
Song Zhang, Ph.D.
Professor
School School of Public Health
Department Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health
Biography
Dr. Zhang joined UT Southwestern as an assistant professor in September, 2007. He currently serves as the director of BERD (Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design) for the UTSW CTSA program. He also serves on the NCI Central Institutional Review Board (Adult CIRB – Early Phase Emphasis).
Dr. Zhang’s research interest in statistical methodology lies in two main areas: Bayesian hierarchical modeling and clinical trial design. He has published multiple papers on the application of Bayesian hierarchical models to disease mapping, joint modeling of longitudinal and survival outcomes, item-response theory for grant review, functional enrichment analysis to detect important pathways, and multi-level modeling to detect factors that impact cancer screening, etc. Another area of his research interest is design methodology for clinical trials to account for various pragmatic issues such as correlated outcomes (clustered and longitudinal), missing data, small sample sizes, historical control, random variability in cluster size, and cost constraints, etc. He has published multiple high quality papers in this area and in 2015 he co-authored a book titled “Sample Size Calculations on Clustered and Longitudinal Outcomes in Clinical Research” (Chapman & Hall, New York). Dr. Zhang has been successful in securing extramural grants as the PI to support his independent research program, examples include an NIH R03 grant to conduct secondary data analysis on VA HIV registry; an NSF grant to build risk prediction model based on electronic health record data; and a PCORI methodology development grant to address pragmatic design issues in stepped-wedge cluster randomized trials.
Education
- Graduate School
- Xiamen University - China , Econometrics
- Graduate School
- University of Missouri-Columbi (2005), Statistics
Research Interest
- Bayesian statistical methods
- Bioinformatics
- Clinical trial design
- Missing data methods
- Multi-level models
Publications
Featured Publications
- Sample size calculation for cluster randomized trials with zero-inflated count outcomes.
- Zhou Z, Li D, Zhang S, Stat Med 2022 May 41 12 2191-2204
- Association of Statin Therapy Initiation With Diabetes Progression: A Retrospective Matched-Cohort Study.
- Mansi IA, Chansard M, Lingvay I, Zhang S, Halm EA, Alvarez CA, JAMA Intern Med 2021 Oct
- A flexible sample size solution for longitudinal and crossover cluster randomized trials with continuous outcomes.
- Wang J, Cao J, Zhang S, Ahn C, Contemp Clin Trials 2021 Aug 106543
- Sample size determination for stepped wedge cluster randomized trials in pragmatic settings.
- Wang J, Cao J, Zhang S, Ahn C, Stat Methods Med Res 2021 Jun 9622802211022392
- Power Analysis for Cluster Randomized Trials with Multiple Binary Co-Primary Endpoints
- DT Li, J. Cao, S. Zhang Biometrics 2020 4 76 1064-1074
- Sample Size Calculation for Clinical Trials with Correlated Count Measurements Based on the Negative Binomial Distribution
- D. Li, S. Zhang, J. Cao Statistics in Medicine 2019 28 38 5413-5427
- Paired versus two-group experimental design for rheological studies of vocal fold tissues.
- Xu CC, Li D, Mau T, McPherson E, Du M, Zhang S, J Biomech 2019 01 83 150-156
- An investigation of left-right vocal fold symmetry in rheological and histological properties.
- Xu CC, Gao A, Zhang S Laryngoscope 2018 Aug
- Effect of Low-Dose Ferrous Sulfate vs Iron Polysaccharide Complex on Hemoglobin Concentration in Young Children With Nutritional Iron-Deficiency Anemia: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
- Powers JM, Buchanan GR, Adix L, Zhang S, Gao A, McCavit TL JAMA 2017 06 317 22 2297-2304
- Inference and sample size calculation for clinical trials with incomplete observations of paired binary outcomes.
- Zhang S, Cao J, Ahn C Stat Med 2016 Nov
Books
Featured Books
Sample Size Calculations for Clustered and Longitudinal Outcomes in Clinical Research
C. Ahn, M. Heo, S. Zhang (2015). New York, Chapman & Hall
Statistical Treatment of Various Cluster Randomization Designs for Pragmatic Trials
Song Zhang, Chul Ahn, Hong Zhu (2023). New York, in press, Chapman & Hall
Optimal Biological Dose for Molecularly Targeted Therapies. In Wiley StatsRef: Statistics Reference Online
Chul Ahn, Seung-Ho Kang, Yang Xie, Song Zhang (2016). Hoboken, New Jersey., John Wiley & Sons
Honors & Awards
- Early Career Researcher and Postgraduate travel awards
International Society for Bayesian Analysis (2008) - Graduate Professional Council Travel Scholarship
University of Missouri-Columbia (2004) - Outstanding Performance in Doctoral Exams
Department of Statistics, University of Missouri-Columbia (2003) - Excellent Student Award
Xiamen University, China (1999) - Third Prize
College Student Science and Technology Thesis Competition, Fujian, China (1998)
Professional Associations/Affiliations
- Eastern North American Region (ENAR) of the International Biometric Society (IBS)
- Institute of Mathematical Statistics
- The American Statistical Association