Lab Members

Gregory Friedman, M.D.
Professor, Pediatrics

Dr. Friedman specializes in pediatric neuro-oncology and conducting pediatric brain tumor translational and clinical research as professor of Pediatrics and section chief of Pediatric Neuro-Oncology at UT MD Anderson. He previously served as Director of Developmental Therapeutics for the Alabama Center for Childhood Cancer & Blood Disorders at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and as the site principal investigator (PI) for the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) Pediatric Early Phase-Clinical Trial Network (PEP-CTN).

His overarching goal is to improve outcomes for children with brain tumors by developing and improving novel, targeted immunotherapies in the lab and then translating these therapies to clinical trials. His research is focused on determining mechanisms of cancer cell therapeutic resistance to novel therapies by exploring the role of the tumor microenvironment and cellular defense mechanisms to circumvent resistance mechanisms. His experience in managing pediatric neuro-oncology patients and in conducting clinical oncology research complements his laboratory experience, which has enabled his team to develop a greater understanding of the tumor microenvironment and translate innovative immunotherapies from bench-to-bedside.

He was the PI for the first completed oncolytic virotherapy (G207) pediatric brain tumor trial (NCT02457845; published in New England Journal of Medicine in 2021), and he is the PI for an ongoing first-in-human trial of G207 in recurrent cerebellar tumors (NCT03911388). In addition, he developed and leads a Phase 2 trial of G207 through the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-supported Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium in recurrent pediatric high-grade glioma. His research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Defense and numerous pediatric cancer foundations including Trial Blazers for Kids.

Aaron Fan, M.D., Ph.D.
Fellow, Pediatrics

Dr. Fan is a fourth-year fellow in the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology fellowship program. He completed his M.D. and Ph.D. at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, GA, where his research focus was on using peptide vaccines to enhance T cell antitumor responses. He then continued on to his Pediatrics residency at the University of Alabama Birmingham in Birmingham, AL. Aaron moved with Dr. Friedman from Birmingham to Houston, where he is currently working in the lab studying combination therapies using novel vaccines with oncolytic viruses. This project is investigating the cellular mechanisms by which these two immunotherapies can synergize.

Kyung-Don Kang, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics

Dr. Kang is an assistant professor of Pediatrics-Research at UT MD Anderson. His research focuses on translational immuno-virotherapy for pediatric brain tumors, including high-grade glioma, diffuse midline glioma (DIPG/DMG), low-grade glioma and medulloblastoma. He develops oncolytic herpes simplex virus (oHSV)-based therapies, with a particular interest in intraventricular delivery to target tumors within the central nervous system. He combines oncolytic virotherapy with immune-based strategies, including immune modulation and combination therapies, using clinically relevant preclinical models to support translational research. He greatly values working in the Friedman Lab and is highly motivated by collaborative research efforts aimed at improving outcomes for pediatric brain tumors.

Kara Kachurak, B.S.N., M.S.N., P.N.P.
Pediatric Clinical Research Specialist

Kara has over a decade of experience as a Clinical Neuro-Oncology Nurse Practitioner. She works closely with Dr. Friedman and his team to advance cutting-edge treatments for difficult-to-treat brain tumors in pediatric and young adult populations. Kara’s extensive clinical background fuels her passion for supporting research that aims to improve survival and quality of life for patients with complex brain cancers. She plays a key role in both preclinical and clinical research, assisting with the design of research protocols, regulatory submissions and clinical trial documentation and compliance. Additionally, Kara contributes to securing funding by assisting with competitive grant writing for vital research initiatives. By bridging the gap between laboratory discoveries and clinical applications, Kara fosters collaboration to drive innovative therapeutic approaches and enhance patient care.

Li Zhou, M.D., Ph.D.
Research Scientist

Li earned her M.D. in China and her Ph.D. in Japan, where she studied neurodegenerative diseases, focusing on developing and applying mouse models to investigate disease mechanisms. Her current research centers on the preclinical assessment of syntholytic therapy, both as a standalone treatment and in combination with oncolytic HSV, to enhance anti-tumor efficacy in pediatric brain tumors. Her work integrates genetic approaches, mouse flank and intracranial tumor models, oncolytic viruses and live-imaging techniques, with the long-term goal of advancing translational research and identifying more effective therapeutic options for pediatric brain cancer.

Tianci Zhang
Senior Research Assistant

Amr Elgehiny, M.B.B.Ch.
Fellow, Pediatrics

Dr. Elgehiny is a Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellow at UT MD Anderson and an incoming Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Fellow. He earned his medical degree from Alexandria University Faculty of Medicine and completed pediatric residency training at the American University of Beirut and McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. His research focuses on modulating the tumor microenvironment to enhance the durable antitumor effects of oncolytic herpes simplex virus therapy in pediatric high-grade gliomas. He also authored a review of clinical trials investigating oncolytic viruses in pediatric brain tumors. Passionate about global health and cross-cultural collaboration, he aspires to advance pediatric neuro-oncology training and practice, particularly in children’s cancer centers in the Middle East.

Zhuo Zhang, M.D.
Associate Professor, Pediatrics

Dr. Zhang is an associate professor of Pediatrics at UT MD Anderson. His research goal is to apply his basic medical science knowledge to understand the development of life-threatening phenotypes of human cancers such as drug-resistance, invasion/metastasis and recurrence, and to develop novel therapies to fight these diseases. He has a broad background in clinical medicine and basic sciences including cancer biology, cancer immunology, biochemistry, molecular/cellular biology, pharmacology and experimental therapeutics. His training included a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Defense (DoD) Prostate Cancer Program. In this fellowship, he performed studies on molecular mechanisms for tumorigenicity of MDM2 and developed antisense drug for targeting MDM2 for cancer therapy, as well as epigenetics (e.g., the biochemistry and molecular biology of histone marks and the phenotypes of alterations of these modifications regarding stem cell biology, cancer biology and DNA damage response).

He is the principal investigator (PI) or co-investigator on several university, foundation, DoD and NIH funded grants, and laid the groundwork for the proposed research by identifying tumor cell expressed epigenetic regulator RNF2 as a novel tumor cell intrinsic repressor of CD4+ T- and NK-cells-dependent anticancer immunity, which was recently published in Nature Cancer.