Biography
Dr. Zhang joined the UCI Program in Public Health as a full professor of epidemiology & biostatistics. Prior to UCI, she was at Purdue University where she served as a Professor in the Department of Biostatistics for nearly 10 years.
Research Interests
• Statistical Methodology
Bayesian statistics; high dimensional data; incomplete data; multivariate statistics; variable selection
• Statistical Genetics and Genomics, Bioinformatics
Statistical inference for omics data including genomic, epigenetic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data (e.g., microarray, bulk RNA-seq, single-cell RNA-Seq, 3 single-cell ATAC-Seq, nuclear magnetic resonance spectra data, and mass spectrometry
data); statistical methods for genome-wide association studies (GWAS, both family based and population-based); genomic selection; integrative omics data analysis; machine learning; quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping; molecular marker profiling; statistical and computational methods for biomarker identification; genome-wide gene regulatory network construction.
• Statistics in Health Care and Diseases
Profiling physicians in managed health care; construction of incentive scheme for physicians; biomarker identification and prediction in neurodegenerative diseases and cancer; precision medicine; gene-environment interactions in complex diseases, statistical models
for multimorbidity and palliative care among nursing home residents
Current Projects/Studies
- Modeling Functional Genomics of Susceptibility to the Persistent E ects of Environmental Toxins in an Early Rural Indiana Neurodegenerative Cohort (NIH/NIA)
- Cardiometabolic Risk Prediction Among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) adults using Machine Learning Approaches and Electronic Health Record Data (NIH/AIM-AHEAD)
- Modeling Homeostasis of Human Blood Metabolites (NIH/NIGMS)
- Big Data Training for Cancer Research (NIH/NCI)
Education
Ph.D. 2005 Biological Statistics and Computational Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Advisor: Martin T. Wells
Dissertation: Inference for Sparse and Asymmetric Signals in High Dimensional Data with Applications to Statistical Genomics
M.S. 2003 Biometry, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Advisors: Robert L. Strawderman and Martin T. Wells
Thesis: Profiling Pharmacy Expenditure in Managed Health Care: a Two-Part Hierarchical Model and Bayesian Inference
Ph.D. 1998 Neurophysiology, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China
Advisor: Jisheng Han
Dissertation: The Anti-Opioid Effect of OFQ at Calcium Channel Level and the Effects of Opioids on Intracellular Calcium Concentration
M.S. 1995 Physiology, Lanzhou University School of Medicine, Lanzhou, China
Advisor: Jingji Zhang
Thesis: Electro-Physiology Changes of Rats with Ulcerative Colitis and the Treatment Effects of Rheum Palmatum L. on Ulcerative Colitis M.D. 1992 Hebei Medical University, Hebei, China
Honors and Awards
- 2022 Regina and Norman F. Carroll Research Award, College of Science, Purdue University
- 2020 Excellence in Research Award, Purdue University
- 2020 3rd Place, the HackingToCureMichael Hackathon
- 2017 Excellence in Research Award, Purdue University
- 2017 Engagement Award, College of Science, Purdue University
- 2011/2010/2009 Seed for Success Award, Purdue University
