{"entity":{"id":"lei-zheng","kind":"person","name":"Lei Zheng","aka":[],"tldr":"Physician-scientist who is Executive Director of the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio, the only NCI-designated cancer centre in South Texas.","summary":"Lei Zheng, MD, PhD, is Executive Director of the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio and the university's Vice President for Oncology. UT Health San Antonio news items from May, June and August 2026 quote him in that role, including the August 2026 announcement naming Georg Aue inaugural director of the centre's stem cell transplant and cellular therapy programme. The centre, which also uses the name UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, has served South Texas since 1974 and is described by the university as the only NCI-designated cancer centre in the region.","asOf":"2026-09-10","links":[{"label":"Source: UT Health San Antonio news release naming Lei Zheng as Executive Director","url":"https://news.uthscsa.edu/ut-health-san-antonio-names-nih-expert-inaugural-director-of-stem-cell-transplant-and-cellular-therapy-program/"},{"label":"Source: Mays Cancer Center about page","url":"https://cancer.uthscsa.edu/about/about-uthealthsa-mdanderson-cancer-center"}],"tags":["leadership","clinician-scientist","comprehensive-cancer-centre"],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":["md-anderson"],"pathways":[],"terms":["stem-cell"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"role":"Executive Director, Mays Cancer Center, and Vice President for Oncology, UT Health San Antonio","institutionId":"mays-cancer-center","specialisms":["Medical oncology","Cancer immunology","Cancer centre leadership"],"profiles":[{"label":"UT Health San Antonio news (August 2026) quoting the Executive Director","url":"https://news.uthscsa.edu/ut-health-san-antonio-names-nih-expert-inaugural-director-of-stem-cell-transplant-and-cellular-therapy-program/"},{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Zheng+L%5BAuthor%5D+AND+San+Antonio"}],"papers":[{"title":"The tumour microenvironment in pancreatic cancer — clinical challenges and opportunities","journal":"Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology","year":2020,"doi":"10.1038/s41571-020-0363-5"},{"title":"Reprogramming the tumor microenvironment: tumor-induced immunosuppressive factors paralyze T cells","journal":"OncoImmunology","year":2015,"doi":"10.1080/2162402x.2015.1016700"},{"title":"Immunotherapy Converts Nonimmunogenic Pancreatic Tumors into Immunogenic Foci of Immune Regulation","journal":"Cancer Immunology Research","year":2014,"doi":"10.1158/2326-6066.cir-14-0027"}]},"route":"/people/lei-zheng/","neighbours":{"institution":[{"id":"mays-cancer-center","kind":"institution","name":"Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio","route":"/institutions/mays-cancer-center/"},{"id":"md-anderson","kind":"institution","name":"MD Anderson Cancer Center","route":"/institutions/md-anderson/"}],"term":[{"id":"stem-cell","kind":"term","name":"Stem cell","route":"/terms/stem-cell/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-ho-pancreatic-tumour-microenvironment-review-nrco-2020","kind":"paper","name":"The tumour microenvironment in pancreatic cancer: clinical challenges and opportunities","route":"/key-papers/paper-ho-pancreatic-tumour-microenvironment-review-nrco-2020/"}]}}