Jiayin Zheng, PhD
Assistant Professor of Biostatistics
Jiayin Zheng earned a Ph.D. in Probability and Statistics from Peking University in Beijing, China (2015) under the supervision of Shuyuan He and a B.S. in Statistics from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China (2009). Before joining the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, he served as a Staff Scientist in the Biostatistics Program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. He also obtained postdoctoral training at Duke University and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.
His research focuses on developing novel statistical methods and applying sound approaches to leverage real-world data to improve decision-making in public health and clinical medicine. Specifically, his methodological research interest focuses on data integration with an emphasis on leveraging external summary information with internal individual data, aiming at efficiency gain of parameter estimation for the underlying internal population and bias reduction for model generalizability/transportability. The motivation originated from his extensive collaborative experiences, where he noticed the limitations of local/hospital-level datasets, e.g., inadequate sizes that could lead to insufficient power/efficiency, and potentially biased sampling schemes that might lead to results that do not accurately represent the target population. He is also interested in the development of prediction models with individual participant data meta-analysis and is leading an application project to develop a web-based colorectal cancer risk prediction tool based on common genetic risk factors, as well as environmental and lifestyle risk factors. In his free time, he enjoys hiking and playing soccer.
Content Area Specialties
Cancer research, colorectal cancer, pediatric research
Methodology Specialties
Data integration, machine learning and big data, observational studies, predictive modeling, survival analysis