Yi Zhang has been named assistant dean for clinical trials at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis effective July 1.
As assistant dean for clinical trials, Zhang will plan, direct and oversee clinical trials activities at the School of Medicine. She will manage the negotiation of industry-sponsored clinical trial contracts and ensure compliance with regulations, policies and laws, as well as coordinate federal clinical trials with the Grants and Contracts Office and the Research Office. Zhang will also lead the administrative core for the Center for Applied Research Sciences, working under its director, Samuel Klein, M.D., the William H. Danforth Professor of Medicine and Nutritional Science.
Zhang, J.D., R.N., is rejoining the School of Medicine from Chicago, where she has been a health law attorney at McDermott, Will and Emery LLP.
Previously, Zhang was director of operations and development for the Center for Clinical Studies at the School of Medicine. She also served as director of regulatory support and compliance and of clinical trial contracts for the Center for Clinical Studies, and earlier served as director of cardiac surgical research and as cardiothoracic surgery research nurse coordinator at the School of Medicine.
She also was a registered nurse at Saint Louis University Hospital and Compton Heights Hospital in cardiothoracic surgery intensive care.
Zhang earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a law degree from Saint Louis University School of Law. She previously was an attorney at Husch & Eppenberger LLC in St. Louis.
Washington University School of Medicine’s 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked third in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.