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Hongyu Zhao, PhD

Ira V. Hiscock Professor of Biostatistics, Professor of Genetics and Professor of Statistics and Data Science
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About

Titles

Ira V. Hiscock Professor of Biostatistics, Professor of Genetics and Professor of Statistics and Data Science

Biography

Dr. Hongyu Zhao is the Ira V. Hiscock Professor of Biostatistics and Professor of Statistics and Data Science and Genetics. He received his B.S. in Probability and Statistics from Peking University in 1990 and Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1995. His research interests are the developments and applications of novel statistical methods to address scientific questions in genetics, molecular biology, drug developments, and precision medicine.

Some of his recent projects include large scale genome wide studies to identify genetic variants underlying complex diseases, genetic risk prediction, single cell analysis, biological network modeling and analysis, disease biomarker identification, genome annotation, cancer genomics, microbiome analysis, image analysis, and wearable device data analysis. He has published over 700 articles in statistics, human genetics, bioinformatics, genomics, and proteomics, and edited three books on human genetics analysis and statistical genomics. He has trained over 110 doctoral and post-doctoral students, many of whom are holding tenured or tenure-track positions at major universities in the states and overseas.

Dr. Zhao has served as an editor and/or associate editor of leading statistical and genetics journals, including as a Co-Editor of the Journal of the American Statistical Association Theory and Methods and a co-Editor of Statistics in Biosciences. He was the recipient of the Mortimer Spiegelman Award for a top statistician in health statistics under the age of 40 awarded by the American Public Health Association and the Pao-Lu Hsu Award from the International Chinese Statistical Association. His research has also been recognized by the Evelyn Fix Memorial Medal and Citation by UC Berkeley, a Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Award by the March of Dimes Foundation, election to the fellowship of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Statistical Association, the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, and Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering.

Appointments

Other Departments & Organizations

Education & Training

PhD
University of California at Berkeley (1995)
BS
Peking University (1990)

Research

Overview

  • Genome Wide Association Studies: We are developing statistical methods to integrate diverse data types and prior biological knowledge to identify genes and variants for common diseases and risk prediction models. We also develop methods to infer the genetic architecture of complex diseases and for risk predictions.
  • Single Cell Analysis: We are developing statistically robust and computationally efficient methods for single cell data with the objectives of inferring genetic regulation and signaling at the single cell level, and the identifications of cellular changes across different conditions.
  • Network Modeling: We are developing statistical methods to model biological networks under the general framework of Gaussian and other graphical models. Specific networks we are working on include gene expression regulatory networks, signaling networks, and eQTL networks.
  • Imaging Genetics: We focus on the analysis of data from several consortia to infer the impacts of genetic factors on imaging traits, as well as their associations with complex diseases.
  • Wearable Device: We are developing methods to extract signals from wearable devices and then combine them with genetics data to infer the genetic basis of activity and sleeping traits.
  • Cancer Genomics: We are developing statistical and computational methods to analyze cancer genomics data, e.g. microarrays and next generation sequencing, to identify cancer subtypes, driver mutations, biomarkers, and appropriate treatments for cancer patients.
  • Microbiome Analysis: We are developing modeling and analysis approaches for microbiome data generated from next generation sequencing data.
  • Proteomics: Our current focus is on targeted proteomics, such as Multiple Reaction Monitoring.


Medical Research Interests

Biostatistics; Computational Biology; Genetics; Genomics; Microbiota; Proteomics; Public Health; Single-Cell Analysis; Statistics; Wearable Electronic Devices

Public Health Interests

Cancer; Genetics, Genomics, Epigenetics; Global Health; Infectious Diseases

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Hongyu Zhao's published research.

Publications

Featured Publications

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Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • honor

    Distinguished Achievement Award

    International AwardInternational Chinese Statistical Association
  • honor

    Best Paper Award

    International AwardStatistics in Biosciences
  • honor

    Medallion Lecture

    International AwardInstitute of Mathematical Statistics
  • honor

    Elected Fellow

    National AwardAmerican Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
  • honor

    Elected Member, Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering

    Regional Award
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Get In Touch

Contacts

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Locations

  • 300 George Street

    Academic Office

    Ste 503

    New Haven, CT 06511

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