Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center

Name: Ziming Du

Title: Associate Chief Physician, Associate Research Fellow, and Deputy Director

Email: Duzm1@sysucc.org.cn

Phone:

share

Profile

Dr. Ziming Du is an Associate Chief Physician, Associate Research Fellow, and Deputy Director of the Department of Molecular Diagnostics at Sun Yat‑sen University Cancer Center. He earned dual PhD degrees from Sun Yat‑sen University in China and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, followed by postdoctoral training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on the development and application of highly multiplexed tissue imaging technologies, the study of rare tumors, and liquid biopsy.

Dr. Du has made seminal contributions to the field, most notably by pioneering a t‑CyCIF‑based platform for high‑dimensional pathology of the tumor immune microenvironment. His work has also led to the identification of novel therapeutic targets and improved risk‑stratification models for solitary fibrous tumors, choriocarcinoma, and malignant meningiomas—advances that have been integrated into international clinical guidelines. He has authored over 40 papers in prestigious journals including Nature Protocols, Nature Communications, and PNAS.

He has been recognized through the Pearl River Talent Recruitment Program of Guangdong Province and the Hundred Talents Program of Sun Yat‑sen University. His research is supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province.

Interests

Rare tumors (e.g.,malignantmeningioma, solitary fibrous tumors, choriocarcinoma, etc);Development and application of Highly Multiplexed Tissue Imaging technologies;Liquid biopsy in oncology

Education

2013.07 - 2018.06：Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA.

2008.01 - 2012.03：Ph.D. in Medical Science (Tumor Biology), Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.

2004.09 - 2011.07：Ph.D. in Oncology (Tumor Pathology), Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, China.

1999.09 - 2004.07：M.D., Anhui Medical University, China.

Publications

1.Li Q#*, Yu H, Ling D, Zhou J, Zhen S, Li Y, Wang L, Zheng Z, Cen W, Gao H, Chen H, Strominger JL*, Du Z*. Modulation of the PGRMC1/NLRP7/HLA-C axis by autophagy is linked to both spontaneous preterm birth and gestational choriocarcinoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Dec 2;122(48):e2509798122. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2509798122. Epub 2025 Nov 24. PMID: 41284890; PMCID: PMC12685102.
2.Zhang R#, Yang Y#, Hu C#, Huang M#, Cen W#, Ling D, Long Y, Yang XH, Xu B, Peng J, Wang S, Zhu W, Wei M, Yang J, Xu Y, Zhang X, Ma J, Wang F, Zhang H, Ma P, Zhu X, Song G, Sun LY, Wang DS, Wang FH, Li YH, Santagata S, Li Q*, Feng YF*, Du Z*. Comprehensive analysis reveals potential therapeutic targets and an integrated risk stratification model for solitary fibrous tumors. Nat Commun. 2023 Nov 18;14(1):7479. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43249-4. PMID: 37980418; PMCID: PMC10657378.
3.Yang J#, Sun L#, Liu XY#, Huang C, Peng J, Zeng X, Zheng H, Cen W, Xu YX, Zhu W, Wu XY, Ling D, Zhang LL, Wei M, Liu Y, Wang D, Wang FH, Li YH, Li Q*, Du Z*. Targeted demethylation of the CDO1 promoter based on CRISPR system inhibits the malignant potential of breast cancer cells. Clin Transl Med. 2023 Sep;13(9):e1423. doi: 10.1002/ctm2.1423. PMID: 37740473; PMCID: PMC10517212.
4.Lopez BGC#, Kohale IN#, Du Z#, Korsunsky I, Abdelmoula WM, Dai Y, Stopka SA, Gaglia G, Randall EC, Regan MS, Basu SS, Clark AR, Marin BM, Mladek AC, Burgenske DM, Agar JN, Supko JG, Grossman SA, Nabors LB, Raychaudhuri S, Ligon KL, Wen PY, Alexander B, Lee EQ, Santagata S, Sarkaria J, White FM, Agar NYR. Multimodal platform for assessing drug distribution and response in clinical trials. Neuro Oncol. 2022 Jan 5;24(1):64-77. doi: 10.1093/neuonc/noab197. PMID: 34383057; PMCID: PMC8730776.
5.Du Z#, Lin JR#, Rashid R#, Maliga Z, Wang S, Aster JC, Izar B, Sorger PK*, Santagata S*. Qualifying antibodies for image-based immune profiling and multiplexed tissue imaging. Nat Protoc. 2019 Oct;14(10):2900-2930. doi: 10.1038/s41596-019-0206-y. Epub 2019 Sep 18. PMID: 31534232; PMCID: PMC6959005.
6.Dunn IF*; Du Z*, Touat M, Sisti M, Wen P, Umeton R, Dubuc AM, Ducar M, Canoll PD, Severson E, Elvin JA, Ramkissoon SH, Lin JR, Cabrera L, Acevedo B, Sorger P, Ligon KL, Santagata S#, Reardon DA#. Mismatch repair deficiency in high-grade meningioma: a rare but recurrent event associated with dramatic immune activation and clinical response to PD-1 blockade. JCO Precis Oncol. 2018. 2. 1-12.
7.Du Z, Brewster R, Merrill P, Chmielecki J, Francis J, Aizer A, Abedalthagafi M, Sholl L, Geffers L, Alexander B, and Santagata S#. Meningioma transcription factors link cell lineage with systemic metabolic cues. Neuro Oncol. 2018 Sep 3;20(10):1331-1343.
8.Du Z, Santagata S#. Undercovering the links between systemic hormones and oncogenic signaling in the pathogenesis of meningioma. Ann Oncol. 2018 Mar 01; 29(3):537-540.

Our Experts