Dr Jian Zeng
Dr

Jian Zeng

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Background

Dr Jian Zeng is a statistical geneticist and NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) at the University of Queensland (UQ). He received his PhD in animal breeding and genetics at Iowa State University and joined the Program in Complex Trait Genomics (PCTG) at UQ in 2016. His research focuses on the development and application of innovative statistical methods for estimating the genetic architecture and evolutionary signals in complex traits, identifying genetic variants, genes and other molecular intermediates associated with phenotype variation, and predicting trait phenotypes using genome sequence data. In 2019, he was awarded an NHMRC Investigator Emerging Leadership Grant to develop statistical methods and software tools for best predict an individual’s disease risk using genomic and omics data. He was an invited speaker at the prestigious Gordon Research Conference in 2019.

Availability

Dr Jian Zeng is:
Available for supervision

Fields of research

Bioinformatics and computational biology Biological Sciences Epigenetics (incl. genome methylation and epigenomics) Gene mapping Genetics Genetics not elsewhere classified Genomics Statistical and quantitative genetics

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Iowa

Research interests

  • Understanding genetic architecture and evolution of complex traits

  • Prediction of polygenic scores of complex traits and diseases

  • Mapping causal variants, genes and regulatory elements using multi-omics data

Search Professor Jian Zeng’s works on UQ eSpace

56 works between 2011 and 2025
All (56) Journal Article (48) Conference Publication (6) Other Outputs (2)

1 - 20 of 56 works

2025

Journal Article

Connecting genomic results for psychiatric disorders to human brain cell types and regions reveals convergence with functional connectivity

Yao, Shuyang, Harder, Arvid, Darki, Fahimeh, Chang, Yu-Wei, Li, Ang, Nikouei, Kasra, Volpe, Giovanni, Lundström, Johan N., Zeng, Jian, Wray, Naomi R., Lu, Yi, Sullivan, Patrick F. and Hjerling-Leffler, Jens (2025). Connecting genomic results for psychiatric disorders to human brain cell types and regions reveals convergence with functional connectivity. Nature Communications, 16 (1) 395, 395. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-55611-1

Connecting genomic results for psychiatric disorders to human brain cell types and regions reveals convergence with functional connectivity

2025

Journal Article

Tracing human trait evolution through integrative genomics and temporal annotations

Zeng, Jian (2025). Tracing human trait evolution through integrative genomics and temporal annotations. Cell Genomics, 5 (2) 100767, 100767. doi: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100767

Tracing human trait evolution through integrative genomics and temporal annotations

2025

Journal Article

Trans-ancestry genome-wide study of depression identifies 697 associations implicating cell types and pharmacotherapies

Adams, Mark J., Streit, Fabian, Meng, Xiangrui, Awasthi, Swapnil, Adey, Brett N., Choi, Karmel W., Chundru, V. Kartik, Coleman, Jonathan R.I., Ferwerda, Bart, Foo, Jerome C., Gerring, Zachary F., Giannakopoulou, Olga, Gupta, Priya, Hall, Alisha S.M., Harder, Arvid, Howard, David M., Hübel, Christopher, Kwong, Alex S.F., Levey, Daniel F., Mitchell, Brittany L., Ni, Guiyan, Ota, Vanessa K., Pain, Oliver, Pathak, Gita A., Schulte, Eva C., Shen, Xueyi, Thorp, Jackson G., Walker, Alicia, Yao, Shuyang ... McIntosh, Andrew M. (2025). Trans-ancestry genome-wide study of depression identifies 697 associations implicating cell types and pharmacotherapies. Cell, 188 (3), 640-652.e9. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.12.002

Trans-ancestry genome-wide study of depression identifies 697 associations implicating cell types and pharmacotherapies

2024

Journal Article

DINGO: increasing the power of locus discovery in maternal and fetal genome-wide association studies of perinatal traits

Hwang, Liang-Dar, Cuellar-Partida, Gabriel, Yengo, Loic, Zeng, Jian, Toivonen, Jarkko, Arvas, Mikko, Beaumont, Robin N., Freathy, Rachel M., Moen, Gunn-Helen, Warrington, Nicole M. and Evans, David M. (2024). DINGO: increasing the power of locus discovery in maternal and fetal genome-wide association studies of perinatal traits. Nature Communications, 15 (1) 9255, 1-14. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-53495-9

DINGO: increasing the power of locus discovery in maternal and fetal genome-wide association studies of perinatal traits

2024

Conference Publication

Genome-wide Fine-mapping Improves Identification Of Causal Variants

Zeng, Jian, Wu, Yang, Zheng, Zhili, Thibaut, Loic, Goddard, Michael, Wray, Naomi and Visscher, Peter (2024). Genome-wide Fine-mapping Improves Identification Of Causal Variants. World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics WCPG 2024, Singapore, 15-19 October 2024. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2024.08.037

Genome-wide Fine-mapping Improves Identification Of Causal Variants

2024

Journal Article

Brain cell-type shifts in Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and schizophrenia interrogated using methylomics and genetics

Yap, Chloe X., Vo, Daniel D., Heffel, Matthew G., Bhattacharya, Arjun, Wen, Cindy, Yang, Yuanhao, Kemper, Kathryn E., Zeng, Jian, Zheng, Zhili, Zhu, Zhihong, Hannon, Eilis, Vellame, Dorothea Seiler, Franklin, Alice, Caggiano, Christa, Wamsley, Brie, Geschwind, Daniel H., Zaitlen, Noah, Gusev, Alexander, Pasaniuc, Bogdan, Mill, Jonathan, Luo, Chongyuan and Gandal, Michael J. (2024). Brain cell-type shifts in Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and schizophrenia interrogated using methylomics and genetics. Science Advances, 10 (21) adn7655, eadn7655. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adn7655

Brain cell-type shifts in Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and schizophrenia interrogated using methylomics and genetics

2024

Journal Article

Leveraging functional genomic annotations and genome coverage to improve polygenic prediction of complex traits within and between ancestries

Zheng, Zhili, Liu, Shouye, Sidorenko, Julia, Wang, Ying, Lin, Tian, Yengo, Loic, Turley, Patrick, Ani, Alireza, Wang, Rujia, Nolte, Ilja M., Snieder, Harold, Aguirre-Gamboa, Raul, Deelen, Patrick, Franke, Lude, Kuivenhoven, Jan A., Lopera Maya, Esteban A., Sanna, Serena, Swertz, Morris A., Vonk, Judith M., Wijmenga, Cisca, Yang, Jian, Wray, Naomi R., Goddard, Michael E., Visscher, Peter M., Zeng, Jian and LifeLines Cohort Study (2024). Leveraging functional genomic annotations and genome coverage to improve polygenic prediction of complex traits within and between ancestries. Nature Genetics, 56 (5), 1-11. doi: 10.1038/s41588-024-01704-y

Leveraging functional genomic annotations and genome coverage to improve polygenic prediction of complex traits within and between ancestries

2024

Journal Article

Long-term follow-up of the cognitive function in children after intravitreal ranibizumab for retinopathy of prematurity

Tian, Ya, Fan, Zixin, Zeng, Xianlu, Yu, Zhen, Lu, Xiaofeng, Zhao, Xinyu, Wu, Zhenquan, He, Honghui, Zeng, Jian, Zheng, Lei, Zhang, Linlin, Correa, Victor S. M. C., Ying, Guishuang, Zhang, Shaochong and Zhang, Guoming (2024). Long-term follow-up of the cognitive function in children after intravitreal ranibizumab for retinopathy of prematurity. Graefes Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology, 262 (10), 3117-3124. doi: 10.1007/s00417-024-06486-x

Long-term follow-up of the cognitive function in children after intravitreal ranibizumab for retinopathy of prematurity

2024

Journal Article

Unravelling the complex causal effects of substance use behaviours on common diseases

Xue, Angli, Zhu, Zhihong, Wang, Huanwei, Jiang, Longda, Visscher, Peter M., Zeng, Jian and Yang, Jian (2024). Unravelling the complex causal effects of substance use behaviours on common diseases. Communications Medicine, 4 (1) 43, 1-13. doi: 10.1038/s43856-024-00473-3

Unravelling the complex causal effects of substance use behaviours on common diseases

2024

Journal Article

Comprehensive analysis reveals the prognostic and immunogenic characteristics of DNA methylation regulators in lung adenocarcinoma

Huang, Jing, Huang, Chujian, Huang, Can, Xiang, Zichang, Ni, Yao, Zeng, Jian and Cai, Songhua (2024). Comprehensive analysis reveals the prognostic and immunogenic characteristics of DNA methylation regulators in lung adenocarcinoma. Respiratory Research, 25 (1) 74. doi: 10.1186/s12931-024-02695-4

Comprehensive analysis reveals the prognostic and immunogenic characteristics of DNA methylation regulators in lung adenocarcinoma

2024

Journal Article

Response of Human Retinal Microvascular Endothelial Cells to Influenza A (H1N1) Infection and the Underlying Molecular Mechanism

Yang, Shuo, Fan, Zixin, Lu, Xiaofeng, Liu, Hui, Zhou, Ziying, Qi, Hui, Zeng, Jian, Zheng, Mianying, Zou, Xuan, Fang, Shisong and Zhang, Guoming (2024). Response of Human Retinal Microvascular Endothelial Cells to Influenza A (H1N1) Infection and the Underlying Molecular Mechanism. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 65 (1) 38. doi: 10.1167/iovs.65.1.38

Response of Human Retinal Microvascular Endothelial Cells to Influenza A (H1N1) Infection and the Underlying Molecular Mechanism

2023

Journal Article

Developing flexible models for genetic evaluations in smallholder crossbred dairy farms

Costilla, R., Zeng, J., Al Kalaldeh, M., Swaminathan, M., Gibson, J.P., Ducrocq, V. and Hayes, B.J. (2023). Developing flexible models for genetic evaluations in smallholder crossbred dairy farms. Journal of Dairy Science, 106 (12), 9125-9135. doi: 10.3168/jds.2022-23135

Developing flexible models for genetic evaluations in smallholder crossbred dairy farms

2023

Journal Article

Singlet oxygen induces cell wall thickening and stomatal density reducing by transcriptome reprogramming

Zhang, Zhong-Wei, Fu, Yu-Fan, Yang, Xin-Yue, Yuan, Ming, Zheng, Xiao-Jian, Luo, Xiao-Feng, Zhang, Meng-Yao, Xie, Lin-Bei, Shu, Kai, Reinbothe, Steffen, Reinbothe, Christiane, Wu, Fan, Feng, Ling-Yang, Du, Jun-Bo, Wang, Chang-Quan, Gao, Xue-Song, Chen, Yang-Er, Zhang, Yan-Yan, Li, Yang, Tao, Qi, Lan, Ting, Tang, Xiao-Yan, Zeng, Jian, Chen, Guang-Deng and Yuan, Shu (2023). Singlet oxygen induces cell wall thickening and stomatal density reducing by transcriptome reprogramming. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 299 (12) 105481, 1-16. doi: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.105481

Singlet oxygen induces cell wall thickening and stomatal density reducing by transcriptome reprogramming

2023

Journal Article

HOPX-associated molecular programs control cardiomyocyte cell states underpinning cardiac structure and function

Friedman, Clayton E., Cheetham, Seth W., Negi, Sumedha, Mills, Richard J., Ogawa, Masahito, Redd, Meredith A., Chiu, Han Sheng, Shen, Sophie, Sun, Yuliangzi, Mizikovsky, Dalia, Bouveret, Romaric, Chen, Xiaoli, Voges, Holly K., Paterson, Scott, De Angelis, Jessica E., Andersen, Stacey B., Cao, Yuanzhao, Wu, Yang, Jafrani, Yohaann M.A., Yoon, Sohye, Faulkner, Geoffrey J., Smith, Kelly A., Porrello, Enzo, Harvey, Richard P., Hogan, Benjamin M., Nguyen, Quan, Zeng, Jian, Kikuchi, Kazu, Hudson, James E. and Palpant, Nathan J. (2023). HOPX-associated molecular programs control cardiomyocyte cell states underpinning cardiac structure and function. Developmental Cell, 59 (1), 91-107.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2023.11.012

HOPX-associated molecular programs control cardiomyocyte cell states underpinning cardiac structure and function

2023

Journal Article

Learning functional conservation between human and pig to decipher evolutionary mechanisms underlying gene expression and complex traits

Li, Jinghui, Zhao, Tianjing, Guan, Dailu, Pan, Zhangyuan, Bai, Zhonghao, Teng, Jinyan, Zhang, Zhe, Zheng, Zhili, Zeng, Jian, Zhou, Huaijun, Fang, Lingzhao and Cheng, Hao (2023). Learning functional conservation between human and pig to decipher evolutionary mechanisms underlying gene expression and complex traits. Cell Genomics, 3 (10) 100390. doi: 10.1016/j.xgen.2023.100390

Learning functional conservation between human and pig to decipher evolutionary mechanisms underlying gene expression and complex traits

2023

Conference Publication

Advances In Polygenic Score Methods And Applications In Psychiatric Genetics

Vilhjalmsson, Bjarni, Zeng, Jian and Wray, Naomi (2023). Advances In Polygenic Score Methods And Applications In Psychiatric Genetics. World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics WCPG 2023, Montreal, QC Canada, 10-14 October 2023. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2023.08.062

Advances In Polygenic Score Methods And Applications In Psychiatric Genetics

2023

Conference Publication

IDENTIFICATION OF CELL TYPES AND CELLULAR DYNAMICS GENETICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH BRAIN DISORDERS AND COGNITIVE TRAITS

Yao, Shuyang, Harder, Arvid, Darki, Fahimeh, Li, Ang, Zeng, Jian, Nikouei, Kasra, Lundstrom, Johan, Wray, Naomi, Lu, Yi, Sullivan, Patrick and Hjerling-Leffler, Jens (2023). IDENTIFICATION OF CELL TYPES AND CELLULAR DYNAMICS GENETICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH BRAIN DISORDERS AND COGNITIVE TRAITS. World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Montreal Canada, Oct 10-14, 2023. AMSTERDAM: ELSEVIER. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2023.08.160

IDENTIFICATION OF CELL TYPES AND CELLULAR DYNAMICS GENETICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH BRAIN DISORDERS AND COGNITIVE TRAITS

2023

Conference Publication

Highlighting human brain cell types and regions for the genetic risk of schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders

Yao, Shuyang, Harder, Arvid, Darki, Fahimeh, Li, Ang, Zeng, Jian, Nikouei, Kasra, Lundström, Johan, Wray, Naomi, Lu, Yi, Sullivan, Patrick and Hjerling-Leffler, Jens (2023). Highlighting human brain cell types and regions for the genetic risk of schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG) 2023, Montreal, Canada, 10-14 October 2023. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2023.08.161

Highlighting human brain cell types and regions for the genetic risk of schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders

2023

Conference Publication

Leveraging functional genomic annotations and genome coverage to improve polygenic prediction of complex traits within and between ancestries

Zeng, Jian, Zheng, Zhili, Liu, Shouye, Sidorenko, Julia, Yengo, Loic, Turley, Patrick, Ani, Alireza, Wang, Rujia, Nolte, Ilja, Snieder, Harold, Yang, Jian, Wray, Naomi, Goddard, Michael and Visscher, Peter (2023). Leveraging functional genomic annotations and genome coverage to improve polygenic prediction of complex traits within and between ancestries. World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics (WCPG), Montreal, ON, Canada, 10 - 14 October 2023. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2023.08.063

Leveraging functional genomic annotations and genome coverage to improve polygenic prediction of complex traits within and between ancestries

2023

Journal Article

Joint analysis of GWAS and multi-omics QTL summary statistics reveals a large fraction of GWAS signals shared with molecular phenotypes

Wu, Yang, Qi, Ting, Wray, Naomi R., Visscher, Peter M., Zeng, Jian and Yang, Jian (2023). Joint analysis of GWAS and multi-omics QTL summary statistics reveals a large fraction of GWAS signals shared with molecular phenotypes. Cell Genomics, 3 (8) 100344, 100344. doi: 10.1016/j.xgen.2023.100344

Joint analysis of GWAS and multi-omics QTL summary statistics reveals a large fraction of GWAS signals shared with molecular phenotypes

Current funding

  • 2022 - 2025
    Genetic architecture and evolution of complex traits across populations
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2025
    Statistical methods and tools to integrate genetic and non-genetic data for risk prediction of common diseases
    NHMRC Investigator Grants
    Open grant

Availability

Dr Jian Zeng is:
Available for supervision

Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.

Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Statistical methods for risk prediction of common diseases

    Principal Advisor

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Genetic architecture and evolution of complex traits across populations in humans

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Naomi Wray, Dr Fleur Garton

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Understanding the pathophysiology of stroke using bioinformatics and statistical genetics approaches

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Associate Professor Asaduzzaman Khan, Dr Mohammad Ali Moni

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Spatial transcriptomics and Single-cell Interaction Analysis

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Laura Grice, Dr Laura Genovesi, Dr Quan Nguyen

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Novel methods and data integration to understand the causes of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Allan McRae, Dr Fleur Garton

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Using genomic data and epigenetic annotations to identify genetic causes of cell differentiation

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Nathan Palpant, Dr Amy Hanna

Completed supervision

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