Anao Zhang

Dr. Anao Zhang is an assistant professor of social work at the University of Michigan and the clinical research director of the Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) Oncology Program at Michigan Medicine. Zhang is a health and mental health intervention researcher with a primary research interest in psycho-oncology and adolescent and young adult cancer survivorship. An intervention researcher by training, Zhang contextualizes his work using the social determinants of youth health framework, and aims to develop and deliver integrated and empirically supported mental health treatment to individuals with co-morbid physical and mental health condition, e.g., AYA cancer survivors with depression. Zhang is also an applied quantitative methodologist who uses advanced statistical methods to support his research, including meta-analysis, structural equation modeling, analyzing experimental data, causal inference and machine learning. Zhang serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, and the deputy chair of survivorship SIG at the International Psycho-Oncology Society.

Clinically, Zhang is a licensed clinical social worker, a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers, and a diplomate of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. Zhang has over five years of clinical experience in various hospital settings and specializes in solution-focused brief therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Zhang's teaching interests include advanced clinical social work practice, clinical social work practice in integrated healthcare, inter-professional education, and advanced quantitative methods in social work research. Zhang received his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin where he also completed the graduate portfolio program in Applied Statistical Modeling. Zhang received his MSW from the University of Pennsylvania.

Research Interests / Focus

Psych-Oncology; AYA survivorship; social determinants of youth health and mental health; evidence-based practice; and integrated behavioral health.