Division of Biostatistics and Computational Biology

This division, led by Xian Jin Xie, is among one of many research support teams at the College of Dentistry that has been integral to the exponential growth in dental research that we are currently seeing at the college. This team specializes in a wide range of data analysis techniques including traditional biostatistical methods, bioinformatics, machine learning, analysis of genetic sequencing data, clinical trial design, and data visualization.

The division is comprised of the following individuals:

Huojun Cao

Jun Cao

PhD, Associate Professor

Faculty Profile
Shareef Dabdoub

Shareef Dabdoub

PhD, Assistant Professor

Faculty Profile
Chandler Pendleton

Chandler Pendleton

MS, Biostatistician

Fang Qian

Fang Qian

PhD, Associate Research Scientist

Wei Shi

Wei Shi

MS, Biostatistician

Jin Xie

Xian Jin Xie

PhD, Professor and Associate Dean for Research

Faculty Profile
Erliang Zeng

Erliang Zeng

PhD, Associate Professor

Faculty Profile

In addition to the full-time faculty and staff, several graduate research assistants in biostatistics and bioinformatics graduate programs work in the division. 

For current University of Iowa College of Dentistry faculty, staff, and students, please see Intradent for more information on this division.

Biostatistics and Computational Biology Updates

Erliang Zeng

Iowa Computational Biology Researcher Receives USDA Grant to Study Drought Resistance in Plants

Thursday, December 2, 2021
A particular species of grass that is common across the Great Plains in the United States has many genetically different strains. These strains respond differently to drought and related environmental challenges, and Erliang Zeng, associate professor in the Iowa Institute for Oral Health Research, is working with a biologist at Kansas State University, to develop computational modeling and bioinformatic tools for data analysis to identify drought-resistant genes and their patterns in strains of the grass. The overall aim of the research is to improve our understanding of the mechanism about how organisms adapt to severe conditions such as drought and recommend traits for further genetic development.
Huojun Cao

NIH Awards Huojun Cao a 2-year Grant for Over $400K

Friday, September 4, 2020
The National Institutes of Health awarded Dr. Huojun Cao, assistant professor in the Iowa Institute for Oral Health Research and the Department of Endodontics, a 2-year grant for his project, “Identification of Master Transcription Factors of Dental Epithelial Stem Cell by Computational Method.”