Jun Li
Jun Li, PhD
Associate Professor of
School of Data Science and Society
Core Faculty
Phone: 919-445-1273 | Office: 4601 ITS Manning
Email: jli14@unc.edu | Website: https://jlilab.org
Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Computational Genomics, Computational Systems Biology
Research Interests: My research focuses on developing computational tools and integrative multi-omics approaches to uncover cancer vulnerabilities and advance precision oncology. Leveraging genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and AI-driven analytics, I aim to translate complex molecular data into actionable biomarkers and therapeutic insights.
Ran Zhang
Ran Zhang, PhD
Assistant Professor of
School of Data Science and Society
Core Faculty
Phone: N/A | Office: 4502 ITS Manning
Email: ranzhang@unc.edu | Website: https://ranzhang08.github.io/
Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Computational Genomics, Computational Systems Biology
Research Interests: My lab develops machine learning methods for multimodal single-cell and bulk genomics data, with the goal of characterizing the molecular basis underlying complex human diseases and disentangling heterogeneity across individuals.
Brian Diekman, PhD
Brian Diekman, PhD
Associate Professor of
Biomedical Engineering
Member, Thurston Arthritis Research Center
Resource Faculty
Phone: 919-445-2613 | Office: 4111-A Thurston Building
Email: bdiekman@email.unc.edu | Website: https://diekmanlab.bme.unc.edu/
Research Areas: Computational Genomics, Image Analysis
Research Interests: Mechanisms by which genetic factors influence osteoarthritis risk; aging biology and cellular senescence
Laura Ferguson, PhD
Laura Ferguson, PhD
Assistant Professor of
Pharmacology and Psychiatry
Core Faculty
Phone: 919-445-3862 | Office: Thurston-Bowles Building, Room 3027A
Email: laura_ferguson@med.unc.edu | Website: https://tarheels.live/fergusonlab/
Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Computational Genomics, Computational Systems Biology, Statistical and Population Genetics
Research Interests: My lab uses computational, molecular, and behavioral approaches to identify biomarkers and mechanistic pathways underlying alcohol use disorder and related behavioral and neuropsychiatric conditions. We integrate omics data, cross-species studies, and computational modeling to inform therapeutic strategies.
Jonathan B. Parr, MD, MPH
Jonathan Parr, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of
Medicine
Resource Faculty
Phone: (919) 445-1132 | Office: 8312A Medical Biomolecular Research Building
Email: jonathan_parr@med.unc.edu | Website: http://www.ideelresearch.org/
Research Areas: Comparative Genomics and Molecular Evolution, Statistical and Population Genetics
Research Interests: The Parr laboratory conducts applied, translational research on the molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases, with a focus on malaria. We work closely with international partners to use cutting-edge sequencing approaches in order to study pathogen evolution and inform policy decisions.
Fei Zou, PhD
Fei Zou, PhD
Professor of
Biostatistics
Faculty
Phone: (919) 843-4822 | Office: 4115-C McGavran-Greenberg Hall
Email: fzou@bios.unc.edu | Website: https://www.bios.unc.edu/~feizou/
Research Areas: Statistical and Populational Genetics
Research Interests: Dr. Zou’s research interests lie in the development and examination of the theoretical methodologies and statistical properties appropriate for the interpretation of genetic data.
Huaxiu Yao, PhD
Huaxiu Yao, PhD
Assistant Professor of
Computer Science & School of Data Science and Society
Resource Faculty
Phone: N/A | Office: 254 Sitterson Hall
Email: huaxiu@cs.unc.edu | Website: https://www.huaxiuyao.io/aiming-lab
Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Computational Genomics, Computational Systems Biology, Image Analysis
Research Interests: My research focuses on building generalizable and well-aligned foundation models (e.g., LLMs, VLMs) with applications in healthcare and medicine.
Yusha Liu, PhD
Yusha Liu, PhD
Assistant Professor of
Biostatistics
Core Faculty
Phone: N/A | Office:
Email: yushaliu@unc.edu | Website: https://sph.unc.edu/adv_profile/yusha-liu/
Research Areas: Statistical genomics
Research Interests: Flexible and scalable statistical approaches to analyze large-scale and complex genomics data, such as single cell data, and ultimately contributing to the understanding of complex diseases like cancer and the development of targeted therapy and prevention strategies.
Parul Johri
Parul Johri, PhD
Assistant Professor of
Biology and Genetics
Core Faculty
Phone: 919-843-7700 | Office: 3157 Genome Sciences Building
Email: pjohri@unc.edu | Website: https://www.johrilab.org/
Research Areas: Population Genetics, Evolutionary Genomics, Statistical Inference
Research Interests: Our lab is interested in how evolutionary processes like changes in population size, recombination rate, direct and indirect effects of selection, and factors such as genome architecture shape patterns of genomic variation. Work in the lab involves employing computational, theoretical, and statistical approaches, including method development, to perform evolutionary inference and ask fundamental questions in population genetics. Areas of research: inference of selection and demography, evolution of gene duplicates, and population genetics in unicellular pathogenic species.
Melissa Haendel, PhD
Melissa Haendel, PhD
Distinguished Professor of
Genetics and Pediatrics
Core Faculty
Phone: NA | Office:
Email: info@tislab.org | Website: https://tislab.org
Research Areas:
Research Interests: