Strother Walker Award for Outstanding PhD Student, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
(2021)
NHLBI BioData Catalyst Fellowship, NHLBI
(2020)
Research Interests
My research interests are the development and application of statistical methods for analyzing high throughput omics data to better understand how key interactions between genes (or proteins) contribute to human diseases. My academic training and research experience have provided me with a strong integrated background in biostatistics, machine learning, and biology. I have received interdisciplinary training including immunology, molecular biology, statistics methods in genomics, network inference, bioinformatics, and deep learning. Recently I focuses on developing statistical methods for constructing protein-protein networks associated with phenotype and developing Graph Convolutional Neural Network algorithms in the field of genomics for classification. To date, my colleagues and I have developed several statistical methods including a novel tissue augmented Bayesian model for eQTL analysis, sparse multiple canonical correlation network analysis (smCCNet), and an augmented high-dimensional graphical Lasso method to incorporate prior biological knowledge for global network learning (ahGlasso).
Publications
Abdel-Hafiz M, Najafi M, Helmi S, Pratte KA, Zhuang Y, Liu W, Kechris KJ, Bowler RP, Lange L, Banaei-Kashani F. Significant Subgraph Detection in Multi-omics Networks for Disease Pathway Identification. Front Big Data. 2022;5:894632. PubMed PMID: 35811829
Zhuang Y, Xing F, Ghosh D, Banaei-Kashani F, Bowler RP, Kechris K. An Augmented High-Dimensional Graphical Lasso Method to Incorporate Prior Biological Knowledge for Global Network Learning. Front Genet. 2022 Jan 27;12:760299. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2021.760299. PMID: 35154240; PMCID: PMC8829118.
Zhuang Y, Xing F, Ghosh D, Banaei-Kashani F, Bowler RP, Kechris K. An Augmented High-Dimensional Graphical Lasso Method to Incorporate Prior Biological Knowledge for Global Network Learning. Front Genet. 2021;12:760299. PubMed PMID: 35154240
Zhuang Y, Hobbs BD, Hersh CP, Kechris K. Identifying miRNA-mRNA Networks Associated With COPD Phenotypes. Front Genet. 2021;12:748356. PubMed PMID: 34777474
Gillenwater LA, Helmi S, Stene E, Pratte KA, Zhuang Y, Schuyler RP, Lange L, Castaldi PJ, Hersh CP, Banaei-Kashani F, Bowler RP, Kechris KJ. Multi-omics subtyping pipeline for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. PLoS One. 2021;16(8):e0255337. PubMed PMID: 34432807
Zhuang Y, Hobbs BD, Hersh CP, Kechris K. Identifying miRNA-mRNA Networks Associated With COPD Phenotypes. Front Genet. 2021;12:748356. PubMed PMID: 34777474
Gillenwater LA, Helmi S, Stene E, Pratte KA, Zhuang Y, Schuyler RP, Lange L, Castaldi PJ, Hersh CP, Banaei-Kashani F, Bowler RP, Kechris KJ. Multi-omics subtyping pipeline for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. PLoS One. 2021;16(8):e0255337. PubMed PMID: 34432807
Gillenwater LA, Pratte KA, Hobbs BD, Cho MH, Zhuang Y, Halper-Stromberg E, Cruickshank-Quinn C, Reisdorph N, Petrache I, Labaki WW, O'Neal WK, Ortega VE, Jones DP, Uppal K, Jacobson S, Michelotti G, Wendt CH, Kechris KJ, Bowler RP. Plasma Metabolomic Signatures of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and the Impact of Genetic Variants on Phenotype-Driven Modules. Netw Syst Med. 2020 Dec 1;3(1):159-181. PubMed PMID: 33987620
Shi WJ, Zhuang Y, Russell PH, Hobbs BD, Parker MM, Castaldi PJ, Rudra P, Vestal B, Hersh CP, Saba LM, Kechris K. Unsupervised discovery of phenotype-specific multi-omics networks. Bioinformatics. 2019 Nov 1;35(21):4336-4343. PubMed PMID: 30957844
Clarke P, Zhuang Y, Berens HM, Leser JS, Tyler KL. Interferon Beta Contributes to Astrocyte Activation in the Brain following Reovirus Infection. J Virol. 2019 May 15;93(10). PubMed PMID: 30814290
Zhuang Y, Berens-Norman HM, Leser JS, Clarke P, Tyler KL. Mitochondrial p53 Contributes to Reovirus-Induced Neuronal Apoptosis and Central Nervous System Injury in a Mouse Model of Viral Encephalitis. J Virol. 2016 Sep 1;90(17):7684-91. PubMed PMID: 27307572
Chen Z, Wang S, Erekosima N, Li Y, Hong J, Qi X, Merkel P, Nagabhushanam V, Choo E, Katial R, Alam R, Trikha A, Chu HW, Zhuang Y, Jin M, Bai C, Huang H. IL-4 confers resistance to IL-27-mediated suppression on CD4+ T cells by impairing signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 signaling. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2013 Oct;132(4):912-21.e1-5. PubMed PMID: 23958647
Dionne KR, Zhuang Y, Leser JS, Tyler KL, Clarke P. Daxx upregulation within the cytoplasm of reovirus-infected cells is mediated by interferon and contributes to apoptosis. J Virol. 2013 Mar;87(6):3447-60. PubMed PMID: 23302889
Zhuang Y, Dreskin SC. Redefining the major peanut allergens. Immunol Res. 2013 Mar;55(1-3):125-34. PubMed PMID: 22948807
Qi X, Hong J, Chaves L, Zhuang Y, Chen Y, Wang D, Chabon J, Graham B, Ohmori K, Li Y, Huang H. Antagonistic regulation by the transcription factors C/EBPa and MITF specifies basophil and mast cell fates. Immunity. 2013 Jul 25;39(1):97-110. PubMed PMID: 23871207
Nishida J, Li Y, Zhuang Y, Huang Z, Huang H. IFN-? suppresses permissive chromatin remodeling in the regulatory region of the Il4 gene. Cytokine. 2013 Apr;62(1):91-5. PubMed PMID: 23490416
Chen X, Wang Q, El-Mezayen R, Zhuang Y, Dreskin SC. Ara h 2 and Ara h 6 have similar allergenic activity and are substantially redundant. Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 2013;160(3):251-8. PubMed PMID: 23075924
Goplen N, Karim Z, Guo L, Zhuang Y, Huang H, Gorska MM, Gelfand E, Pagés G, Pouysségur J, Alam R. ERK1 is important for Th2 differentiation and development of experimental asthma. FASEB J. 2012 May;26(5):1934-45. PubMed PMID: 22262639
Zhuang Y, Durrani S, Hodges BD, Dreskin SC, Chen X. Expression of recombinant Ara h 6 in Pichia pastoris but not in Escherichia coli preserves allergic effector function and allows assessment of specific mutations. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2012 Jun;56(6):986-95. PubMed PMID: 22707273
Chen X, Zhuang Y, Wang Q, Moutsoglou D, Ruiz G, Yen SE, Dreskin SC. Analysis of the effector activity of Ara h 2 and Ara h 6 by selective depletion from a crude peanut extract. J Immunol Methods. 2011 Sep 30;372(1-2):65-70. PubMed PMID: 21777590
Zhuang Y, Huang Z, Nishida J, Brown M, Zhang L, Huang H. A continuous T-bet expression is required to silence the interleukin-4-producing potential in T helper type 1 cells. Immunology. 2009 Sep;128(1):34-42. PubMed PMID: 19689734
Zhuang Y, Huang Z, Nishida J, Zhang L, Huang H. Signaling pathways that lead to the silencing of the interleukin-4-producing potential in Th1 cells. J Interferon Cytokine Res. 2009 Jul;29(7):399-406. PubMed PMID: 19450151
Laurel Darragh, Jacob Gadwa, Tiffany Pham, Benjamin Van Court, Brooke Neupert, Nicholas Olimpo, Khoa Nguyen, Diemmy Nguyen, Michael Knitz, Maureen Hoen, Sophia Corbo, Molishree Joshi, Yonghua Zhuang, Maria Amann, X.J. Wang, Steven Dow, Ross Kedl, Von Samedi, Mary-Keara Boss, and Sana Karam. Elective nodal irradiation mitigates local and systemic immunity generated by combination radiation and immunotherapy in head and neck tumors. Nature communications. 2022 (Accepted)