Kang Zhang

In this Chinese name, the family name is Zhang.
Kang Zhang
Born
Chengdu, Sichuan, China
EducationM.D., Harvard University Medical School (1995)
Ph.D. (Genetics), Harvard University (1991)
Medical career
ProfessionOphthalmologist
InstitutionsMacau University of Science and Technology
Sub-specialtiesOphthalmic genetics
Stem cell research
Artificial intelligence
Websitekangzhangmd.com

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. In 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a notice related to his research oversight, and he later left UC San Diego in 2019.[3][4][5][6] He subsequently moved to China and continues his research, which includes work on lanosterol.[7] stem cell research (particularly limbal stem cells[8]), gene editing,[9] and artificial intelligence.[10]

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.[11]

Career

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, following an anonymous complaint, the UCSD Institutional Review Board (IRB) suspended enrollment in Zhang’s research studies. After an internal review, the research was permitted to resume.[12]

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.[13]

In 2014, Zhang, along with Yizhi Liu and Xiangdong Fu, investigated mechanisms and developed a new method of limbal stem cell repair and regeneration.[8] Zhang has also pioneered the usage of artificial intelligence in diagnosing eye diseases.[14]

In 2015, Zhang discovered that lanosterol can be used in eyedrop form to help prevent cataracts.[7][15]

In 2017, the FDA issued a warning letter to Zhang citing violations in his oversight of human research studies and restricted him from serving as a principal investigator on such studies.[4] The letter referenced issues dating back to 2012.[16][3] Subsequently, a UCSD internal audit identified what it described as shortcomings in Zhang’s research practices.[5]

In 2019, a clinical trial in China involving Zhang prompted a letter from international doctors questioning its ethics and methodology.[17] Around the same time, media reports noted his undisclosed ties to a Chinese ophthalmology company.[18][6][4] UCSD placed Zhang on administrative leave; he later resigned. The university investigated his connections to Chinese entities. Zhang’s lawyer said the leave and investigation stemmed from the 2017 FDA warning, not ties to China.[19][6] Zhang had been affiliated with the Thousand Talents Plan, a Chinese recruitment program the FBI has scrutinized for counterintelligence risks. [18][20] After leaving UCSD, he joined the Faculty of Medicine at Macau University of Science and Technology.[21]

In 2019, Zhang was recruited to Macau University of Science and Technology to establish Macau's first medical school, where he became Vice-Dean for Research and Chair Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, as well as Director of the Macau Institute for AI in Medicine.[22]

In 2021, Zhang and colleagues published a study in Nature Biomedical Engineering demonstrating that deep‑learning models could detect chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes from retinal fundus images, with potential applications in resource‑limited settings.[23] In 2023, he was profiled in Cell Reports Medicine, where he described his work on multi‑modal artificial intelligence and was listed as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher in Cross‑Field for 2019–2022.[24] He was appointed Vice President of Macau University of Science and Technology in 2024.[25] In 2026, he co‑authored a paper in npj Digital Medicine describing an AI model for personalized prediction of myopia progression in children.[26][27]

Zhang and colleagues proposed and implemented MetaGP, a generative medical foundation model that integrates large-scale electronic health records with multimodal medical imaging, in 2025.[28] Zhang, together with Jia Qu, also developed MINIM, a general-purpose large-scale generative synthetic medical image model, in 2025.[29]

In 2026, Zhang, together with Shanshan Wang, developed AFLoc, a pathology vision–language model capable of lesion localization.[30]

Awards

Some of Kang Zhang's selected awards are listed below.[11]

Professional affiliations

Kang Zhang's professional affiliations are listed below.[11]

Selected publications

To date, Zhang has published more than 150 papers. Some selected publications are listed below.[31]

References

  1. ^ Kang Zhang profile (jyyxylc.com)
  2. ^ "Macau University of Science and Technology Faculty of Medicine". Retrieved 2019-09-10.
  3. ^ a b "Kang Zhang, M.D., Ph.D. - 511374 - 01/05/2017". www.fda.gov. March 19, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Castellano, Jill (April 24, 2019). "UCSD Doctor Who Violated Human Research Rules 'On Leave' Following Inewsource Investigation". KPBS Public Media.
  5. ^ a b "Human Research Violations By UCSD Eye Doctor Showcase A National Problem". April 18, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Kolata, Gina (November 4, 2019). "Vast Dragnet Targets Theft of Biomedical Secrets for China" – via NYTimes.com.
  7. ^ a b Brown, Eryn (Jul 22, 2015). "Genetics study points toward eyedrop treatment for cataracts". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved Apr 23, 2019.
  8. ^ a b 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.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ a b c "Kang Zhang CV: awards and publications" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-03-07. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  12. ^ Castellano, Brad Racino, Jill (July 6, 2019). "UCSD doctor resigns amid questions about undisclosed Chinese businesses".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Stipp, David (Jul 22, 2013). "Searching for Meaningful Markers of Aging". New York Times. Retrieved Apr 23, 2019.
  14. ^ Fikes, Bradley J. (Feb 26, 2018). "Serious eye diseases accurately diagnosed through artificial intelligence". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved Apr 23, 2019.
  15. ^ Ling Zhao; Xiang-Jun Chen; Jie Zhu; Yi-Bo Xi; Xu Yang; Li-Dan Hu; Hong Ouyang; Sherrina H. Patel; Xin Jin; Danni Lin; Frances Wu; Ken Flagg; Huimin Cai; Gen Li; Guiqun Cao; Ying Lin; Daniel Chen; Cindy Wen; Christopher Chung; Yandong Wang; Austin Qiu; Emily Yeh; Wenqiu Wang; Xun Hu; Seanna Grob; et al. (July 2015). "Lanosterol reverses protein aggregation in cataracts". Nature. 523 (7562): 607–611. Bibcode:2015Natur.523..607Z. doi:10.1038/nature14650. PMID 26200341. S2CID 4469138.
  16. ^ "Kang Zhang, M.D., Ph.D. - 511374 - 01/05/2017". April 23, 2019.
  17. ^ inewsource, Jill Castellano /; ago, Brad Racino / Multimedia-Based Investigative Reporter This story was published more than 6 years (July 25, 2019). "Eye Experts Around The World Question Experiment On Babies In China Involving UCSD Researchers". KPBS Public Media.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ a b "UCSD doctor resigns amid questions about undisclosed Chinese businesses". inewsource.org.
  19. ^ "UCSD Eye Doctor Resigns After Investigation into Ties with China". The Scientist Magazine®.
  20. ^ "Chinese Talent Plans | Federal Bureau of Investigation". Federal Bureau of Investigation.
  21. ^ "Kang Zhang curriculum vitae" (PDF). 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
  22. ^ "Kang Zhang, MD, PhD". The American Society for Clinical Investigation. 10 January 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
  23. ^ Zhang K, Liu X, Xu J, et al. (2021). "Deep-learning models for the detection and incidence prediction of chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes from retinal fundus images". Nature Biomedical Engineering. 5: 533–545. doi:10.1038/s41551-021-00745-6.
  24. ^ "Kang Zhang". Cell Reports Medicine. 4 (1): 100919. 2023. doi:10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100919. PMC 9813830.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
  25. ^ "M.U.S.T. Appoints Prof. Kang Zhang as Vice President". Macau University of Science and Technology. 2024-10-10.
  26. ^ Liu S, Lu Y, Li X, et al. (2026). "AI-guided personalized predictions on myopia progression and interventions". npj Digital Medicine. 9. doi:10.1038/s41746-025-02308-4. PMC 12881446. PMID 41526629.
  27. ^ "Former UCSD prof who resigned amid investigation into China ties retracts paper for 'inadvertently misidentified' images". March 30, 2020.
  28. ^ Liu F, Zhou H, Wang K, Yu Y, Gao Y, Sun Z, Liu S, Sun S, Zou Z, Li Z, Li B, Miao H, Liu Y, Hou T, Fok M, Patil NG, Xue K, Li T, Oermann E, Yin Y, Duan L, Qu J, Huang X, Jin S, Zhang K (April 2025). "MetaGP: A generative foundation model integrating electronic health records and multimodal imaging for addressing unmet clinical needs". Cell Rep Med. 6 (4) 102056. doi:10.1016/j.xcrm.2025.102056. PMC 12047458. PMID 40187356.
  29. ^ Wang J, Wang K, Yu Y, Lu Y, Xiao W, Sun Z, Liu F, Zou Z, Gao Y, Yang L, Zhou HY, Miao H, Zhao W, Huang L, Zeng L, Guo R, Chong I, Deng B, Cheng L, Chen X, Luo J, Zhu MH, Baptista-Hon D, Monteiro O, Li M, Ke Y, Li J, Zeng S, Guan T, Zeng J, Xue K, Oermann E, Luo H, Yin Y, Zhang K, Qu J (February 2025). "Self-improving generative foundation model for synthetic medical image generation and clinical applications". Nat Med. 31 (2): 609–617. doi:10.1038/s41591-024-03359-y. PMID 39663467.
  30. ^ Yang H, Zhou HY, Liu J, Huang W, Li C, Li Z, Gao Y, Liu Q, Liang Y, Yang Q, Wu S, Tan T, Zheng H, Zhang K, Wang S (January 2026). "A multimodal vision-language model for generalizable annotation-free pathology localization". Nat Biomed Eng. doi:10.1038/s41551-025-01574-7. PMID 41495192.
  31. ^ "Zhang Kang - Search Results - PubMed". PubMed.
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