Professor Zhao named Fellow in national science association

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) bestowed the title of AAAS Fellow upon Professor Zhongming Zhao, MS, PhD, from McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth Houston.

“This year’s AAAS Fellows have demonstrated research excellence, made notable contributions to advance science, and delivered important services to their communities,” said Sudip S. Parikh, AAAS chief executive officer and executive publisher of the Science family of journals. “These Fellows and their accomplishments validate the importance of investing in science and technology for the benefit of all.”

Zhao was named a 2025 Fellow because of his “distinguished contributions to translational bioinformatics, precision medicine, genomics, and biomarker discovery, particularly for novel computational methods/tool development, and for leadership in precision medicine and biomedical informatics,” according to the Council of the AAAS.

Since joining the university one decade ago, Professor Zhao has served both the school and UTHealth Houston in a variety of roles. He currently holds the titles of Vice President of Cancer Genomic Medicine, Chair for Precision Health, and Director of the Center for Precision Health. He is the founding director of the Center for Precision Health and UTHealth Houston Cancer Genomics Center. Zhao developed the Biomedical Informatics, Genomics and Translational Cancer Research (BIG-TCR) training program that is funded by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. BIG-TCR focuses on educating the next-generation of researchers and leaders in the field of cancer research by providing a highly interactive, innovative, and interdisciplinary training environment. Each year dozens of post- and pre-doctoral research fellows, undergraduate interns, and researchers participate in the BIG-TCR program to learn more about cancer biology, stem cell biology, pharmacology and drug discovery, genomics and other omics, data science and artificial intelligence, clinical informatics, and translational medicine.

The 2025 class includes 449 scientists, engineers, and innovators spanning 24 scientific disciplines who are being recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements. The new Fellows will receive a certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin representing science and engineering, respectively, to commemorate their election. In late May, the class will be inducted and honored at the AAAS Fellows Forum hosted in Washington D.C.

Zhao is also a Fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics (FACMI), the American Medical Informatics Association (FAMIA), and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).