Joanne Zhang was born on January 26th, 1965 to Liang Huo Zhang and Zailan Zhao in Wuhan, China. She began school in 1971 and was immediately an inquisitive and brilliant child; in elementary school, she was always ranked #1 or #2 in her grade. In middle school, she began showing her promising talent in mathematics and tested into the highest ranked high school in the region in 1979. In 1981, she went to university, excelling in mathematics, completing her degree in 1985. Joanne was then an instructor in Mathematics until 1988. From there, she completed a Master’s degree in Economics at the Huazhong University of Science, between 1988 and 1991.
Joanne began to develop an interest in the United States during her studies in university. She encountered her future advisor, professor James Taylor and his wife from the University of Virginia, while they were on a missionary visit to China. This led to her immigrating to the United States in 1992 to become a graduate student of statistics at the University of Virginia. While there, fueled by her inherent interest in the idea of God and inspiration from Professor Taylor, Joanne became a Christian.
Joanne finished her Ph.D. in Statistics at University of Virginia in May 1997 with multiple honors and awards. Her thesis, entitled “Analysis of Nonlinear Fixed and Random Effects Models with Applications to Statural Growth and Hormonal Changes in Boys at Puberty”, received a prestigious excellent student thesis award from the Eastern North American Region (ENAR) of International Biometric Society.
After graduation, she started her first job in a small consulting firm, Roth Associates, Inc., in Rockville, Maryland. There, she was one of the lead statisticians who worked on various epidemiological studies. She assisted the company president to testify as an expert witness in many hearings related to the assessment of the associations between environmental exposures (ozone, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, asbestos, etc.) and various diseases (coronary diseases, lung cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer, and many other cancers).
In 2000, Joanne moved to the FDA, where she worked as a statistical expert for regulatory drug application reviews and research. She quickly developed a sterling reputation as a very insightful researcher with her diligence and talent. She landed on the research and reviews related to drug-induced QT interval prolongation, a new area related to cardiovascular safety that caught her attention and interest. She treated every drug review with immense passion and responsibility, saying, “I need to make sure that it would be safe if my parents, my children, my relatives, and my friends had to take this drug. I do not want to see another drug being removed from the market because of deaths due to ventricular tachycardia resulting from drug-induced QT prolongation.” At FDA, she authored and coauthored over 30 publications in peer-reviewed journals and was often invited to present in national and international meetings pioneering the methods/designs to assess the cardiovascular safety of drugs from both the regulatory and scientific perspectives.
Joanne collaborated with experts worldwide and wrote the infamous white paper, “Methodologies to characterize the QT/corrected QT interval in the presence of drug-induced heart rate changes or other autonomic effects.” She played an instrumental role in the development of ICH E14 guidance entitled “The Clinical Evaluation of QT/QTc Interval Prolongation and Proarrhythmic Potential for Non-antiarrhythmic drug.” As a well-respected and recognized expert, Joanne was also a great leader. As a team leader of the QT review team, she also worked with directors at other divisions. She mentored many reviewers inside and outside her team. She will be truly missed by her colleagues and friends at FDA and her legacy will live on.
In 1998, Joanne gave birth to her first son, Brian, followed by the birth of her second son, Andrew, in 2003. As a mother, she was filled with love and dedication; she raised two tremendously successful children on her own, both who would give their lives for her. Not one to shy away from blunt scolding, every ounce of her words and actions nevertheless came from a place of compassion and unyielding love. She was the furthest from the “Tiger Mom” stereotype and never compared her children to others, instead letting them organically discover what interested and motivated them. This is not to say she was not worried about their lives; on the contrary, she did everything possible to let her children grow into the most successful versions of themselves. As her children, Brian and Andrew enjoyed the rare combination of high expectations and empathetic understanding.
Joanne was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer in 2012, which metastasized in 2013. Her oncologist at the time gave her three months to live. Undeterred, Joanne fought and fought, seeking treatment after treatment and solidifying her Christian faith. Words cannot describe how determined, strong, and hopeful Joanne was during her battle against cancer. Nevertheless, cancer somehow cheated.
This time, however, was not despondent. In 2016, she saw Brian start his freshman year at Harvard and New England Conservatory after being accepted into the Harvard University/New England Conservatory Dual Degree program, the Columbia University/Juilliard School Exchange program, Yale University, Northwestern University, and several other schools. Her second son, Andrew, started high school at Springbrook High School in 2017 and she saw him join the Junior Varsity wrestling team and the debate team. She also was able to witness the births and childhoods of her three nephews: Max, Leo, and Lucas.
Joanne’s remarkable courage and strength and her fight to remain in her children’s lives remains a beacon of the strength of the human spirit and a testimony to a remarkable life. Most importantly, however, Joanne is now resting peacefully with God, in the hands of Jesus, free from any suffering and pain.
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Dr. Joanne Zhang, age 52, of Silver Spring, Maryland passed away on Sunday January 21, 2018. Joanne was born January 26, 1965 in Wuhan, China. Dr. Zhang was a statistician at the FDA since 2000, where she worked on projects involving cardiovascular safety of drugs among other issues. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 1997. Joanne is survived by her two children, Brian, aged 19, and Andrew, aged 14, her parents, Liang Huo Zhang and Zailan Zhao, her brother, Peter (Xu), and his wife, Zoe Wang, and their 3 children. Dr. Zhang also has relatives in China.
A visitation for Joanne will be held Sunday, January 28, 2018 from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM at Hines-Rinaldi Funeral Home Chapel, 11800 New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland 20904, followed by a funeral service from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.dignitymemorial.com for the Zhang family.
John 11:25
I am the resurrection
and the life.
He who believes in Me,
even if he dies,
shall live and,
whoever lives
and believes in Me,
shall never die.
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