. 3rd edition. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2023.
- Cope B, Witt R, Keung EZ. Merkel cell carcinoma. In: The MD Anderson Surgical Oncology Manual. 7th. Wolters Kluwer, 2023.
- Cope B, Witt R, Feig, R, Keung EZ. Nonmelanoma skin cancer. In: The MD Anderson Surgical Oncology Manual. 7th. Wolters Kluwer, 2023.
- Saif A, Farooqi AS, Keung EZ. Radiation in the management of extremity sarcomas. In: Difficult Decisions in Surgery: An Evidence-Based Approach. Springer Nature, 2023.
- Torres MB, Keung EZ. Extremity sarcoma. In: Surgical Oncology Clerkship: A Guide for Senior Medical Students. Springer Nature, 2023.
- Safa H, Mattei J, Bishop AJ, Keung EZ, Yadugiri S, Davies MA, Gitza Oliva IC. Melanoma. In: The MD Anderson Manual of Medical Oncology. 4th. McGraw-Hill, 2022.
- American College of Surgeons. Extremity Sarcoma. In: Operative Standards for Cancer Surgery, Volume 3, 2022.
- American College of Surgeons. Retroperitoneal sarcoma. In: Operative Standards for Cancer Surgery, Volume 3, 2022.
- Keung EZ, Naylor MF. Practical management of melanoma. In: Skin Cancer Management - A Practical Approach. 2nd. Springer, 2021.
- Keung EZ, Grubbs EG. Defining the study cohort: inclusion and exclusion criteria. In: Success in Academic Surgery: Clinical Trials. Springer, 2020.
- Keung EZ, Gershenwald JE, Kirkwood JM, Scolyer RA, Sondak V, Thompson JF, Balch CM. Melanoma prognosis and staging. In: Cutaneous Melanoma. 6th. Springer, 2020.
- Keung EZ, Kirkwood JM, Sondak V, Wargo JA, Amaria RN. Neoadjuvant therapy. In: Cutaneous Melanoma. 6th. Springer, 2020.
- Keung EZ, Anupamaa JS, Havens J. Burn management. In: Pocket ICU. 2nd. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2017.
- Mahvi DA, Keung EZ, Raut CP. Multimodality therapy for metastatic gastrointestinal stomal tumor. In: Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors. Springer, 2016.
- Keung EZ, Nelson PJ, Conrad C. Genetically engineered stem cell therapies targeting gastrointestinal malignancy. In: Stem Cell Therapeutics for Cancer. John Wiley & Sons, 2013.
- Keung EZ, Havens J. Burn management. In: Pocket ICU. 1st. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2012.
- Keung EZ, Gershenwald JE. Clinicopathological features, staging, and current approaches to treatment in high-risk resectable melanoma. In: Cancer of the Skin. 3rd. Elsevier.
- Keung EZ, Pollack RE, Hunt KK, Torres KE. Forequarter amputation. In: Master Techniques in Surgery: Breast Surgery. 2nd. Wolters Kluwer.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified September 29, 2026