Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

* zhongr@hust.edu.cn

Overview

Dr. Rong Zhong is an associate professor in the department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science & Technology (HUST). Her major area of research interest is molecular epidemiology and cancer epidemiology. As PI she has chaired 5 research projects, and published 17 SCI papers as first author and 10 SCI papers as corresponding author, such as Nature Genetics, Cancer Research, Carcinogenesis, and Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. She was the recipient of the Provincial Second Prize of Natural Science award as the third contributor.

Academic Areas

Molecular Epidemiology / Cancer Epidemiology

Research Interests

Epidemiological studies and biochemical approaches to investigate the biological mechanisms underlying the associations between genetic variants in non-coding regions and hepatocellular carcinoma susceptibility.

Epidemiological studies to investigate gene-environment and gene-gene interactions in the risk of digestive cancers.

Selected Professional Affiliations

2017      Member, Hubei Anti-Cancer Association Reviewer for peer-reviewed journals, including Cancer, Molecular Carcinogenesis, Journal of Cancer, Aging, et al.

Courses Taught

Epidemiology / Preventive Medicine

Awards and Honors

2017      The recipient of the Provincial Second Prize of Natural Science award as the third contributor

2014     Excellent Doctoral Dissertations of Hubei province

2013     Fazu Qiu Scholarship of HUST

2012     Postgraduate national scholarship

Education

2010-2013        Ph.D., Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2008-2010       M.S., Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2004-2008      B.S., Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

Professional/working Experience

2016-present   Associate Professor, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2015-2016        Lecturer, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

2013 2015         Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China

Past and ongoing projects, funding, programs

2019-2022        Modulation of long noncoding RNAs by genetic variants to illuminate mechanisms of hepatocellular carcinoma predisposition, NSFC, PI

2015-2017         The association and functional study of genetic variants in FOXA1 pioneer factors binding sites and breast cancer susceptibility, NSFC, PI

2015-2016        The low-frequency variants in TGF-β signaling pathway and susceptibility to colorectal cancer, HUST, PI

2014-2016        Genetic variations in a functional receptor for human hepatitis B virus and susceptibility to HBV infection, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, PI

2013-2015        Molecular epidemiology of genetic variants in FoxA pioneer factors binding sites and hepatocellular carcinoma susceptibility, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, PI

Select Publications

Journal Article

* Corresponding author

1.       Chang J^†, Zhong R^†, Tian J^†, Li J^†, Zhai K, Ke J, Lou J, Chen W, Zhu B, Shen N, Zhang Y, Zhu Y, Gong Y, Yang Y, Zou D, Peng X, Zhang Z, Zhang X, Huang K, Wu T, Wu C*, Miao X*, Lin D. Exome-wide analyses identify low-frequency variant in CYP26B1 and additional coding variants associated with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Nat Genet, 50(3):338-343, 2018. (^†co-first author)

2.       Zhu B, Zhu Y, Tian J, Shen N, Li J, Lou J, Ke J, Yang Y, Gong Y, Gong J, Chang J, Miao X*, Zhong R*. A functional variant rs1537373 in 9p21.3 region is associated with pancreatic cancer risk. Mol Carcinog, 2019 Jan 3. doi: 10.1002/mc.22968.

3.       Gong Y, Cheng X, Tian J, Li J, Zhu Y, Yang Y, Zou D,Peng X, Luo J, Zhao L, Mei S, Wang X, Yang L, Ke J, Gong J, Chang J, Wang Y*, Zhong R*. Integrative analysis identifies genetic variant modulating MICA expression and altering susceptibility to persistent HBV infection. Liver International, doi: 10.1111/liv.14127.

4.       Zhang Y^†, Yang B^†, Cheng X, Liu L, Zhu Y, Gong Y, Yang Y, Tian J, Peng X, Zou D, Yang L, Mei S, Wang X, Lou J, Ke J, Li J, Gong J, Chang J, Yuan P*, Zhong R*. Integrative functional genomics identifies regulatory genetic variant modulating RAB31expression and altering susceptibility to breast cancer. Mol Carcinog, 57(12): 1845-1854, 2018.

5.       Chang J^†, Tian J^†, Zhu Y^†, Zhong R^†, Zhai K, Li J, Ke J, Han Q, Lou J, Chen W, Zhu B, Shen N, Zhang Y, Gong Y, Yang Y, Zou D, Peng X, Zhang Z, Zhang X, Huang K, Yang M, Wang L, Wu C*, Lin D*, Miao X*. Exome-wide analysis identifies three low-frequency missense variants associated with pancreatic cancer risk in Chinese populations. Nat Commun, 9(1), 3688, 2018. (^†co-first author)

6.       Chang J^†, Tian J^†, Yang Y^†, Zhong R^†, Li J, Zhai K, Ke J, Lou J, Chen W, Zhu B, Shen N, Zhang Y, Gong Y, Zhu Y, Zou D, Peng X, Huang K, Miao X*. A rare missense variant in TCF7L2 associates with colorectal cancer risk by interacting with a GWAS-identified regulatory variant in the MYC enhancer. Cancer Res, 78(17), 5164-5172, 2018. (^†co-first author)

7.       Li J, Wang Y, Zhu Y, Gong Y, Yang Y, Tian J, Zhang Y, Zou D, Peng X, Ke J, Gong J, Zhong R*, Chang J*. Breast cancer risk-associated variants at 6q25.1 influence risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in a Chinese population. Carcinogenesis, 38(4):447-454, 2017.

8.      Zhong R, Liu L, Zou L, Sheng W, Zhu B, Xiang H, Chen W, Chen J, Rui R, Zheng X, Yin J, Duan S, Yang B, Sun J, Lou J, Xie D, Xu Y, Nie S*, Miao X*. Genetic variations in the TGFbeta signaling pathway, smoking and risk of colorectal cancer in a Chinese population. Carcinogenesis, 34(4), 936-942, 2013.

9.       Zhu B, Zou L, Qi L, Zhong R*, Miao X*. Allium Vegetables and Garlic Supplements do Not Reduce Risk of Colorectal Cancer, Based on Meta-analysis of Prospective Studies. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol, 12(12), 1991-2001, 2014. (*Corresponding author)

10.   Zhong R, Yang B, Tang H, Zou L, Song R, Zhu L*, Miao X*. Meta-analysis of the association between DCDC2 polymorphisms and risk of dyslexia. Mol Neurobiol, 47(1), 435-442, 2013.