Jian Carrot-Zhang, PhD

Jian
Assistant Member
Administrative Contact:
Cristina Radu
Email: Raduc@mskcc.org

About

Dr. Jian Carrot-Zhang, PhD, is an Assistant Member in the Computational Oncology Service at MSK. Her research focuses on elucidating germline–somatic interactions across multi-ancestral populations. She develops computational and statistical approaches to characterize germline determinants of cancer progression. Dr. Carrot-Zhang holds a joint appointment in the Clinical Genetics Service within the Department of Medicine, bridging germline genetics and somatic genomics. She earned her PhD in Human Genetics from McGill University and completed postdoctoral training at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute under Dr. Matthew Meyerson. Prior to joining MSK, she served as an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Carrot-Zhang has received multiple honors, including a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the NCI and a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship from CIHR.

Education

PhD

McGill University

Postdoctoral Research

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, and Broad Institute, MA

 

Appointments

Computational Oncology, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics

Gerstner Sloan Kettering Faculty Member

Selected Publications

Meta-analysis reveals differences in somatic alterations by genetic ancestry across common cancers. Nature Genetics (2025) Published 16 October 2025. Amuzu S., Xie A. X., Bai X., Pekala K. R., Pickersgill N. A., Ma D., Perea-Chamblee T., Arora K., Chatila W. K., Derkach A., Shen R., Frampton G. M., Berger M., Schultz N., Newberg J. Y. & Carrot-Zhang J.

Tumor sequencing of African ancestry reveals differences in clinically relevant alterations across common cancers. Jiagge E, Jin DX, Newberg JY, Perea-Chamblee T, Pekala KR, Fong C, Waters M, Ma D, Dei-Adomakoh Y, Erb G, Arora KS, Maund SL, Njiraini N, Ntekim A, Kim S, Bai X, Thomas M, van Eeden R, Hegde P, Jee J, Chakravarty D, Schultz N, Berger MF, Frampton GM, Sokol ES, Carrot-Zhang J. Cancer Cell. 2023 Nov 13;41(11):1963-1971.e3. Epub 2023 Oct 26. PMID: 37890492.

Ancestry-driven recalibration of tumor mutational burden and disparate clinical outcomes in response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. AH, Adib E, Abou Alaiwi S, El Zarif T, Groha S, Akl EW, Nuzzo PV, Mouhieddine TH, Perea-Chamblee T, Taraszka K, El-Khoury H, Labban M, Fong C, Arora KS, Labaki C, Xu W, Sonpavde G, Haddad RI, Mouw KW, Giannakis M, Hodi FS, Zaitlen N, Schoenfeld AJ, Schultz N, Berger MF, MacConaill LE, Ananda G, Kwiatkowski DJ, Choueiri TK, Schrag D, Carrot-Zhang J, Gusev A. Cancer Cell. 2022 Oct 10;40(10):1161-1172.e5. Epub 2022 Sep 29. PMID: 36179682; PMCID: PMC9559771.

Genetic Ancestry Contributes to Somatic Mutations in Lung Cancers from Admixed Latin American Populations. Carrot-Zhang J, Soca-Chafre G, Patterson N, Thorner AR, Nag A, Watson J, Genovese G, Rodriguez J, Gelbard MK, Corrales-Rodriguez L, Mitsuishi Y, Ha G, Campbell JD, Oxnard GR, Arrieta O, Cardona AF, Gusev A, Meyerson M. Cancer Discov. 2021 Mar;11(3):591-598. Epub 2020 Dec 2. PMID: 33268447; PMCID: PMC7933062.

Comprehensive Analysis of Genetic Ancestry and Its Molecular Correlates in Cancer. Carrot-Zhang J, Chambwe N, Damrauer JS, Knijnenburg TA, Robertson AG, Yau C, Zhou W, Berger AC, Huang KL, Newberg JY, Mashl RJ, Romanel A, Sayaman RW, Demichelis F, Felau I, Frampton GM, Han S, Hoadley KA, Kemal A, Laird PW, Lazar AJ, Le X, Oak N, Shen H, Wong CK, Zenklusen JC, Ziv E; Cancer Genome Atlas Analysis Network; Cherniack AD, Beroukhim R. Cancer Cell. 2020 May 11;37(5):639-654.e6.PMID: 32396860; PMCID: PMC7328015.

Germline and somatic SMARCA4 mutations characterize small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type. Witkowski L, Carrot-Zhang J, Albrecht S, Fahiminiya S, Hamel N, Tomiak E, Grynspan D, Saloustros E, Nadaf J, Rivera B, Gilpin C, Castellsagué E, Silva-Smith R, Plourde F, Wu M, Saskin A, Arseneault M, Karabakhtsian RG, Reilly EA, Ueland FR, Margiolaki A, Pavlakis K, Castellino SM, Lamovec J, Mackay HJ, Roth LM, Ulbright TM, Bender TA, Georgoulias V, Longy M, Berchuck A, Tischkowitz M, Nagel I, Siebert R, Stewart CJ, Arseneau J, McCluggage WG, Clarke BA, Riazalhosseini Y, Hasselblatt M, Majewski J, Foulkes WD.Nat Genet. 2014 May;46(5):438-43. Epub 2014 Mar 23. PMID: 24658002.