Biography
I am a research associate at the Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, where my research focuses on genetic epidemiology and cancer risk prediction, particularly in breast cancer. I began my academic journey in public health, contributing to infectious disease research before shifting my focus to cancer epidemiology during my MSc at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and PhD training at the University of Edinburgh. My doctoral research centred on colorectal cancer, encompassing evidence-based analysis, the development of polygenic risk scores, phenome-wide association studies (PheWAS), and the investigation of modifiable risk factors, such as vitamin D and physical activity, using Mendelian randomisation methods. At Cambridge, I have extended my work to benign diseases, precursors, and cancer in the breast, leading studies on inherited genetic variation, tumour genomics, mammographic density, and genome-wide association studies (GWAS). This includes contributions to major international collaborations such as the EU-funded B-CAST project and the NCI Confluence project.
Publications
Zhang X, Eriksson M, Mavaddat N, Dennis J, Astley SM, Gabrielson M, Giles GG, Hart SN, Hunter DJ, Le Marchand L, Lush M. Mammographic density, pathogenic breast cancer susceptibility gene variants and breast cancer risk. medRxiv. 2025:2025-04.
Zhang, X., He, Y., Li, X. et al. Circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D and survival outcomes of colorectal cancer: evidence from population-based prospective cohorts and Mendelian randomisation. Br J Cancer 130, 1585–1591 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-024-02643-5
Zhang, X., Li, X., He, Y. et al. Phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) of colorectal cancer risk SNP effects on health outcomes in UK Biobank. Br J Cancer 126, 822–830 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-021-01655-9
Zhang X, Theodoratou E, Li X, Farrington SM, Law PJ, Broderick P, Walker M, Klimentidis YC, Rees JM, Houlston RS, Tomlinson IP. Genetically predicted physical activity levels are associated with lower colorectal cancer risk: a Mendelian randomisation study. British Journal of Cancer. 2021 Mar 30;124(7):1330-8. doi:10.1038/s41416-020-01236-2
Zhang X, Gill D, He Y, Yang T, Li X, Monori G, Campbell H, Dunlop M, Tsilidis KK, Timofeeva M, Theodoratou E. Non‐genetic biomarkers and colorectal cancer risk: Umbrella review and evidence triangulation. Cancer medicine. 2020 Jul;9(13):4823-35. doi:10.1002/cam4.3051
