Huili Zhu, MD
Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine
About Dr. Huili Zhu
Huili Zhu, MD is board certified in internal medicine and board certified in medical oncology. Dr. Zhu graduated from medical school at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. She completed her internal medicine residency at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and hematology and oncology fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine, where she served as chief fellow. Currently, she is an assistant professor in the GI Medical Oncology Department at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Prior research experiences include sequencing circulating tumor cells in pancreatic cancer to pinpoint drivers of metastasis, identifying key pathogenic germline variants in individuals with a family history of pancreatic cancer, and performing germline interaction studies to identify patients at high risk for pancreatic cancer. Her recent achievements include being award the CPRIT scholar as a fellow investigator and the 2024 ASCO Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award. Dr. Zhu hopes to delivery patient-centered care with continued dedication to genomics research in gastrointestinal cancers.
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Clinical Faculty Appointment, GI Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Assistant Professor, Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2018 | Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, US, MD |
| 2012 | Columbia University, New York, NY, US, Chemical Engineering, BS |
Postgraduate Training
| 2021-2024 | Fellow, Hematology and Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX |
| 2018-2021 | Resident, Internal Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY |
Licenses & Certifications
| 2025 | Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure |
| 2025 | Florida Board of Medicine |
| 2025 | Washington State Department of Health |
| 2025 | Georgia Composite Medical Board |
| 2025 | Arizona Board of Medical Examiners |
| 2025 | Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure |
| 2025 | Alabama Board of Medical Examiners |
| 2025 | Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners |
| 2025 | Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners |
| 2024 | Texas Medical License |
Honors & Awards
| 2024 | Excellence in Patient Care for GI Oncology – Fellow of the Year, Baylor College of Medicine |
| 2024 | Conquer Cancer-Zentalis Women Who Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award |
| 2024 | Distinguished Fellow Educator Award, Baylor College of Medicine |
| 2023 | CPRIT Scholar, Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas |
| 2023 | Chief Fellow, Department of Hematology and Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine |
| 2022 | Fellow of the Year, Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine |
| 2022 | ASCO Conquer Cancer Merit Award |
| 2022 | TxSCO Fellows Abstract Competition winner |
| 2019 | Research Day Poster of Distinction Award, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai |
| 2015 | Science Scholar, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth |
| 2015 | Chinese American Medical Society (CAMS) Summer Research Fellowship |
| 2014 | The Merck Company Foundation Scholar, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth |
| 2014 | William H. Morton Memorial Scholar, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth |
| 2012 | Dean’s List (four years), Columbia University |
| 2012 | United States President’s Volunteer Service Award |
| 2010 | Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholar, Columbia University |
| 2008 | Jee Yin and C. Heung Au Named Scholar, Columbia University |
Professional Memberships
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2023 - 2024 |
| Title: | The role of human esophageal myofibroblasts in Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma |
| Funding Source: | Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas |
| Role: | Fellow Investigator |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Wang Y, Olsen LK, Jiao F, Wang C, Jiang KX, Dou Y, Hu Y, Jiao L, Chen W, Elizarraras JM, Khare P, Yu N, Zhu H, Chen L, Lih TM, Eser PO, Martins Rodrigues F, Shi Z, Zhang C, Yu C, Heiman DI, Liao Y, Shafer PW, Choi S, Choi JM, Savage SR, Jaehnig EJ, Lei JT, Sun Y, Peng CW, Sun Z, Morenkov P, Zhang K, Geffen Y, Hess J, Kumar-Sinha C, Mani DR, Ding L, Getz G, Li QK, Omenn GS, Le A, Hostetter G, Newton CJ, Cai S, Ketchum KA, Robles AI, Mesri M, Minoo P, Camargo MC, An E, Hruban RH, Liu Z, Thiagarajan M, Dohlman AB, Jin RU, Huang L, Chan DW, Zhang H, Zhang B. A 15-layer multi-omics analysis of gastric cancer ecotypes provides therapeutic insights. Cell Rep Med 7(5):102756, 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 42013851.
- Haldar SD, Saj F, Hong SJ, Surana R, Xiao L, Lee JJ, Smaglo B, Zhao D, Zhu H, Huey R, Willis J, Morelli MP, Overman M, McAllister F, Wolff R, Maitra A, Fogelman D, Der C, Pant S. Phase I trial of binimetinib plus hydroxychloroquine in patients with previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer. Oncologist 31(4), 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 41761573.
- Riaz F, Vaughn JL, Zhu H, Dickerson JC, Sayegh HE, Brongiel S, Baldwin E, Kier MW, Zaemes J, Hearn C, Abdelghany O, Cohen RB, Parikh RB, Reuss JE, Prsic E, Doroshow DB. Inpatient Immunotherapy Outcomes Study: A Multicenter Retrospective Analysis. JCO Oncol Pract:OP2400788, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 39937997.
- Zhu H, Choi J, Kui N, Yang T, Wei P, Li D, Sun R. Identification of Pancreatic Cancer Germline Risk Variants With Effects That Are Modified by Smoking. JCO Precis Oncol 8:e2300355, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38564682.
- Maghsoudi, A, Sada, YH, Nowakowski, S, Guffey, D, Zhu, H, Yarlagadda, SR, Li, A, Razjouyan, J. A Multi-Institutional Natural Language Processing Pipeline to Extract Performance Status From Electronic Health Records. Cancer Control 31, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39222957.
- Kim Y, Zhu L, Zhu H, Li X, Huang Y, Gu C, Bush H, Chung C, Zhang GQ. Characterizing cancer and COVID-19 outcomes using electronic health records. PLoS One 17(5):e0267584, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35507598.
- Bhalla S, Zhu H, Lin JY, Ozbek U, Wilck EJ, Chang S, Chen X, Ward S, Harpaz N, Polydorides AD, Miller W, Fiel MI, Modica I, Fan W, Zeizafoun N, Ang C. Impact of pathological response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy on adjuvant therapy decisions and patient outcomes in gastrointestinal cancers. Cancer Rep (Hoboken) 4(6):e1412, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34032391.
- Grivas P, Khaki AR, Wise-Draper TM, French B, Hennessy C, Hsu CY, Shyr Y, Li X, Choueiri TK, Painter CA, Peters S, Rini BI, Thompson MA, Mishra S, Rivera DR, Acoba JD, Abidi MZ, Bakouny Z, Bashir B, Bekaii-Saab T, Berg S, Bernicker EH, Bilen MA, Bindal P, Bishnoi R, Bouganim N, Bowles DW, Cabal A, Caimi PF, Chism DD, Crowell J, Curran C, Desai A, Dixon B, Doroshow DB, Durbin EB, Elkrief A, Farmakiotis D, Fazio A, Fecher LA, Flora DB, Friese CR, Fu J, Gadgeel SM, Galsky MD, Gill DM, Glover MJ, Goyal S, Grover P, Gulati S, Gupta S, Halabi S, Halfdanarson TR, Halmos B, Hausrath DJ, Hawley JE, Hsu E, Huynh-Le M, Hwang C, Jani C, Jayaraj A, Johnson DB, Kasi A, Khan H, Koshkin VS, Kuderer NM, Kwon DH, Lammers PE, Li A, Loaiza-Bonilla A, Low CA, Lustberg MB, Lyman GH, McKay RR, McNair C, Menon H, Mesa RA, Mico V, Mundt D, Nagaraj G, Nakasone ES, Nakayama J, Nizam A, Nock NL, Park C, Patel JM, Patel KG, Peddi P, Pennell NA, Piper-Vallillo AJ, Puc M, Ravindranathan D, Reeves ME, Reuben DY, Rosenstein L, Rosovsky RP, Rubinstein SM, Salazar M, Schmidt AL, Schwartz GK, Shah MR, Shah SA, Shah C, Shaya JA, Singh SRK, Smits M, Stockerl-Goldstein KE, Stover DG, Streckfuss M, Subbiah S, Tachiki L, Tadesse E, Thakkar A, Tucker MD, Verma AK, Vinh DC, Weiss M, Wu JT, Wulff-Burchfield E, Xie Z, Yu PP, Zhang T, Zhou AY, Zhu H, Zubiri L, Shah DP, Warner JL, Lopes G. Association of clinical factors and recent anticancer therapy with COVID-19 severity among patients with cancer: a report from the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium. Ann Oncol 32(6):787-800, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33746047.
- Zhu H, Welinsky S, Soper ER, Brown KL, Abul-Husn NS, Lucas AL. Genetic Variants in Patients With a Family History of Pancreatic Cancer: Impact of Multigene Panel Testing. Pancreas 50(4):602-606, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33939675.
- Jun T, Ozbek U, Dharmapuri S, Hardy-Abeloos C, Zhu H, Lin JY, Personeni N, Pressiani T, Nishida N, Lee PC, Lee CJ, Hildebrand H, Nimkar N, Paul S, Fessas P, Naeem M, Bettinger D, Khan U, Saeed A, Huang YH, Kudo M, Rimassa L, Marron TU, Pinato DJ, Ang C. Antacid exposure and immunotherapy outcomes among patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Ther Adv Med Oncol 13:17588359211010937, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33995594.
- Rivera DR, Peters S, Panagiotou OA, Shah DP, Kuderer NM, Hsu CY, Rubinstein SM, Lee BJ, Choueiri TK, de Lima Lopes G Jr, Grivas P, Painter CA, Rini BI, Thompson MA, Arcobello J, Bakouny Z, Doroshow DB, Egan PC, Farmakiotis D, Fecher LA, Friese CR, Galsky MD, Goel S, Gupta S, Halfdanarson TR, Halmos B, Hawley JE, Khaki AR, Lemmon CA, Mishra S, Olszewski AJ, Pennell NA, Puc MM, Revankar SG, Schapira L, Schmidt A, Schwartz GK, Shah SA, Wu JT, Xie Z, Yeh AC, Zhu H, Shyr Y, Lyman GH, Warner JL. Utilization of COVID-19 Treatments and Clinical Outcomes among Patients with Cancer: A COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19) Cohort Study. Cancer Discov 10(10):1514-1527, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32699031.
- Franses JW, Philipp J, Missios P, Bhan I, Liu A, Yashaswini C, Tai E, Zhu H, Ligorio M, Nicholson B, Tassoni EM, Desai N, Kulkarni AS, Szabolcs A, Hong TS, Liss AS, Fernandez-Del Castillo C, Ryan DP, Maheswaran S, Haber DA, Daley GQ, Ting DT. Pancreatic circulating tumor cell profiling identifies LIN28B as a metastasis driver and drug target. Nat Commun 11(1):3303, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32620742.
- Sun R, Zhu H, Wei LJ. Assessing the Prognostic Value of the Automated Bone Scan Index for Prostate Cancer. JAMA Oncol 5(2):270, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30543368.
- Aceto N, Bardia A, Wittner BS, Donaldson MC, O'Keefe R, Engstrom A, Bersani F, Zheng Y, Comaills V, Niederhoffer K, Zhu H, Mackenzie O, Shioda T, Sgroi D, Kapur R, Ting DT, Moy B, Ramaswamy S, Toner M, Haber DA, Maheswaran S. AR Expression in Breast Cancer CTCs Associates with Bone Metastases. Mol Cancer Res 16(4):720-727, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29453314.
- Miyamoto DT, Zheng Y, Wittner BS, Lee RJ, Zhu H, Broderick KT, Desai R, Fox DB, Brannigan BW, Trautwein J, Arora KS, Desai N, Dahl DM, Sequist LV, Smith MR, Kapur R, Wu CL, Shioda T, Ramaswamy S, Ting DT, Toner M, Maheswaran S, Haber DA. RNA-Seq of single prostate CTCs implicates noncanonical Wnt signaling in antiandrogen resistance. Science 349(6254):1351-6, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26383955.
- Sarioglu AF, Aceto N, Kojic N, Donaldson MC, Zeinali M, Hamza B, Engstrom A, Zhu H, Sundaresan TK, Miyamoto DT, Luo X, Bardia A, Wittner BS, Ramaswamy S, Shioda T, Ting DT, Stott SL, Kapur R, Maheswaran S, Haber DA, Toner M. A microfluidic device for label-free, physical capture of circulating tumor cell clusters. Nat Methods 12(7):685-91, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25984697.
- Ting DT, Wittner BS, Ligorio M, Vincent Jordan N, Shah AM, Miyamoto DT, Aceto N, Bersani F, Brannigan BW, Xega K, Ciciliano JC, Zhu H, MacKenzie OC, Trautwein J, Arora KS, Shahid M, Ellis HL, Qu N, Bardeesy N, Rivera MN, Deshpande V, Ferrone CR, Kapur R, Ramaswamy S, Shioda T, Toner M, Maheswaran S, Haber DA. Single-cell RNA sequencing identifies extracellular matrix gene expression by pancreatic circulating tumor cells. Cell Rep 8(6):1905-1918, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25242334.
- Aceto N, Bardia A, Miyamoto DT, Donaldson MC, Wittner BS, Spencer JA, Yu M, Pely A, Engstrom A, Zhu H, Brannigan BW, Kapur R, Stott SL, Shioda T, Ramaswamy S, Ting DT, Lin CP, Toner M, Haber DA, Maheswaran S. Circulating tumor cell clusters are oligoclonal precursors of breast cancer metastasis. Cell 158(5):1110-1122, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25171411.
- Yu M, Bardia A, Aceto N, Bersani F, Madden MW, Donaldson MC, Desai R, Zhu H, Comaills V, Zheng Z, Wittner BS, Stojanov P, Brachtel E, Sgroi D, Kapur R, Shioda T, Ting DT, Ramaswamy S, Getz G, Iafrate AJ, Benes C, Toner M, Maheswaran S, Haber DA. Cancer therapy. Ex vivo culture of circulating breast tumor cells for individualized testing of drug susceptibility. Science 345(6193):216-20, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25013076.
Review Articles
- Zhu H, Jin RU. The role of the fibroblast in Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma. Curr Opin Gastroenterol 40(4):319-327, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38626060.
- Gao Z, Azar J, Zhu H, Williams-Perez S, Kang SW, Marginean C, Rubinstein MP, Makawita S, Lee HS, Camp ER. Translational and oncologic significance of tertiary lymphoid structures in pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Front Immunol 15:1324093, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38361928.
Other Articles
- Abidi M, Aboulafia DM, Accordino MK, Zhu H A Systematic Framework to Rapidly Obtain Data on Patients with Cancer and COVID-19: CCC19 Governance, Protocol, and Quality Assurance. Cancer Cell 38(6):761-6, 2020. PMID: 33176160.
- Maghsoudi A, Sada Y, Nowakowski S, Zhu H, Yarlagadda S, Li A, Razjoiyan A A Multi-institutional natural language processing pipeline to extract performance status from electronic health records. Cancer Control.
Abstracts
- Zhu H, Choi J, Sun R. Identification of pleiotropic genetic risk variants for pancreatic cancer and diabetes. 2026 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, 2026. e-Pub 2026.
- Zhu H, Nittolo T, To S, Lockhart A, Wang JS, Shaker A, Jin R, Mills JC. A novel co-culture system to validate results of a phase I trial testing new treatment for Barrett’s esophagus. 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting I, 2025. e-Pub 2025.
- Zhu H, Keeling SS, Liu KS, Musher BL. Immune checkpoint inhibitors in minority patients with mismatch repair-deficient gastrointestinal cancers. IJCCD, 2024. e-Pub 2024.
- Zhu H, Lieber JJ. COVID-19 and spontaneous pneumopericardium: a case report. Journal of Scientific Innovation in Medicine 3(3):4, 2020. e-Pub 2020.
- Aceto N, Bardia A, Spencer JA, Wittner B, Yu M, Donaldson MC, Pely A, Engstrom A, Zhu H, Brannigan BW, Kapur R, Stott SL, Shioda T, Ramaswamy S, Ting DT, Lin CP, Toner M, Haber DA, Maheswaran S. Circulating tumor cell clusters are precursors of breast cancer metastasis. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
- Sarioglu AF, Aceto N, Kojic N, Donaldson MC, Zeinali M, Hamza B, Engstrom A, Zhu H, Sundaresan T, Miyamoto DT, Luo X, Bardia A, Wittner B, Ramaswamy S, Shioda T, Ting DT, Stott SL, Kapur R, Maheswaran S, Haber DA, Toner M. Circulating tumor cell cluster-chip. Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES).
- Zhu H, Choz M, Sil S, Kadayifci A, Atar M, Thapar V, Xega K, Rivera MN, Deshpande V, Ferrone CR, Kapur R, Aryee M, Brugge W, Ryan DP, Toner M, Maheswaran S, Haber DA, Ting DT. Pancreatic circulating tumor cells: liquid biopsy for treatment response and early detection. Geisel School of Medicine Annual Scientific Summer Research Symposium.
- Zhu H, Choz M, Sil S, Kadayifci A, Atar M, Thapar V, Xega K, Rivera MN, Deshpande V, Ferrone CR, Kapur R, Aryee M, Brugge W, Ryan DP, Toner M, Maheswaran S, Haber DA, Ting DT. Pancreatic circulating tumor cells: liquid biopsy for treatment response and early detection. Chinese American Medical Society Annual Scientific Conference.
- Zhu H, Perri J, Powell RJ. Carotid string sign: an operative dilemma. 44th Annual Meeting of the New England Society for Vascular Surgery.
- Zhu H, Welinsky S, Soper E, Abul-Husn NS, Lucas AL. Prevalence of gene variants in patients with family history of pancreatic cancer: impact of multi-gene panel testing. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Department of Medicine Research Day 2019.
- Zhu H, Welinsky S, Soper E, Abul-Husn NS, Lucas AL. Prevalence of gene variants in patients with family history of pancreatic cancer: impact of multi-gene panel testing. Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2019.
- Zhu H, Lieber JJ. Covid 19 and spontaneous pneumopericardium: a case report. 11th Annual Graduate Medical Education (GME) Research Day at Mount Sinai.
- Bhalla S, Zhu H, Ozbek U, Wilck EJ, Chang S, Chen X, Ward S, Harpaz N, Polydorides A, Miller W, Fiel MI, Modica I, Fan W, Zeizafoun N, Ang C. The impact of pathological response on adjuvant chemotherapy decisions and patient outcomes in gastrointestinal cancers. European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO).
- Zhu H, Riaz F, Doroshow D. Inpatient use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer patients. 12th Annual Graduate Medical Education (GME) Research Day at Mount Sinai.
- Zhu H, Razjouyan J, Yarlagadda S, Naik A, Sada Y. Electronic frailty index: a risk stratification tool for survival and healthcare outcomes in veterans with colorectal cancer. ASCO Quality Care Symposium 2022.
- Riaz F, Zhu H, Cheng W, Brongiel S, Baldwin E, Kier M, Zaemes J, Hearn C, Abdelghany O, Parikh R, Reuss J, Prsic E, Doroshow D. The inpatient immunotherapy outcomes study – a multi-institutional study to describe patient outcomes following administration of immunotherapy in the hospital. ASCO Quality Care Symposium 2022.
- Zhu H, Razjouyan J, Yarlagadda S, Naik A, Sada Y. Electronic frailty index: a risk stratification tool for survival and healthcare outcomes in veterans with colorectal cancer. TxSCO Annual Conference 2022.
- Zhu H, Keeling S, Liu K, Musher B. Immune checkpoint inhibitors in minority patients with mismatch repair-deficient gastrointestinal cancers. Baylor College of Medicine - Harris Health Research Day.
- Zhu H, Razjouyan J, Yarlagadda S, Sada Y. Electronic frailty index to assess post-operative healthcare utilization in veterans with non-metastatic colon cancer. ASCO 2023.
- Zhu H, Keeling S, Liu K, Musher B. Immune checkpoint inhibitors in minority patients with mismatch repair-deficient gastrointestinal cancers. SCHD 2024.
- Zhu H, Sada Y, Jin R. Molecular profiles of gastric adenocarcinoma among Hispanic patients at a safety-net healthcare system. ASCO 2022.
Book Chapters
- Musher, BL, Zhu, H. Therapy for Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer, 57-65, 2023.
- Musher B, Zhu H. Chapter 4: Therapy for Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer. In: Pancreatic Cancer Current Therapeutics and Future Directions. Springer Publishing Company, 2023.
- Zhu H, Yeung Z, Musher B, Makawita S. Chapter 9: Pancreatic Cancer. In: Tumor Board Review: Evidence-Based Case Reviews and Questions. 3rd. Springer Publishing Company, 2022.
- Riggins K, Zhu H. Chapter 8: Gastric Cancer. In: Tumor Board Review: Evidence-Based Case Reviews and Questions. 3rd. Springer Publishing Company, 2022.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified July 22, 2026