A central challenge of scientific research is that raw data cannot directly "enter the mind" to give understanding [1]. This difficulty is especially pronounced in genomics, where experiments can simultaneously measure data on a huge number of biological features, such as genes.
I study how best to make sense of genomic data, especially in the context of behavioral neuroscience.
Methodological research
I study how large-scale genomic data can be used to understand higher-order biological phenomena, such as cell types, tissue structure, or organismal behavior. I develop new statistical frameworks, models, and methods to formulate [2] theoretical constructs defined at different levels of biological organization in terms of quantitative constructs estimable from data.
Scientific research
I am a core member of the Gene Networks in Neural & Developmental Plasticity (GNDP) research theme at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. With my colleagues, I am studying the neurobiological basis of behavior, and I am particularly interested in how genomic information is integrated with information at higher levels of biological organization in the brain.
Funding
My work is or has been supported by:
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Gritton (PI), Bonthuis (MPI), Goense (MPI), Flaws (Co-I), Mahoney (Co-I), Sutton (Co-I), Zhao (Co-I).
Impacts of phthalate exposure on the development of social behavior circuits.
NIH, R01ES036997, 2025–2029. -
Zhao (PI), Bonthuis (Co-I), Gritton (Co-I), Vlasov (Co-I).
CRCNS: Multimodal network interactions for internal state dynamics of resiliency.
NIH, R01AT013189, 2024–2028. -
Han (PI), Zhao (Co-PI).
Integrated experimental and statistical tools for ultra-high-throughput spatial transcriptomics.
NIH, R21HG013180, 2023–2025. -
Foss (PI), Zhao (Co-PI).
A Statistical Approach to Nonlocal Compression for Supervised Learning, Semi-Supervised Learning, and Anomaly Detection.
Sandia National Labs, LDRD22-0599, 2021–2023. -
Robinson (PI), Zhao (Co-PI).
Gut Microbiome Effects on Brain and Behavior.
NSF IOS-2120378, 2021–2024. -
Li (PI), Zhao (Co-PI).
Computational Reconstruction of Gene-Gene Dynamics in Temporal Patterning of Drosophila Medulla Neuroblasts from Single-Cell RNA-Seq.
NSF-Simons Center for Quantitative Biology at Northwestern University, 2018–2019. -
Zhao (PI).
Theory and Methods for Simultaneous Signal Analysis in Integrative Genomics.
NSF DMS-1613005, 2016–2019.
[1] Fisher (1922). On the mathematical foundations of theoretical statistics. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 222, 592–604.
[2] "I see statistics as giving a central place to the theory and practice of the matching of theory to data". Nelder (1986). Statistics, science and technology. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A 149, 109–121.