Hongtu Zhu

Dr. Hongtu Zhu is the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Biostatistics, Statistics, Radiology, Computer Science, and Genetics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). He holds affiliations with the Gillings School of Global Public Health and leads the Biostatistics and Imaging Genomics Analysis Lab. His expertise spans statistical learning, medical imaging, AI, and big data integration, with a focus on precision medicine and biomedicine.

Dr. Zhu earned his PhD in Statistics from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2000) and has held prior roles including DiDi Fellow/Chief Scientist (2018-2020) and Bao-Shan Jing Endowed Professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center (2016-2018). He has published over 345 peer-reviewed articles in top-tier journals like Nature, Science, and JASA, and actively contributes to editorial roles including Coordinating Editor of JASA.

His research interests include neuroimaging analysis, knowledge graphs, and AI applications in healthcare. Notable awards include the COPSS Snedecor Award (2025), IEEE Fellowship (2025), and IMS Medallion (2027). He has mentored over 80 PhD students/postdoctoral fellows and serves on NIH grant review panels and professional organizations like the ASA's Section on Statistics in Imaging.

• Key Contributions: Imaging genomics, brain connectivity studies, ridesharing market optimization, medical AI frameworks
• Lab Innovations: Brain Imaging Genetics Knowledge Portal, Biomedical Knowledge Graph Interface
• Teaching: Advanced biostatistics courses (Generalized Linear Models, Deep Learning in Biomedicine)

Recent work explores causal inference in healthcare, X chromosome's role in neurobiology, and AI ethics in medical vision-language models. His interdisciplinary projects bridge statistics, computer science, and clinical practice to address complex biomedical challenges.