Zhengping Zhuang

Zhengping Zhuang is an American physician-scientist and cancer researcher, widely recognized for his contributions to molecular pathology, cancer genetics, and translational oncology. He is Senior Investigator at the Neuro-Oncology Branch of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). His work has advanced fundamental understanding of cancer biology and has contributed to multiple therapeutic innovations.

Education and training Zhuang received his M.D. from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in 1983 and completed a residency in general surgery at Rui Jin Hospital. He earned a Ph.D. in pharmacology from Wayne State University in 1990, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School. He later completed residency training in transitional medicine at Henry Ford Hospital and in anatomic pathology at the NIH Laboratory of Pathology.

Cancer genetics Zhuang has contributed to the discovery and characterization of several cancer-associated genes, including: MEN1 (menin), the tumor suppressor gene mutated in multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1. c-MET, a proto-oncogene mutated in Hereditary papillary renal carcinoma; HIF2A (EPAS1), which causes a tumor-predisposition syndrome now known as Pacak–Zhuang syndrome; SF3B1, associated with pituitary prolactinomas.

He was also among the first to describe the cellular origins of tumors in Von Hippel–Lindau disease, showing that hemangioblast-derived lesions represent developmental angioblast arrest.

Biotechnological innovation Zhuang co-invented Laser capture microdissection (LCM), a method enabling isolation of specific cells from tissue samples. Introduced in 1996, LCM remains widely used in molecular and cellular research. He has also developed genomic and proteomic profiling approaches for CNS tumors, identifying stem cell–like tumor subpopulations and aberrant β-catenin signaling. LB100 entered FDA-approved clinical trials and has shown early efficacy.

Selected publications

Awards and honors Stowell–Orbison Award, USCAP (1994) Gordon F. Vawter Award, Society for Pediatric Pathology (1996) NIH APAO Outstanding Achievement Award (1999) Cy Katzen Humanitarian Award (2014) Federal Technology Transfer Awards (2018, 2019, 2020, 2022) NCI New Invention and Technology Development Award (1995, 2019)