Biography
Gynecologic Oncologist Zhen Ni Zhou, M.D., Ph.D., is a specialist from Michigan Medicine and sees patients at the Center for Women’s Health on the campus of MyMichigan Medical Center Midland.
Philosophy of Care
The field of gynecologic oncology encompasses everything that first drew Dr. Zhou to medicine. “This field allows me to combine surgery and chemotherapy and the application of novel, cutting edge research in the context of caring for such an impressive and inspiring group of patients,” said Dr. Zhou. “I have a patient-centric approach to care,” she adds. “Not only do I want to provide treatment recommendations based on best practices, I want to ensure that treatment decisions involve the patient and are tailored to best suit their needs.” Being diagnosed with cancer can lead to confusion and fear. Dr. Zhou hopes to ease those concerns and pay close attention to each patient’s unique medical, social and psychosocial needs. Her goal is to tailor treatments to optimize care and eliminate cancer. She strongly believes in maintaining a good quality of life while treating her patients. She looks forward to establishing a long-term relationship with her patients. “I want them to feel that their opinions are valued and heard.” Dr. Zhou sees the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine as one of the most exciting recent medical discoveries. The vaccine, combined with cervical cancer screening, has the potential to prevent tens of thousands of HPV related cancers annually in the United States and to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health concern in the coming decades. She is also excited by the innovative research in the oncology field as well as the prospect of the immense progress that remains to be undertaken. In addition to providing high-quality, evidence-based gynecologic oncology care, Dr. Zhou participates in ovarian cancer research. Her research is focused on how to harness a patient’s immune system to treat ovarian cancer. Through this research, she hopes to influence how ovarian cancer patients are treated worldwide. She was recently awarded the Ovarinnovate: Ovarcome Research Excellence Award in by the Foundation for Women’s Cancer and the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Conquer Cancer Endowed Young Investigator Award in 2020 to study the use of a novel small molecule inhibitor in conjunction with chemotherapy in altering the ovarian cancer immune microenvironment.
During her free time, Dr. Zhou enjoys traveling, playing tennis and squash, and baking. Dr. Zhou has a tie to Midland as her partner, Andrew, grew up in Midland and graduated from Dow High School. His family still resides in Midland.
