Zhang is a senior investigator and acting chief of the epidemiology branch at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

[4] Zhang's research interest is at the interface of genetic and non-genetic biological markers and potentially modifiable exogenous factors, focusing on their interplay in relation to the development of complex diseases.

Zhang also has long-standing research interests in fetal origins of chronic diseases, life course epidemiology, and modifications of diet and lifestyle to improve reproductive outcomes and child health.

[4][7] The results of one of Zhang's studies suggests that physical activity and a healthy diet may prevent the occurrence of type 2 diabetes in women who are at a heightened risk.

[8] A study Zhang led found that women who have had gestational diabetes may be able to reduce or even eliminate their elevated risk for cardiovascular disease by following a healthy lifestyle in the years after giving birth.

In this study, the researchers found that women who failed to adopt a healthy lifestyle in the wake of gestational diabetes had a 43 percent higher risk for cardiovascular disease, particularly heart attack and stroke.