Xiaochun Susan Zhang, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department of Pathology
School of Medicine

Dr. Susan Zhang obtained her MD in China and her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Wyoming. She is board certified by the American Board of Clinical Chemistry and by the American Board of Medical Laboratory Immunology. Dr. Zhang is also a certified High Complexity Laboratory Director by the American Board of Bioanalysis. She is a fellow of the AACC Academy.

Dr. Zhang joined the faculty of University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University in July 2019. Prior to that, Dr. Zhang has worked at Cleveland Clinic Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Institute for 10 years, with experience in overseeing clinical testing, test development, and clinical trial biomarker analysis.

Research Information

Research Interests

  • Diagnostic immunology
  • Clinical chemistry
  • Novel diagnostic biomarkers
  • New assay development and validation

Awards and Honors

Charles S. Neer Award, Basic Science Category
2015
American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons
Best Abstract Award
2013
AAB Annual Meeting and Educational Conference/CRB Symposium
Mentor Recognition Award
2011
Medical Laboratory Internship Program, Cleveland Clinic
Graduate/Professional Grant-in-Aid Awards
2007
University of Wyoming College of Health Sciences

External Appointments

Title
Director, Clinical Immunology, Core lab
Organization/Publication
University Hospitals

Publications

View All Publications

  1. Przybycin CG, Harper HL, Reynolds JP, Magi-Galluzzi C, Nguyen JK, Wu A, Sangoi AR, Liu PS, Umar 7, Mehra R, Zhang X, Cox RM, McKenney JK. Acquired Cystic Disease-associated Renal Cell Carcinoma (ACD-RCC): A Multiinstitutional Study of 40 Cases with Clinical Follow-up. Am J Surg Pathol. 2018 May 30. doi: 10.1097/PAS.0000000000001091.
  2. Zhang X*, Tang X, Gibson and Daly TM. Simple HPLC Method with Internal Standard for Evaluation of Vitamin B1 Status By Use of Whole Blood. The Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine. Nov 2017, 2 (3)  367-379;  DOI: 10.1373/jalm.2017.*: Corresponding author.
  3. Frangiamore SJ, Saleh A, Grosso MJ, Farias Kovac M, Zhang X, Daly TM, Bauer TW, Derwin KA, Iannotti JP, Ricchetti ET. Neer Award 2015: Analysis of cytokine profiles in the diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infections of the shoulder. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2017 Feb;26(2):186-196. doi: 10.1016/j.jse.2016.07.017.
  4. Nakashima MO, Zhang X, Rogers HJ, Vengal L, Gibson B, Daly TM, Marchant KK. Validation of a Panel of ADAMTS13 Assays for Diagnosis of Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura: Activity, Functional inhibitor and Autoantibody test. International Journal of Laboratory Hematology (IJLH). 2016 Oct;38(5):550-9.
  5. Frangiamore SJ, Saleh A, Farias Kovac M1, Grosso MJ, Zhang X, Bauer TW, Daly TM, Ricchetti ET, Iannotti JP. Synovial fluid interleukin-6 as a predictor of periprosthetic shoulder infection. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2015 Jan 7;97(1):63-70.
  6. Daly TM, Pickering JW, Zhang X, Prince HE, and Hill HR. Multi-laboratory assessment of threshold versus fold-change algorithms for minimizing analytical variability in multiplexed pneumococcal IgG measurements.  Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2014.  2014 Jul;21(7):982-8
  7. Zhang X, Gibson B Jr, Daly TM. Evaluation of commercially available reagents for diagnosis of histoplasmosis infection in immunocompromised patients. J Clin Microbiol. 2013 Dec;51(12):4095-101.
  8. Zhang X, Simmerman K, Yen-Lieberman B, Daly TM. The impact of analytical variability on clinical interpretation of multiplex pneumococcal serology. Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2013 Jul;20(7):957-61.
  9. Zhang X, Gibson B Jr, Mori R, Snow-Lisy D, Yamaguchi Y, Campbell SC, Simmons MN, Daly TM. Analytical and biological validation of a multiplex immunoassay for acute kidney injury biomarkers. Clin Chim Acta. 2013 Jan 16;415:88-93.
  10. Yaskiv O, Zhang X, Simmerman K, Daly T, He H, Falzarano S, Chen L, Magi-Galluzzi C, Zhou M. The utility of ERG/P63 double immunohistochemical staining in the diagnosis of limited cancer in prostate needle biopsies. Am J Surg Pathol. 2011 Jul;35(7):1062-8.
  11.  Zhang X, Ren J. Molecular mechanism of methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity: Musing on the not-so-funny side. Current Trends in Neurology. 2011, 5:31-43.
  12. Zhang X, Luhrs KJ, Malik WT, Ryff KA, Tippetts P. and Culver B. Suppression of NF-kappa B ameliorates reactive gliosis but not amyloid burden in APPswe/PS1dE9 mice. Neuroscience. 2009 Jun 16;161(1):53-8.
  13. Broughton KS, Rule DC, Ye Y, Zhang X, Driscoll M, Culver B. Dietary omega-3 fatty acids differentially influence ova release and ovarian cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2 expression in rats. Nutr Res. 2009 Mar;29(3):197-205.
  14. Zhang X, Dong F, Mayer G. E., Bruch D.C., Ren J and Culver B. Selective inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 exacerbates methamphetamine-induced dopamine depletion in the striatum in rats. Neuroscience. 2007 Dec 19;150(4):950-8.
  15. Dong F, Fang CX, Yang X, Zhang X, Lopez FL, Ren J.  Cardiac overexpression of catalase rescues cardiac contractile dysfunction induced by insulin resistance: role of oxidative stress, protein carbonyl formation and insulin sensitivity. Diabetologia. 2006 Jun;49(6):1421-33.
  16. Yang X, Thomas DP, Zhang X, Culver BW, Alexander BM, Murdoch WJ, Rao MN, Tulis DA, Ren J, Sreejayan N. Curcumin inhibits platelet-derived growth factor-stimulated vascular smooth muscle cell function and injury-induced neointima formation. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2006 Jan;26(1):85-90.
  17. Dong F, Zhang X, Ren J. Leptin regulates cardiomyocyte contractile function through endothelin-1 receptor-NADPH oxidase pathway. Hypertension. 2006 Feb;47(2):222-9.
  18. Dong F, Zhang X, Yang X, Esberg LB, Yang H, Zhang ZJ, Culver B,  Ren J.  Impaired cardiac contractile function in ventricular myocytes from leptin-deficient ob/ob obese mice. Journal of Endocrinology 188, 25–36, 2006.
  19.  Zhang X, Dong F, Ren J, Driscoll MJ and Culver B. High Dietary Fat Induces NADPH Oxidase-Associated Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Rat Cerebral Cortex. Exp Neurol. 2005 Feb;191(2):318-25.
  20. Zhang X, Dong F, Li Q, Borgerding AJ, Klein AL, Ren J. Cardiac overexpression of catalase antagonizes ADH-associated contractile depression and stress signaling after acute ethanol exposure in murine myocytes. J Appl Physiol. 2005 Dec;99(6):2246-54.
  21. Dong F, Zhang X*, Wold LE, Ren Q, Zhang ZJ, Ren J. Endothelin-1 Enhances Oxidative Stress, Cell Proliferation and Reduces Apoptosis in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells: Role of ETB Receptor, NADPH Oxidase and Caveolin-1. British Journal of Pharmacology. 2005 Jun;145(3):323-33. (Equal first authorship).
  22. Dong F, Zhang X*, Li SY, Zhang Z, Ren Q, Culver B and Jun Ren. Involvement of NADPH Oxidase and JNK in Homocysteine-Induced Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells. Cardiovascular Toxicology. Cardiovasc Toxicol. 2005 Spring;5(1):9-20. (Equal first authorship)
  23. Li SY, Golden KL, Jiang Y, Wang GJ, Privratsky JR, Zhang X, Eason AR, Culver B, Ren J. Inhibition of Sarco(endo)plasmic Reticulum Ca2+-ATPase Differentially Regulates Contractile Function in Cardiac Myocytes From Normotensive and Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats: Role of Ca2+ Regulatory Proteins. Cell Biochem Biophys. 2005;42(1):1-12.
  24. Esberg LB, Zhang X*, Scott GI, Culver B, Ren J. Impact of gender on basal and insulin-like growth factor I-regulated nitric oxide synthase activity in adult rat left ventricular myocytes. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol. 2004 Jun;138(2):141-6. (Equal first authorship)
  25. Zhang X, Li SY, Brown RA, Ren J. Ethanol and acetaldehyde in alcoholic cardiomyopathy: from bad to ugly en route to oxidative stress. Alcohol. 2004 Apr;32(3):175-86.
  26. Li SY, Gomelsky M, Duan J, Zhang Z, Gomelsky L, Zhang X, Epstein PN, Ren J. Overexpression of aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH2) transgene prevents acetaldehyde-induced cell injury in human umbilical vein endothelial cells: Role of ERK and p38 MAP kinase. J Biol Chem. 2004 March; 279(12):11244-11252.
  27. Ren J, Zhang X, Scott GI, Esberg LB, Ren BH, Culver B, Chen AF. Adenovirus gene transfer of recombinant endothelial nitric oxide synthase enhances contractile function in ventricular myocytes. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 2004 Feb;43(2):171-7.
  28. Zhang X, Klein AL, Alberle NS, Norby FL, Ren BH, Duan J, Ren J. Cardiac-specific overexpression of catalase rescues ventricular myocytes from ethanol-induced cardiac contractile defect. Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology. 2003 Jun;35(6):645-52.
  29. Zhang X, Ye G, Duan J, Chen AF, Ren J. Influence of Gender on Intrinsic Contractile Properties of Isolated Ventricular Myocytes from Calmodulin-Induced Diabetic Transgenic Mice. Endocrine Research. 2003 May;29(2):227-36.
  30. Duan J, Zhang HY, Adkins SD, Ren BH, Norby FL, Zhang X, Benoit JN, Epstein PN, Ren J. Impaired cardiac function and IGF-1 response in cardiac myocytes from calmodulin diatetic mice: Role of Akt and RhoA. Am J Physiol Endo Metab. 2003 Feb, 284: E366-E376.

Education

Doctor of Philosophy
University of Wyoming
Neuroscience
2008
Master of Science
Peking Union Medical College
1999
Doctor of Medicine
TongJi Medical University
1993

Residencies, Internships and Fellowships

Postdoctoral fellow in cardiovascular disease research
School of Medicine & Health Sciences, University of North Dakota
Postdoctoral fellow in neuroscience
School of Pharmacy, University of Wyoming