Publications:47
Xiaotao Zhang, MD, PhD
Rony Zhang (Preferred Name)
About Me
Dr. Xiaotao Zhang earned his medical degree in Preventive Medicine in China. With a growing interest in disease prevention at the level of population health, he emigrated to the U.S to continue his education and training in Biostatistics and Epidemiology at Tulane University in New Orleans and The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. His research and experience are primarily focused on nutrition, the microbiome, cancer disparities and geriatric oncology. His research agenda is built upon multidisciplinary experiences studying the role of biological and modifiable factors in liver diseases and cancer prevention. By merging epidemiologic methods with innovative techniques and bioinformatic/statistical strategies, his current research examines the role of biological and modifiable factors in liver fibrosis and cancer prevention. He hopes to unravel risk factors and mechanisms to inform the development of new preventive interventions and clinical strategies.
He currently leads the Microbiome Epidemiology Lab at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where his team explores how host-microbiome interactions influence chronic disease risk and response to nutritional or therapeutic interventions.
Dr. Zhang also directs the Mount Sinai Bionutrition Research Core, a shared resource at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai that provides comprehensive, state-of-the-art support for nutritional research. The Core offers services in nutrition assessment, dietary intervention design, data analysis, and investigator training, facilitating high-quality translational and clinical nutrition studies.
Language
English
Position
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR | Medicine, Liver Diseases
Research Topics
Aging, Biomedical Informatics, Biostatistics, Cancer, Depression, Diabetes, Epidemiology, Gastroenterology, Global Health, Immunology, Inflammation, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), Liver, Metabolomics, Microgravity, Obesity, Patient Centered Outcomes Research, Personalized Medicine, Proteomics, Public Health, Translational Research
Multi-Disciplinary Training Areas
Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies in Medicine [AIET], Cancer Biology [CAB], Disease Mechanisms and Therapeutics (DMT)
Download the CVEducation
Bachelor of Medicine, Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University
Master of Science (MS), Tulane University,
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), The University of Texas Health Science Center
Postdoc, Baylor College of Medicine
Postdoc, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Awards
2025
Springer Nature Editorial Contribution Award
Springer Nature
2023
Dr. Klion Young Scientist Award
Division of Liver Diseases, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
2021
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Student and Early Career Investigator Scholarship
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
2021
Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER) Kenneth Rothman Scholarship
Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER)
2020
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Scholar-in-Training Award
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
2018
Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Integrative Epidemiology Fellowship
Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)
2018
Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASSC) Best Abstract award
Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASSC)
2018
American Public Health Association dissertation award finalist
American Public Health Association
2017
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Institutional Research Grant
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
2017
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Dr. Raju-John Stroehlein Distinguished Professorship Scholarship
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
2017
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Student Conference Funding Assistance Award; and Travel Scholarship
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth)
2017
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) AIDS and Public Health Research in the Americas Scholarship
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth)
2017
Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASSC) Young Investigator Award
Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASSC)
2017
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Conquer Cancer Foundation Merit Award
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
2016
American Journal of Preventive Medicine Outstanding Reviewer Award
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
2016
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Julius and Suzan Glickman Endowed Scholarship in Innovation
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth)
Research
The project "Racial disparities in cancer incidence and outcomes", examines hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) incidence interactions by age, sex, and race/ethnicity in U.S. Specifically, the study employs joinpoint analysis to explore secular trends of HCC incidence and age-period-cohort analysis to disentangle factors that equally influence all age groups at a particular calendar time (period effects) and those that vary by birth generation (cohort effects). The study reveals that HCC increases with variations in rate of change by age and race/ethnicity, with a strong birth cohort effect. Findings are published as, “Sex and Race Disparities in the Incidence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in the United States Examined through Age–Period–Cohort Analysis,” in Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention (2020). I also explore the predictors of survival among patients with HCC in the United States and found that curative intent treatment, age at diagnosis, sex, race/ethnicity, stage, and presence of comorbid disease were associated with 5-year survival in Medicare patients with HCC. Among these factors, receipt of curative intent treatment was the strongest predictor of 5-year survival. My article, “Predictors of five-year survival among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in the United States,” explores these results and is published in Cancer Causes & Control (2020). These two projects contribute both to academic and clinical practice and inform future potential targeted interventions on HCC disparity and survival.
Publications
Selected Publications
- Real-world Comparison of Steatosis-Associated Fibrosis Estimator and Fibrosis-4 Scores for Assessing Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Steatotic Liver Disease-related Fibrosis in a Highly Diverse Urban Metabolic Dysfunction-associated Steatotic Liver Disease Population. Xiaotao Zhang, Vikram Sivakumar, Alejandra Paredes-Marin, Asher Leviton, Augusto Villanueva, Meena B. Bansal, Julia Napoli, Christian Near, Dakota Trick, Hulya Kocyigit, Scott L. Friedman, Alyson Harty, Douglas Dieterich, Tatyana Kushner, Helen Adams, Ritu Agarwal, John Bucuvalas, Jaime Chu. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology
- Dietary Interventions in Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease: A Narrative Review of Evidence, Mechanisms, and Translational Challenges. Alejandra Paredes-Marin, Yulu He, Xiaotao Zhang. Nutrients
- Lowering lifestyle‑related cancer risk through adherence to the 2018 WCRF/AICR recommendations: insights and implications. Xiaotao Zhang. BMC Global and Public Health