We are a research group at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. We use epidemiology, nutrition science and microbiome research to study liver disease and cancer prevention, and to test whether changing what people eat can help.
Much of our work centers on metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and its more severe form, MASH. We run dietary intervention trials, lead the nutrition, microbiome and biostatistics core of the Mount Sinai MASH Registry, and analyze diet, microbiome and clinical data together. We collaborate widely and are glad to hear from people in related fields. The team currently includes a research assistant, graduate students and a high school trainee.
A project meeting in the lab.
See our lab introduction and new NIH R01 story here. New NIH R01 on dietary intervention on MASLD/MASH
Recent news
- In August 2026 we received an NIH/NIDDK R01 (1R01DK148865-01) for BEAN-MASLD, a randomized crossover feasibility trial of navy beans in adults with MASLD (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT07730853).
- We are co-leading a multicenter trial of medically tailored meals for patients with MASH who are taking resmetirom, supported by Madrigal Pharmaceuticals. Mount Sinai Reports wrote about the study.
- Three posters from the lab were accepted for AASLD The Liver Meeting 2026 in Denver this November.
- Dr. Zhang now directs a graduate course in Nutritional Epidemiology at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
What we work on
- Food-based interventions for MASLD and MASH
- Diet, the oral and gut microbiome, and liver fibrosis
- Real-world epidemiology and health disparities in liver disease
- Diet, the microbiome and cancer prevention
Our work is supported by NIH/NIDDK and industry partners (funding and clinical trials). Dr. Zhang also directs the Mount Sinai Bionutrition Research Core, which supports nutrition studies across Mount Sinai.
Principal Investigator
Xiaotao (Rony) Zhang, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Director, Mount Sinai Bionutrition Research Core
Institute for Translational Epidemiology
Division of Liver Diseases, Department of Medicine
Cancer Prevention and Control, The Tisch Cancer Institute
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Icahn Medical Institute, 2nd Floor, Suite L2-70E, PO 1133
1425 Madison Ave, New York, NY, 10029
Phone: 212-659-5555
Email: Xiaotao.Zhang@mountsinai.org
Lab web: https://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/xiaotaozhanglab/
Join us
We are recruiting PhD students and research interns with interests in nutrition, the microbiome, epidemiology or biostatistics. See current openings.