Zhijian Qian, Ph.D.

(877) 524-4673
Zhijian Qian, Ph.D.
Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Systems Biology
Research Area
  • Myelodysplastic Syndrome
  • Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Academic Appointments

Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Systems Biology

Zhijian Qian, Ph.D., joined the Beckman Research Institute at City of Hope® as a professor and vice chair of the Department of Systems Biology in August 2025. Before that, he had been serving as a tenured professor of medicine at the University of Florida, where he held the Pierre Chagnon Professorship of Cancer Research in the Division of Hematology and Oncology of the Department of Medicine. He also served as Co-Leader of the Mechanisms of Oncogenesis Research Program at the UF Health Cancer Center.

 

Dr. Qian earned his Ph.D. degree at the Shanghai Institute of Cell Biology at the Chinese Academy of Science in China. He then completed postdoctoral training at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Chicago. In 2010, he established his independent research laboratory in the Department of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

 

Among his many honors, Dr. Qian received the Scholar Award from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Researcher of the Year Award in 2018. Most recently, in 2024, he was recognized with the Outstanding Research Scientist Award in Basic and Translational Science at the University of Florida. Dr. Qian’s research spans various tumor types, including acute leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes, and lung cancer, and is currently supported by funding from the National Cancer Institute, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Location

Education & Experience

Degrees

  • 1994, Ph.D., Cell and Molecular Biology, Shanghai Institute of Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
  • 1989, B.S., Microbiology and Biochemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

Fellowship

  • 1997-2000, Ben May Institute for Cancer Research, University of Chicago, IL
  • 1994-1997, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL

Professional Experience

  • 2025-present, Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Systems Biology, City of Hope Cancer Center Duarte, Duarte, CA
  • 2023-2025, Co-leader, the Mechanisms of Oncogenesis (MOO) program, UF Health Cancer Center, Gainesville, FL
  • 2022-2025, Pierre Chagnon Professor of Cancer Research, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
  • 2021-2025, Professor (tenured), Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Joint Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
  • 2018-2021, Associate Professor (tenured), Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
  • 2016-2018, Associate Professor (tenured) of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
  • 2011-2016, Academic Director, Flow Cytometry Core Facility, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
  • 2010-2016, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
  • 2002-2010, Research Associate (Assistant Professor), Section of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
  • 2000-2002, Research Associate (Instructor), Section of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Research

Laboratory

The Qian Laboratory is dedicated to uncovering the molecular and cellular mechanisms that drive the initiation and progression of myeloid malignancies, with a primary focus on myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). 

View the Qian Laboratory

Publications

  • Yu F, Zheng S, Yu C, Gao S, Shen Z, Nar R, Liu Z, Huang S, Wu L, Gu T, Qian Z*. KRAS mutants confer platinum resistance by regulating ALKBH5 posttranslational modifications in lung cancer. J Clin Invest 2025 Feb 4;135(6):e185149. doi: 10.1172/JCI185149. PMID: 39960727
  • Nar R, Wu Z, Li Y, Smith A, Zhang Y, Wang J, Yu F, Gao S, Yu C, Huo Z, Zheng G, Qian Z*. Targeting METTL3 protein by proteolysis-targeting chimeras: A novel therapeutic approach for acute myeloid leukemia. Genes Dis. 2024 Nov 7;12(4):101452. doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2024.101452. eCollection 2025 Jul.PMID: 40453361
  • Wu Q, Yu C, Yu F, Guo Y, Sheng Y, Li L, Li Y, Zhang Y, Huang Y, Ni H, Huo Z, Wu W, Wang G, Lyu J, Qian Z*. Evi1 governs Kdm6b-mediated histone demethylation to regulate the Laptm4b-driven mTORC pathway in hematopoietic progenitor cells. J Clin Invest. 2024 Dec 16;134(24):e173403. doi: 10.1172/JCI173403.PMID: 39680456 Qian Z* and Yu F. GADD45A: A Key Tumor Suppressor in AML Subtypes. Blood. 2024 Jul 4;144(1):6-7. doi: 10.1182/blood.2024024685.PMID: 38963670
  • Yu F, Liu S, Zhu AC, He C, Qian Z*. Protocol for detecting RBM33-binding sites in HEK293T cells using PAR-CLIP-seq. STAR Protoc. 2024 Mar 15;5(1):102855. 2024.102855. PMID: 38300798
  • Yu F, Zhu A, Liu S, Wang Y, Khudaverdyann N, Yu C, Wu Q, Jiang Y, Song J, Jin L, He C and Qian Z*. RBM33 Acts as an m6A Reader Required for ALKBH5-mediated m6A Demethylation. Mol Cell 2023 Jun 15;83(12):2003-2019.e6. PMID: 37257451 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2023.05.010
  • Yu C, Sheng Y, Ni H, Qiu A, Huang Y and Qian Z*. Foxm1 haploinsufficiency drives clonal hematopoiesis in vivo and promotes the transition to hematologic malignancy under stress. J Clin Invest. 2023 Aug 1;133(15):e163911. doi: 10.1172/JCI163911.
  • Yu F. Qian Z*. Mechanisms for regulation of RAS palmitoylation and plasma membrane trafficking in hematopoietic malignancies. J Clin Invest. 2023 Jun 15;133(12):e171104. doi: 10.1172/JCI171104.
  • Dang Q, Wu Q, Yu F, Sheng Y, Yu C, Song G, Paulsen K, Lyu J and Qian Z*. m6A reader Ythdf3 protects hematopoietic stem cell integrity under stress by promoting the translation of Foxm1 and Asxl1 transcripts. Hematologica. 2022 Aug1: 107(8). 1922 doi: 10.3324/haematol.2021.279300. PMID: 34818872
  • Sheng Y, Wei J, Yu F, Yu C, Wu Q, Liu Y, Li L, Cui X, Gu X, Shen B, Li W, He C* and Qian Z*. A Critical Role of Nuclear m6A Reader YTHDC1 in Leukemogenesis by Regulating MCM Complex-Mediated DNA Replication. Blood. 2021 Dec 30;138(26):2838-2852. doi: 10.1182/blood.2021011707. PMID: 34255814 https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2021011707
  • Yu F, Wei J, Cui X, Yu C, Ni W, Bungert J, Wu L, He C, Qian Z*. Post-translational modification of RNA m6A demethylase ALKBH5 regulates ROS-induced DNA damage response. Nucleic Acids Res. 2021 Jun 4;49(10):5779-5797. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkab415.PMID: 34048572
  • Sheng Y, Ma R, Yu C, Paulsen K, Zhang J, Ni H, Huang Y and Qian Z*. Context dependent role of c-Myc in mediating the Wnt/-catenin signaling in hematopoiesis. Blood. 2021 Feb 4;137(5):610-623. doi: 10.1182/blood.2019004688. https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.2019004688.
  • Shen C, Sheng Y, Zhu A, Robinson S, Jiang X, Dong L, Chen H, Su R, Yin Z, Li W, Deng X, Chen Y, Hu Y, Wng H, Hunag H, Prince E, Cogle C, Sun M, Zhang B, Chen C, Marcucci G, He C*, Qian Z* and Chen J*. m6A demethylase ALKBH5 selectively promotes tumorigenesis and cancer stem cell self-renewal in acute myeloid leukemia. Cell Stem Cell 2020, May 12, 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stem.2020.04.009 *Co-corresponding author
  • Sheng Y, Yu C, Liu Y, Hu C, Ma R, Lu X, Ji P, Chen J, Mizukawa B, Huang Y, Licht JD and Qian Z*. FOXM1 Regulates Leukemia Stem Cell Quiescence and Survival in MLL-Rearranged AML. Nature Communication. (2020) 11:928 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14590-9
  • Huang Y, Su R, Sheng Y, Dong L, Dong Z, Xu H, Ni T, Zhang Z, Zhang T,Li C, Han L, Zhu Z, Fulin Lian F, Wei J, Deng Q,Wang Y, Wunderlich M, GaoZ, Pan G, Zhong D, Zhou H, Zhang N, Gan J, Jiang H, Mulloy JC, Qian Z*, Chen J*, Yang CG*. Small-molecule targeting of oncogenic FTO demethylase in acute myeloid leukemia. Cancer Cell . 2019 Apr 15;35(4):677-691.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2019.03.006. PMID: 30991027 (* co-corresponding author).
  • Hou Y, Li W, Sheng Y, Huang Y, Li L, Zhang Z, Peace D, Quigley JG, Wu W, Zhao YY, and Qian Z*. FoxM1 is essential for quiescence and maintenance of hematopoietic stem cell. Nat Immunol. 2015 Aug;16(8):810-8. doi: 10.1038/ni.3204. Epub 2015 Jun 29. PMID: 26147687