Xi Qiao

Xi Qiao, PhD

Languages spoken: English, Mandarin Chinese

Academic Information

Departments Primary - Internal Medicine

Divisions: Epidemiology

Lab

I am a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Utah and an Investigator in the Cancer Biostatistics Shared Resource at the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI). Before joining the University of Utah and HCI, I completed my postdoctoral training at Case Western Reserve University under the mentorship of Dr. Liangliang Zhang. I received my Ph.D. in Statistics from Western Michigan University in 2023, my M.S. in Statistics from West Virginia University in 2019, and my B.A. in Economic Journalism from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

Research Statement

My research focuses on developing innovative statistical methods for high-dimensional biomedical data while collaborating with interdisciplinary teams to address important questions in cancer research. My methodological interests include causal mediation analysis for high-dimensional omics data and Bayesian dynamic borrowing methods for incorporating historical control information into clinical trials. I apply these methods to microbiome, epigenetic, and spatial transcriptomics studies, with the overarching goal of advancing cancer prevention, improving therapeutic strategies, and supporting precision oncology.

Education History

Postdoctoral Training Case Western Reserve University
 Postdoctoral Research Associate
Doctoral Training Western Michigan University
 PhD
Graduate Training West Virginia University
 MS
Other Training Fontys University of Applied Science
Undergraduate Shanghai University of Finance and Economics
 BA

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Qiao X, Liu R, Tang X, Peterson C, Jeng R, Zhang L (2026). Decoding Microbiome Dual Mediation: Introducing ZIMMA for Enhanced Zero-Inflated Data Analysis. Ann Appl Stat, 20(2), 963-985.
  2. Verma S, Gupta K, Qiao X, Shen DL, MacLennan GT, Suryavanshi M, Zhang L, Miller AW, Gupta S (2026). Microbial Differences in Prostate Lesions Between Black and White American Men. Prostate.
  3. Qiao X, Zhang L, Hoffman EA, Mastin GE, Hileman CO, Kallianpur AR, Wang M, Ellis RJ, Koletar SL, Palella FJ, Tassiopoulos KK, Landay AL, Kapahi P, Galligan JJ, Kalayjian RC, HAILO Study Consortium (2025). Glycation metabolites predict incident age-related comorbidities and mortality in older people with HIV. Geroscience, 48(1), 379-390.
  4. Straight B, Qiao X, Ngo D, Hilton CE, Olungah CO, Lalancette C, Naugle A, Needham BL (2025). Biological Mechanisms for Allen's Rule: DNA Methylation as Mediator of the Association Between In Utero Exposure to Environmental Heat and Tibial Growth in Childhood. Am J Hum Biol, 37(7), e70086.
  5. Qiao X, Ngo D, Straight B, Needham BL, Hilton CE, Naugle A (2024). A Bayesian high-dimensional mediation analysis for multilevel genome-wide epigenetic data. J Appl Stat, 52(2), 287-305.
  6. Qiao X, Straight B, Ngo D, Hilton CE, Owuor Olungah C, Naugle A, Lalancette C, Needham BL (2024). Severe drought exposure in utero associates to children's epigenetic age acceleration in a global climate change hot spot. Nat Commun, 15(1), 4140.
  7. Straight B, Qiao X, Ngo D, Hilton CE, Olungah CO, Naugle A, Lalancette C, Needham BL (2022). Epigenetic mechanisms underlying the association between maternal climate stress and child growth: characterizing severe drought and its impact on a Kenyan community engaging in a climate change-sensitive livelihood. Epigenetics, 17(13), 2421-2433.
  8. Straight B, Hilton CE, Naugle A, Olungah CO, Ngo D, Qiao X, and Needham BL (2022). Drought, psychosocial stress, and ecogeographical patterning: Tibial growth and body shape in Samburu (Kenyan) pastoralist children. Am J Biol Anthropol, 178(4), 574-592.

Review

  1. Liu R, Qiao X, Shi Y, Peterson CB, Bush WS, Cominelli F, Wang M, Zhang L (2024). Constructing phylogenetic trees for microbiome data analysis: A mini-review. [Review]. Comput Struct Biotechnol J, 23, 3859-3868.