Jian Wang
Assistant Professor
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Department of Biostatistics
My research involves statistical methods for genetic data analysis and behavioral studies. With the identification of large numbers of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the human genome, association studies using unrelated individuals or family members to find rare or common genetic variations associated with a particular complex disease become more and more popular and useful, and therefore, development of sophisticated statistical methods to improve the power and efficiency of the traditional association approaches is important. I am currently focusing on the secondary phenotype genetic association studies. Secondary phenotypes are the phenotypes associated with the primary diseases, based on which the data are collected. The standard regression approaches for secondary phenotype analysis usually lead to biased results. I am working on development and implementation of innovative statistical methods to provide unbiased estimates of the association. I am also working on the statistical methods for sex chromosomal genetic variants association studies (e.g., X- and Y-chromosomes). I am also interested in mediation analysis approaches, which is a useful statistical approach to identify complex relationships among risk factors, behavioral phenotypes and diseases. This research can provide tools for the development of prevention and intervention strategies for behavioral phenotypes (e.g., smoking) or complex diseases.
Education & Training
Ph.D. - University of Colorado, Boulder - 2007