Fei Zou, PhD

About

Dr. Zou’s research interests lie in the development and examination of the theoretical methodologies and statistical properties appropriate for the interpretation of genetic data. She is highly experienced in genetic mapping (genome-wide linkage and association in mice and humans), genome-wide association mapping, copy number variation analysis, micro-array data analysis and next-generation sequencing data analysis.

Dr. Zou is a core member of the Carolina Center for Genome Sciences. She is a member of the Center for Integrated Systems Genetics, an NIH-funded center to exploit the utility of the Collaborative Cross mouse model to delineate genetic and environmental determinants of complex psychiatry phenotypes. She is also the director of the biostatistics/bioinformatics core of UNC Neuroscience Center Research Cores.

Honors and Awards

David Byar Young Investigator Award
2001, Joint Statistical Meeting

Gordon Research Fellowship
2001, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Fellowship
1995, Ohio State University

Excellent Graduate Student Fellowship
Wuhan University

Teaching Interests

Statistical Methods in Quantitative Genetics (BIOS 783), Spring 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2019

Basic Elements of Probability and Statistical Inference (BIOS 550), Fall 2004

Biostatistics in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (GNET 215), Fall 2003-2005, 2007, Spring 2010

Statistical Methods in Human Genetics (BIOS 781), Spring 2014, 2018, 2020

Topics in Statistical Genetics and Genomics (BCB723) Spring 2018, 2019, 2020

Research Activities

Dr. Zou’s research interests lie in the development and examination of the theoretical methodologies and statistical properties appropriate for the interpretation of genetic data. She is highly experienced in genetic mapping (genome-wide linkage and association in mice and humans), genome-wide association mapping, copy number variation analysis, micro-array data analysis and next-generation sequencing data analysis. Her current research focuses on developing machine learning algorithms, such as deep learning, for big EHR data and high-dimensional genetic and genomic data. 

Dr. Zou is a core member of the Carolina Center for Genome Sciences. She is a faculty biostatistician at the UNC Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), and the Education, Training, and Career Development Program within the NC TraCS Institute. She provides routine statistical and study design consultation to clinical and translational research scholars.

Service Activities

Referee

1. American Journal of Epidemiology

2. Annals of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics

3. The Annals of Applied Statistics

4. Annals of Statistics

5. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Statistics

6. Biometrics

7. Bioinformatics

8. BMC Genetics

9. Canadian Journal of Statistics

10. Genetic Epidemiology

11. Genetics

12. Genetic Selection Evolution

13. Computational Statistics and Data Analysis

14. Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics

15. Journal of American Statistical Association

16. The international Journal of Biostatistics

17. Theoretical and Applied Genetics

18. Lifetime Data Analysis

19. Mammalian Genomics

20. Statistics in Medicine

21. Scientific Committee Member, 2002 International Conference on Critical Assessment of Microarray Data Analysis

22. the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Statistics

23. the International Journal of Biostatistics

Service to the research community

1. Standing Member – GVE Study Section (2015 ~ 2021)

2. NIH Center for Scientific Review Special Emphasis Panels (2014, 2015)

Service to the University

1. Faculty of the UNC-CH Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Training Program.

2. Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (BCB) curriculum committee.

Service to the Department of Biostatistics

1. Graduate Admissions Committee (member: 2003-present; chair:2019-current)

2. Graduate Studies Committee 2001-2006

3. Faculty Search Committee 2002, 2003, 2005

4. Masters Examinations Committee 2006-present

5. Seminar Committee 2008-2009

Key Publications

Bagging and deep learning in optimal individualized treatment rules. Mi X, Zou F*, Zhu R. (2019). Biometrics, 75(2), 674-684.

An improved and explicit surrogate variable analysis procedure by coefficient adjustment. Lee, S., Sun, W., Wright, F.A., Zou, F*. (2017).

Pervasive Allelic Imbalance Revealed By Allele-Specific Gene Expression In Highly Divergent Mouse Crosses. Crowley, J.J., Zhabotynsky, V., Sun, W., Huang, S., Pakatci, I. K., Kim, Y., Wang, J. R., Morgan, A.P., Calaway, J. D., Aylor, D. L., Yun, Z., Bell, T. A., Buus, R. J., Calaway, M. E., Didion, J. P., Gooch, T. J., Hansen, S. D., Robinson, N. N., Shaw, G. D., Spence, J. S., Quackenbush, C. R., Barrick, C. J., Nonneman, R. J., Xie, Y., Valdar, W., Lenarcic, A. B., Wang, W., Welsh, C.E., Fu, C.P., Zhang, Z., Holt, J., Guo, Z., Threadgill, D. W., Tarantino, L. M., Miller, D. R., Zou, F.*, McMillan, L.*, Sullivan, P. F.*, Pardo-Manuel de Villena, F.* (*: co-senior authors.) (2015). Nature Genetics, 47(353), 60.

The genome architecture of the collaborative cross mouse genetic reference population. et al., Lois Balmer, Michael Hall, Fuad Iraqi, Mustafa Mahajne, Glynn Manship, Grant Morahan, Yasser Salaymah, Hani Sandovski, Hanna Tayem, Karin Vered (2012). Genetics, 190(2), 389-401.

Gaussian process based bayesian semiparametric quantitative trait loci interval mapping. Fuxia Cheng, Ina Hoeschele, Hanwen Huang, Haibo Zhou, Fei Zou (2010). Biometrics, 66(1), 222-232.

Transcriptome atlases of mouse brain reveals differential expression across brain regions and genetic backgrounds. Ryan Buus, R Buus, James Crowley, J Crowley, Seunggeun Lee, S Lee, Leonard McMillan, L McMillan, Darla Miller, D Miller, F Pardo-Manuel de Villena, Patrick Sullivan, P Sullivan, Wei Sun, W Sun, Fernando Villena, Jeremy Wang, J Wang, Fred Wright, F Wright, Zaining Yun, Z Yun, Vasyl Zhabotynsky, V Zhabotynsky, Fei Zou, F Zou (2012). G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, 2(2), 203-211.

The interactive decision committee for chemical toxicity analysis. Wright A, Kang C, Zou F, Zhu H, Kosorok R Journal of Statistical Research, 46.

SeeQTL: A searchable database for human eQTLs. Shunping Huang, Vered Madar, Andrey Shabalin, Patrick Sullivan, Wei Sun, Wei Wang, Fred Wright, Kai Xia, Yi-Hui Zhou, Fei Zou (2012). Bioinformatics, 28(3), 451-452.

Education