Hong-Wen Deng, PhD

Appointment through 06/30/2028

Dr. Hong-Wen Deng is a researcher/educator with extensive multi-/inter-disciplinary expertise in biostatistics and bioinformatics methodology research, big data, genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, proteomics, genetic epidemiology, complex traits and diseases (especially osteoporosis, sarcopenia, and obesity), system biology, endocrinology, bone biology and recently metabolomics and metagenomics. Dr. Deng’s work is published in nearly 600 peer-reviewed publications including journals such as Nature, New England Journal of Medicine, American Journal of Human Genetics, Endocrine Review, Plos Genetics, Human Molecular Genetics, Molecular Psychiatry, Bioinformatics, and Molecular Cell Proteomics. As of September 2020, these publications have been cited more than 21,382 times and his H-index is 72 and i10 index is 411. Dr, Deng’s primary research interests include all those areas that are related addressing the question: What and how genetic and environmental factors incur higher risk of, or better protection against, complex diseases, such as osteoporosis, in different sex and ethnic groups. Theoretical (e.g., methodology development in biostatistics/bioinformatics) and empirical (e.g., clinical data collection and wet/dry labs data collection/management/processing/analyses) approaches are used. He is also interested in generating, analyzing and integrating big data of various omics in vivo in humans. The purpose is to elucidate how DNA variants affect gene expression/regulation and protein expression/modification in the form of functional networks/modules/pathways and how the knowledge gained on these molecular mechanisms in humans would translate into better prediction/intervention/precision medicine and drug development. Dr. Deng has won numerous NIH grants, including R01 grants and a U19 program grant and has advised/mentored more than 100 graduate students and faculty. Many of his mentees have become tenured professors winning their own grants with their own research centers/programs and some become academic and industrial administrators such as associate deans, department chairs and vice president of genomics companies.