Dr Jian Zeng

Senior Research Fellow

Institute for Molecular Bioscience

Overview

Dr Jian Zeng is a statistical geneticist and NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) at the University of Queensland (UQ). He received his PhD in animal breeding and genetics at Iowa State University and joined the Program in Complex Trait Genomics (PCTG) at UQ in 2016. His research focuses on the development and application of innovative statistical methods for estimating the genetic architecture and evolutionary signals in complex traits, identifying genetic variants, genes and other molecular intermediates associated with phenotype variation, and predicting trait phenotypes using genome sequence data. In 2019, he was awarded an NHMRC Investigator Emerging Leadership Grant to develop statistical methods and software tools for best predict an individual’s disease risk using genomic and omics data. He was an invited speaker at the prestigious Gordon Research Conference in 2019.

Research Interests

  • Understanding genetic architecture and evolution of complex traits
  • Prediction of polygenic scores of complex traits and diseases
  • Mapping causal variants, genes and regulatory elements using multi-omics data

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Iowa

Publications

  • Yap, Chloe X., Vo, Daniel D., Heffel, Matthew G., Bhattacharya, Arjun, Wen, Cindy, Yang, Yuanhao, Kemper, Kathryn E., Zeng, Jian, Zheng, Zhili, Zhu, Zhihong, Hannon, Eilis, Vellame, Dorothea Seiler, Franklin, Alice, Caggiano, Christa, Wamsley, Brie, Geschwind, Daniel H., Zaitlen, Noah, Gusev, Alexander, Pasaniuc, Bogdan, Mill, Jonathan, Luo, Chongyuan and Gandal, Michael J. (2024). Brain cell-type shifts in Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and schizophrenia interrogated using methylomics and genetics. Science Advances, 10 (21) adn7655, eadn7655. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adn7655

  • Zheng, Zhili, Liu, Shouye, Sidorenko, Julia, Wang, Ying, Lin, Tian, Yengo, Loic, Turley, Patrick, Ani, Alireza, Wang, Rujia, Nolte, Ilja M., Snieder, Harold, Aguirre-Gamboa, Raul, Deelen, Patrick, Franke, Lude, Kuivenhoven, Jan A., Lopera Maya, Esteban A., Sanna, Serena, Swertz, Morris A., Vonk, Judith M., Wijmenga, Cisca, Yang, Jian, Wray, Naomi R., Goddard, Michael E., Visscher, Peter M., Zeng, Jian and LifeLines Cohort Study (2024). Leveraging functional genomic annotations and genome coverage to improve polygenic prediction of complex traits within and between ancestries. Nature Genetics, 56 (5), 1-11. doi: 10.1038/s41588-024-01704-y

  • Xue, Angli, Zhu, Zhihong, Wang, Huanwei, Jiang, Longda, Visscher, Peter M., Zeng, Jian and Yang, Jian (2024). Unravelling the complex causal effects of substance use behaviours on common diseases. Communications Medicine, 4 (1) ARTN 43, 43. doi: 10.1038/s43856-024-00473-3

View all Publications

Supervision

View all Supervision

Publications

Journal Article

Conference Publication

  • Vilhjalmsson, Bjarni, Zeng, Jian and Wray, Naomi (2023). Advances In Polygenic Score Methods And Applications In Psychiatric Genetics. World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics WCPG 2023, Montreal, QC Canada, 10-14 October 2023. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2023.08.062

  • Yao, Shuyang, Harder, Arvid, Darki, Fahimeh, Li, Ang, Zeng, Jian, Nikouei, Kasra, Lundström, Johan, Wray, Naomi, Lu, Yi, Sullivan, Patrick and Hjerling-Leffler, Jens (2023). Highlighting human brain cell types and regions for the genetic risk of schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG) 2023, Montreal, Canada, 10-14 October 2023. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2023.08.161

  • Yao, Shuyang, Harder, Arvid, Darki, Fahimeh, Li, Ang, Zeng, Jian, Nikouei, Kasra, Lundstrom, Johan, Wray, Naomi, Lu, Yi, Sullivan, Patrick and Hjerling-Leffler, Jens (2023). IDENTIFICATION OF CELL TYPES AND CELLULAR DYNAMICS GENETICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH BRAIN DISORDERS AND COGNITIVE TRAITS. World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Montreal Canada, Oct 10-14, 2023. AMSTERDAM: ELSEVIER. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2023.08.160

  • Zeng, Jian, Zheng, Zhili, Liu, Shouye, Sidorenko, Julia, Yengo, Loic, Turley, Patrick, Ani, Alireza, Wang, Rujia, Nolte, Ilja, Snieder, Harold, Yang, Jian, Wray, Naomi, Goddard, Michael and Visscher, Peter (2023). Leveraging functional genomic annotations and genome coverage to improve polygenic prediction of complex traits within and between ancestries. World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Montreal, ON, Canada, 10 - 14 October 2023. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2023.08.063

  • Zeng, Jian, de Vlaming, Ronald, Wu, Yang, Robinson, Matthew R., Lloyd-Jones, Luke R., Yengo, Loic, Yap, Chloe X., Xue, Angli, Sidorenko, Julia, Mcrae, Allan F., Powell, Joseph E., Montgomery, Grant W., Metspalu, Andres, Esko, Tonu, Gibson, Greg, Wray, Naomi R., Visscher, Peter M. and Yang, Jian (2018). Signatures of negative selection in the genetic architecture of human complex traits. 48th Annual Meeting of the Behavior-Genetics-Association (BGA), Boston MA, United States, 20-23 June 2018. New York, NY United States: Springer New York.

Other Outputs

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

Completed Supervision