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.
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.
Tarek Zikry
Tarek Zikry, PhD
Assistant Professor of
School of Data Science and Society (Starting July 2025)
Core Faculty
Phone: N/A | Office: ITS Manning School of Data Science and Society
Email: tarek@unc.edu | Website: http://www.zikrylab.com/
Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Computational Genomics, Computational Systems Biology, Statistical and Population Genetics
Research Interests: I am interested in the intersection of precision medicine and and data science, specifically topics in dimensionality reduction, single-cell omics, and statistical machine learning across applications in cancer, neuroscience, and public health.
Daiwei (David) Zhang
Daiwei (David) Zhang, PhD
Assistant Professor of
Biostatistics and Genetics
Core Faculty
Phone: (919) 966-7281 | Office: 3107E McGavran-Greenberg Hall
Email: daiwei_zhang@med.unc.edu | Website: https://sph.unc.edu/adv_profile/david-zhang/
Research Areas: Image Analysis, Computational Genomics, Statistical and Population Genetics, Bioinformatics
Research Interests: My research focuses on developing novel artificial intelligence / machine learning frameworks to advance critical biomedical and health care domains, including spatial omics, computational pathology, medical imaging and text analysis.
Sarah Linnstaedt, PhD
Sarah Linnstaedt, PhD
Associate Professor of
Anesthesiology
Resource Faculty
Phone: 919-966-5136 | Office: 120 Taylor Hall
Email: sarah_linnstaedt@med.unc.edu | Website: https://www.med.unc.edu/anesthesiology/research/linnstaedt-lab/
Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Computational Genomics, Computational Systems Biology, Statistical and Population Genetics
Research Interests: We are interested in understanding the recovery process following traumatic stress exposures and use large-scale molecular and genetic human cohort data from trauma survivors to better understand risk factors and mechanisms driving adverse outcomes such as chronic pain, posttraumatic stress, and depression.
Qingyun Liu, PhD
Qingyun Liu, PhD
Assistant Professor of
Genetics
Core Faculty
Phone: 919-843-6471 | Office: 5061 Genetic Medicine Building
Email: Qingyun_Liu@med.unc.edu | Website: https://qingyunliulab.com/
Research Areas: Population genomics, Bacterial evolution, Infectious disease, Antibiotic resistance, Pathogenicity
Research Interests: Infectious diseases due to highly pathogenic microbes continue to pose a persistent and evolving threat to humans. The Liu lab studies the evolutionary mechanisms underlying drug resistance and transmissibility in bacterial pathogens, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium abscessus, among others.
Tessa Andermann, MD MPH
Tessa Andermann, MD MPH
Assistant Professor of
Medicine
Resource Faculty
Phone: 919-843-0834 | Office: 2341E Medical Biomolecular Research Building
Email: tessa_andermann@med.unc.edu | Website: https://www.med.unc.edu/medicine/infdis/directory/tessa-andermann/
Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Computational Genomics
Research Interests: As an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at UNC-Chapel Hill, Tessa Andermann, MD, MPH, conducts multi-disciplinary research focused on investigating the impact of the intestinal microbiome on cancer outcomes. Her current projects include: 1) Investigating the role of the gut antimicrobial “resistome” in the development of bloodstream and other infections with multi-drug-resistant organisms in patients with hematologic malignancies, 2) developing microbial predictors of therapeutic efficacy and therapy-related gastrointestinal complications following administration of cellular and other immunotherapies in patients with cancer, and 3) using the intestinal microbiome as a tool to inform antimicrobial stewardship in immunocompromised patients.
Brian Miller, MD PhD
Brian Miller, MD PhD
Assistant Professor of
Medicine, Division of Oncology
Resource Faculty
Phone: 919-966-7763 | Office: 5202 Marsico Hall
Email: BrianMiller@med.unc.edu | Website: http://www.themillerlab.org/
Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Computational Systems Biology, Computational Genomics
Research Interests: The Miller lab is working to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy to treat cancer. Using single-cell transcriptomic and epigenetic techniques, along with functional genomic approaches, we want to understand the determinants of immune cell differentiation and function in the tumor microenvironment.