Apr 28, 2026 - Welcome to our new lab member Anna Burkhalter!
Anna was born in Russia but is an adopted Texan who grew up in Austin. She got her Bachelor of Science from Duke University in North Carolina. She is interested in how the tumor microenvironment and patient genetics shape cancer immunoediting and response to immunotherapy in TNBC. She is a Ph.D student in the Genetics and Genomics (GG) program and joined the Zhang lab in 2026.
Apr 28, 2026 - New method reveals cellular makeup of environments that favor metastatic cancer growth
Researchers at BCM and collaborating institutions developed a method that reveals the cellular makeup of tissues that support metastatic cancer growth, which is the primary cause of death for most patients with solid tumors. The method not only revealed cellular features shared by metastatic niches of multiple cancer models but also uncovered an unexpected driver of immune suppression in bone metastasis. The study appeared in the journal Cell. Co-authors Zhan Xu and Fengshuo Liu explained “The method, called Sortase A–Based Microenvironment Niche Tagging (SAMENT), selectively labels normal cells that come into direct contact with cancer cells.” (BCM NEWS - read more)
Apr 01, 2026 - There is more than one way for triple-negative breast cancer to become resistant to therapy
About 50% of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients develop resistance to therapy. When resistance arises, tumors are more likely to come back after the original treatment, significantly reducing the chances of survival. Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have discovered that there is more than one way TNBC can become immune to therapy. Their study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, reveals two mutually exclusive mechanisms that can give TNBC the ability to survive therapy. The findings have implications for treatment. Knowing ahead of time which resistance mechanism a patient’s tumor is likely to implement can guide treatment decisions to prevent or reduce resistance. (BCM "From The Labs" - read more)
Oct 09, 2025 - Welcome to our new lab member Jenny Guan!
Jenny is originally from Nanjing, China, and earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Go Blue!) in 2024. She's interested in developing treatments for established TNBC metastasis, focusing on the tumor microenvironment. She is a Ph.D. student in the Cancer & Cell Biology (CCB) program and joined the Zhang lab in 2025, co-mentored by Dr. Jeffrey Rosen.
Apr 02, 2025 - Fatty acids promote immune suppression and therapy resistance in triple negative breast cancer
Apr 02, 2025 - Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Therapy Resistance Due to Lipid Accumulation in Cells
Sep 17, 2024 - BCM News Article!
Mar 18, 2024 - Welcome to our new lab member Michael Dieffenbach!
Mar 04, 2024 - Welcome to our new lab member Noa Peled!
Noa graduated from Avram and Stella Goldstein-Goren Department of Biotechnology Engineering at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. She is interested in studying breast cancer bone metastases and aims to develop new therapeutic strategies against bone metastasis. She joined Zhang Lab in 2024 as a postdoctoral researcher.
Mar 01, 2024 - Welcome to our new lab member Xuan Li!
Xuan graduated from the School of Life Sciences at Tsinghua University, China in 2023. She is interested in the metastasis of ER-positive breast cancer. Welcome Xuan Li to join Zhang Lab as a postdoctoral researcher.
