Kang Zhang

In this Chinese name, the family name is Zhang.

Kang Zhang (Chinese: 张康^[1]) is a Chinese-American ophthalmologist specializing in ophthalmic genetics and aging processes in the eye. He is currently a professor of the Faculty of Medicine at Macau University of Science and Technology.^[2] He was previously a professor of ophthalmology and the founding director of the Institute for Genomic Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, but after being involved in controversies including unethnical behavior and "objectional conditions" at UCSD, which prompted an FDA probe that barred Zhang from "overseeing human research studies" in 2017,^{[3][4][5][6][6][7]} as well as undisclosed and questionable ties to Chinese companies^[8][9] Zhang moved to China. Zhang is particularly known for his controversies and for his work on lanosterol,^[10] stem cell research (particularly limbal stem cells^[11]), gene editing,^[12] and artificial intelligence.^[13]

Kang Zhang
Born	Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Education	M.D., Harvard University Medical School (1995) Ph.D. (Genetics), Harvard University (1991)
Medical career
Profession	Ophthalmologist
Institutions	Macau University of Science and Technology
Sub-specialties	Ophthalmic genetics Stem cell research Artificial intelligence
Website	kangzhangmd.com

Education

Born in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, Zhang obtained his B.S. in Biochemistry from Sichuan University in Chengdu, China in 1984. In 1991, Zhang graduated with a Ph.D. in Genetics from Harvard University. Subsequently, Zhang obtained his M.D. from a Harvard University Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Joint M.D. Program with magna cum laude honors in 1995.^[14]

Career and controversies

After completing an ophthalmology residency at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University, Zhang became assistant staff at the Cole Eye Institute at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Zhang completed a retina fellowship at the University of Utah, and afterwards became an assistant professor at the University of Utah from 2002 to 2006.

In 2012, the UCSD IRB forced Zhang to stop enrolling subjects in all 11 of his research endevors due to "receiving an anonymous complaint that he had committed multiple ethical, compliance and integrity violations in a study that enrolled more than 16,000 participants".^[15] An internal review board concluded that Zhang's research had pervasive issues, but ultimately allowed the research to be resumed^[15]

In 2013, Zhang, along with Trey Ideker, identified that the molecular aging clock could be measured by blood and tissues, and made use of epigenetic markers.^[16]

In 2014, Zhang, along with Yizhi Liu and Xiangdong Fu, investigated mechanisms and developed a new method of limbal stem cell repair and regeneration.^[11] Zhang has also pioneered the usage of artificial intelligence in diagnosing eye diseases.^[17]

In 2015, Zhang discovered that lanosterol can be used in eyedrop form to help prevent cataracts.^[10][18]

In 2017 the FDA concluded an investigation into Zhang's medical and research malpractice and barred him from overseeing research on human subjects.^[6] The investigation found multiple violations going as far back as 2012.^[3][4] These violations was followed by an internal audit from UCSD which concluded that Zhang had put "patients in harm’s way for years".^[7]

In 2019, following the FDA investigation, it was revealed that Zhang was involved in unethical experiments on babies in China which received international condemnation from more than two dozen doctors due to the "risk of possibly blinding children".^[19][20] Around this same time, Zhang was revealed to have undisclosed ties to a Chinese ophthalmological biotech company^[21][9][6] Zhang was forced to take a leave of absence by UCSD and then resigned. Zhang was investigated for his ties to china by UCSD, although Zhang's lawyer claimed that he was put on leave and investigated soley due to the 2017 FDA investigation.^[22][9] Kang, who was already a part of the Thousand Talents Plan, a Chinese program to recruit American talent which has been described by the FBI as encouraging trade secret theft and economic espionage ^[23][24] moved to China and eventually found a new position at the Faculty of Medicine of Macau University of Science and Technology.^[25]

In 2020, a paper by Zhang in PNAS was retracted due to misidentifying images which came from other researchers as his own.^[26]

Awards

Some of Kang Zhang's selected awards are listed below.^[14]

• The Ophthalmologist World 100 Power List (2016, 2018)
• Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2016)
• Fellow, Association of American Physicians (2011)
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2011)
• America's Top Ophthalmologists, Consumer's Research Council of America (2011)
• NIH Director's Transformative R01 Program (2010)
• Senior Investigator Award, Research to Prevent Blindness (2010)
• Outstanding Achievement Award, Chinese Ophthalmological Society (2009)
• Burroughs Wellcome Fund Clinical Scientist Award in Translational Research (2008)
• Lew R. Wasserman Merit Award, Research to Prevent Blindness (2006)
• Macular Society membership (2006)
• American Society of Clinical Investigation membership (2006)
• Macular Vision Research Award (2002)
• Ruth Steinbach Fund for Macular Degeneration (2001)
• Charles Schepens Award for Excellence in Retina Research (2001)
• Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions Clinician Scientist Award (1999)

Professional affiliations

Kang Zhang's professional affiliations are listed below.^[14]

• American Academy of Ophthalmology
• American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• American Society for Clinical Investigation
• American Society of Human Genetics
• Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
• Association of American Physicians
• Macula Society

Selected publications

To date, Zhang has published more than 150 papers. Some selected publications are listed below.^[27]

• Vasireddy V, Jablonski MM, Khan NW, Wang XF, Sahu P, Sparrow JR, Ayyagari R (December 2009). "Elovl4 5-bp deletion knock-in mouse model for Stargardt-like macular degeneration demonstrates accumulation of ELOVL4 and lipofuscin". Exp. Eye Res. 89 (6): 905–12. doi:10.1016/j.exer.2009.07.021. PMC 2783393. PMID 19682985.
• Yang Z, Camp NJ, Sun H, Tong Z, Gibbs D, Cameron DJ, Chen H, Zhao Y, Pearson E, Li X, Chien J, Dewan A, Harmon J, Bernstein PS, Shridhar V, Zabriskie NA, Hoh J, Howes K, Zhang K (November 2006). "A variant of the HTRA1 gene increases susceptibility to age-related macular degeneration". Science. 314 (5801): 992–3. Bibcode:2006Sci...314..992Y. doi:10.1126/science.1133811. PMID 17053109. S2CID 19577378.
• Hannum G, Guinney J, Zhao L, Zhang L, Hughes G, Sadda S, Klotzle B, Bibikova M, Fan JB, Gao Y, Deconde R, Chen M, Rajapakse I, Friend S, Ideker T, Zhang K (January 2013). "Genome-wide methylation profiles reveal quantitative views of human aging rates". Mol. Cell. 49 (2): 359–367. doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2012.10.016. PMC 3780611. PMID 23177740.
• Yu FX, Luo J, Mo JS, Liu G, Kim YC, Meng Z, Zhao L, Peyman G, Ouyang H, Jiang W, Zhao J, Chen X, Zhang L, Wang CY, Bastian BC, Zhang K, Guan KL (June 2014). "Mutant Gq/11 promote uveal melanoma tumorigenesis by activating YAP". Cancer Cell. 25 (6): 822–30. doi:10.1016/j.ccr.2014.04.017. PMC 4075337. PMID 24882516.
• Liao C, Yin AH, Peng CF, Fu F, Yang JX, Li R, Chen YY, Luo DH, Zhang YL, Ou YM, Li J, Wu J, Mai MQ, Hou R, Wu F, Luo H, Li DZ, Liu HL, Zhang XZ, Zhang K (May 2014). "Noninvasive prenatal diagnosis of common aneuploidies by semiconductor sequencing". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 111 (20): 7415–20. Bibcode:2014PNAS..111.7415L. doi:10.1073/pnas.1321997111. PMC 4034209. PMID 24799683.
• Ouyang H, Xue Y, Lin Y, Zhang X, Xi L, Patel S, Cai H, Luo J, Zhang M, Zhang M, Yang Y, Li G, Li H, Jiang W, Yeh E, Lin J, Pei M, Zhu J, Cao G, Zhang L, Yu B, Chen S, Fu XD, Liu Y, Zhang K (July 2014). "WNT7A and PAX6 define corneal epithelium homeostasis and pathogenesis". Nature. 511 (7509): 358–61. Bibcode:2014Natur.511..358O. doi:10.1038/nature13465. PMC 4610745. PMID 25030175.
• Bhisitkul RB, Mendes TS, Rofagha S, Enanoria W, Boyer DS, Sadda SR, Zhang K (May 2015). "Macular atrophy progression and 7-year vision outcomes in subjects from the ANCHOR, MARINA, and HORIZON studies: the SEVEN-UP study". Am. J. Ophthalmol. 159 (5): 915–24.e2. doi:10.1016/j.ajo.2015.01.032. PMID 25640411.
• Zhao L, Chen XJ, Zhu J, Xi YB, Yang X, Hu LD, Ouyang H, Patel SH, Jin X, Lin D, Wu F, Flagg K, Cai H, Li G, Cao G, Lin Y, Chen D, Wen C, Chung C, Wang Y, Qiu A, Yeh E, Wang W, Hu X, Grob S, Abagyan R, Su Z, Tjondro HC, Zhao XJ, Luo H, Hou R, Jefferson J, Perry P, Gao W, Kozak I, Granet D, Li Y, Sun X, Wang J, Zhang L, Liu Y, Yan YB, Zhang K (July 2015). "Lanosterol reverses protein aggregation in cataracts". Nature. 523 (7562): 607–11. Bibcode:2015Natur.523..607Z. doi:10.1038/nature14650. PMID 26200341. S2CID 4469138.
• Hu CM, Fang RH, Wang KC, Luk BT, Thamphiwatana S, Dehaini D, Nguyen P, Angsantikul P, Wen CH, Kroll AV, Carpenter C, Ramesh M, Qu V, Patel SH, Zhu J, Shi W, Hofman FM, Chen TC, Gao W, Zhang K, Chien S, Zhang L (October 2015). "Nanoparticle biointerfacing by platelet membrane cloaking". Nature. 526 (7571): 118–21. Bibcode:2015Natur.526..118H. doi:10.1038/nature15373. PMC 4871317. PMID 26374997.
• Skowronska-Krawczyk D, Zhao L, Zhu J, Weinreb RN, Cao G, Luo J, Flagg K, Patel S, Wen C, Krupa M, Luo H, Ouyang H, Lin D, Wang W, Li G, Xu Y, Li O, Chung C, Yeh E, Jafari M, Ai M, Zhong Z, Shi W, Zheng L, Krawczyk M, Chen D, Shi C, Zin C, Zhu J, Mellon PL, Gao W, Abagyan R, Zhang L, Sun X, Zhong S, Zhuo Y, Rosenfeld MG, Liu Y, Zhang K (September 2015). "P16INK4a Upregulation Mediated by SIX6 Defines Retinal Ganglion Cell Pathogenesis in Glaucoma". Mol. Cell. 59 (6): 931–40. doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2015.07.027. PMC 4648709. PMID 26365380.
• Liu Y, Wu F, Lu L, Lin D, Zhang K (August 2015). "Videos in Clinical Medicine: Examination of the Retina". N. Engl. J. Med. 373 (8): e9. doi:10.1056/NEJMvcm1308125. PMID 26287871.
• Lin H, Ouyang H, Zhu J, Huang S, Liu Z, Chen S, Cao G, Li G, Signer RA, Xu Y, Chung C, Zhang Y, Lin D, Patel S, Wu F, Cai H, Hou J, Wen C, Jafari M, Liu X, Luo L, Zhu J, Qiu A, Hou R, Chen B, Chen J, Granet D, Heichel C, Shang F, Li X, Krawczyk M, Skowronska-Krawczyk D, Wang Y, Shi W, Chen D, Zhong Z, Zhong S, Zhang L, Chen S, Morrison SJ, Maas RL, Zhang K, Liu Y (March 2016). "Lens regeneration using endogenous stem cells with gain of visual function". Nature. 531 (7594): 323–8. Bibcode:2016Natur.531..323L. doi:10.1038/nature17181. PMC 6061995. PMID 26958831.
• Suzuki K, Tsunekawa Y, Hernandez-Benitez R, Wu J, Zhu J, Kim EJ, Hatanaka F, Yamamoto M, Araoka T, Li Z, Kurita M, Hishida T, Li M, Aizawa E, Guo S, Chen S, Goebl A, Soligalla RD, Qu J, Jiang T, Fu X, Jafari M, Esteban CR, Berggren WT, Lajara J, Nuñez-Delicado E, Guillen P, Campistol JM, Matsuzaki F, Liu GH, Magistretti P, Zhang K, Callaway EM, Zhang K, Belmonte JC (December 2016). "In vivo genome editing via CRISPR/Cas9 mediated homology-independent targeted integration". Nature. 540 (7631): 144–149. Bibcode:2016Natur.540..144S. doi:10.1038/nature20565. PMC 5331785. PMID 27851729.
• Hao X, Luo H, Krawczyk M, Wei W, Wang W, Wang J, Flagg K, Hou J, Zhang H, Yi S, Jafari M, Lin D, Chung C, Caughey BA, Li G, Dhar D, Shi W, Zheng L, Hou R, Zhu J, Zhao L, Fu X, Zhang E, Zhang C, Zhu JK, Karin M, Xu RH, Zhang K (July 2017). "DNA methylation markers for diagnosis and prognosis of common cancers". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 114 (28): 7414–7419. Bibcode:2017PNAS..114.7414H. doi:10.1073/pnas.1703577114. PMC 5514741. PMID 28652331.
• Xu RH, Wei W, Krawczyk M, Wang W, Luo H, Flagg K, Yi S, Shi W, Quan Q, Li K, Zheng L, Zhang H, Caughey BA, Zhao Q, Hou J, Zhang R, Xu Y, Cai H, Li G, Hou R, Zhong Z, Lin D, Fu X, Zhu J, Duan Y, Yu M, Ying B, Zhang W, Wang J, Zhang E, Zhang C, Li O, Guo R, Carter H, Zhu JK, Hao X, Zhang K (November 2017). "Circulating tumour DNA methylation markers for diagnosis and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma". Nat Mater. 16 (11): 1155–1161. Bibcode:2017NatMa..16.1155X. doi:10.1038/nmat4997. PMID 29035356.
• Zhu J, Ming C, Fu X, Duan Y, Hoang DA, Rutgard J, Zhang R, Wang W, Hou R, Zhang D, Zhang E, Zhang C, Hao X, Xiong W, Zhang K (June 2017). "Gene and mutation independent therapy via CRISPR-Cas9 mediated cellular reprogramming in rod photoreceptors". Cell Res. 27 (6): 830–833. doi:10.1038/cr.2017.57. PMC 5518875. PMID 28429769.
• Kermany DS, Goldbaum M, Cai W, Valentim C, Liang H, Baxter SL, McKeown A, Yang G, Wu X, Yan F, Dong J, Prasadha MK, Pei J, Ting M, Zhu J, Li C, Hewett S, Dong J, Ziyar I, Shi A, Zhang R, Zheng L, Hou R, Shi W, Fu X, Duan Y, Huu V, Wen C, Zhang ED, Zhang CL, Li O, Wang X, Singer MA, Sun X, Xu J, Tafreshi A, Lewis MA, Xia H, Zhang K (February 2018). "Identifying Medical Diagnoses and Treatable Diseases by Image-Based Deep Learning". Cell. 172 (5): 1122–1131.e9. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2018.02.010. PMID 29474911.
• Liang H, Tsui BY, Ni H, Valentim C, Baxter SL, Liu G, Cai W, Kermany DS, Sun X, Chen J, He L, Zhu J, Tian P, Shao H, Zheng L, Hou R, Hewett S, Li G, Liang P, Zang X, Zhang Z, Pan L, Cai H, Ling R, Li S, Cui Y, Tang S, Ye H, Huang X, He W, Liang W, Zhang Q, Jiang J, Yu W, Gao J, Ou W, Deng Y, Hou Q, Wang B, Yao C, Liang Y, Zhang S, Duan Y, Zhang R, Gibson S, Zhang CL, Li O, Zhang ED, Karin G, Nguyen N, Wu X, Wen C, Xu J, Xu W, Wang B, Wang W, Li J, Pizzato B, Bao C, Xiang D, He W, He S, Zhou Y, Haw W, Goldbaum M, Tremoulet A, Hsu CN, Carter H, Zhu L, Zhang K, Xia H (March 2019). "Evaluation and accurate diagnoses of pediatric diseases using artificial intelligence". Nat. Med. 25 (3): 433–438. doi:10.1038/s41591-018-0335-9. PMID 30742121. S2CID 59945159.
• Lu Y, Zhang K (March 2018). "Cellular Reprogramming in the Retina - Seeing the Light". N. Engl. J. Med. 378 (11): 1059–1060. doi:10.1056/NEJMcibr1713887. PMID 29539280. S2CID 3931861.
• Xia H, Li X, Gao W, Fu X, Fang FR, Zhang L, Zhang K (2018). "Tissue repair and regeneration with endogenous stem cells". Nature Reviews Materials. 3 (7): 174–193. Bibcode:2018NatRM...3..174X. doi:10.1038/s41578-018-0027-6.
• He J, Baxter SL, Xu J, Xu J, Zhou X, Zhang K (January 2019). "The practical implementation of artificial intelligence technologies in medicine". Nat. Med. 25 (1): 30–36. doi:10.1038/s41591-018-0307-0. PMC 6995276. PMID 30617336.