Wei Zhao
- Email Wei Zhao
- (734)647-1771
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BIO
Wei Zhao is a Research Assistant Professor at the Survey Research Center in the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan (UM) and is affiliated with the Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health (CSEPH), the Michigan Center on the Demography of Aging (MiCDA), the Eisenberg Family Depression Center, and the UM Precision Health. Dr. Zhao is an interdisciplinary researcher with training in genetic epidemiology, statistics, psychology, and neuroscience. Her research aims to understand the genetic architecture of complex human diseases and traits. She applies cutting-edge high-dimensional statistical models and methods to investigate the relationship between multi-omics (genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics), social/environmental factors, and complex traits in multi-ancestry populations. She has studied a variety of health outcomes and behaviors with a recent focus on cognition, dementia, and mental health-related traits. Dr. Zhao has been a key player in the genomic data cleaning and analytical efforts of multiple large-scale studies, including the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), The Longitudinal Study of Aging in Indian -Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia (LASI-DAD), the Genetic Epidemiology Network of Arteriopathy Study (GENOA), and the Study of Women’s health Across the Nation (SWAN). She currently leads the genomic data collection and dissemination efforts in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID).
- Chen, Fang, ..., Jessica Danielle Faul, Jennifer Ann Smith, David R Weir, Wei Zhao, et al.. 2023. Multi-ancestry transcriptome-wide association analyses yield insights into tobacco use biology and drug repurposing. Nature Genetics 55:291-300.
- Junyu Chen, Qin Hui, Zeyuan Wang, Francis P. Wilson, Kaku So-Armah, Matthew S. Freiberg, Amy C. Justice, Ke Xu, Wei Zhao, Farah Ammous, Jennifer Ann Smith, Sharon L. R Kardia, Marta Gwinn, Vincent C. Marconi, Yan V. Sun. 2023. Epigenome-wide meta-analysis reveals differential DNA methylation associated with estimated glomerular filtration rate among African American men with HIV. Kidney International Reports 8(5):1076-1086.
- Jacquelyn Y. Taylor, Yunfeng Huang, Wei Zhao, Michelle L. Wright, Zeyuan Wang, Qin Hui, Stephanie Potts-Thompson, Veronica Barcelona, Laura Prescott, Yutong Yao, Cindy Crusto, Sharon L. R. Kardia, Jennifer Ann Smith, Yan V. Sun. 2023. Epigenome-wide association study of BMI in Black populations from InterGEN and GENOA. Obesity 31(1):243-255.
- Huichun Xu, ..., Wei Zhao, Jessica Danielle Faul, Jennifer Ann Smith, David R Weir, et al.. 2023. Exome Array Analysis of 9721 Ischemic Stroke Cases from the SiGN Consortium. Genes 14(1):61.
- Jinkook Lee, ..., Jennifer Ann Smith, Wei Zhao, Kenneth M Langa, et al.. 2023. Deep phenotyping and genomic data from a nationally representative study on dementia in India. Scientific Data 10:45.
- Gao, Tao, Zheng, Yinan, Joyce, Brian T, Kho, Minjung, Terry, James G, Wang, Jun, Nannini, Drew, Carr, John Jeffrey, Nair, Sangeeta, Zhang, Kai, Wei Zhao, Jacobs, David R, Schreiner, Pamela J, Greenland, Philip, Lloyd-Jones, Donald, Jennifer Ann Smith, Hou, Lifang. 2023. Epigenetic Aging is Associated with Measures of Midlife Muscle Volume and Attenuation in CARDIA Study. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A
- Wei Zhao, Jennifer Ann Smith, Wang, Yi Zhe, Chintalapati, Manjusha, Ammous, Farah, Yu, Miao, Moorjani, Priya, Ganna, Andrea, Gross, Alden, Dey, Sharmistha, Benerjee, Joyita, Chatterjee, Prasun, Dey, Aparajit B, Lee, Jinkook, Kardia, Sharon L R. 2023. Polygenic risk scores for Alzheimer's disease and general cognitive function are associated with measures of cognition in older South Asians from LASI-DAD. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A 78(5):743-752.
- Julie Hahn, ..., Jennifer Ann Smith, Wei Zhao, et al.. 2023. DNA methylation analysis identifies novel genetic loci associated with circulating fibrinogen levels in blood. Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis 21(5):1135-1147.
- Yuankai Zhang, ..., Wei Zhao, Jennifer Ann Smith, et al.. 2023. Association of Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number With Brain MRI Markers and Cognitive Function: A Meta-analysis of Community-Based Cohorts. Neurology 100(18):e1930-e1943.
- Shang, Lulu, Wei Zhao, Wang, Yi Zhe, Li, Zheng, Choi, Jerome J., Kho, Minjung, Mosley, Thomas H., Kardia, Sharon L. R., Jennifer Ann Smith, Zhou, Xiang. 2023. meQTL mapping in the GENOA study reveals genetic determinants of DNA methylation in African Americans. Nature Communications 14(1):1-16.