Qing Zhou's Homepage
Professor and Chair of Statistics and Data Science
Faculty, Interdepartmental Program in Bioinformatics
University of California, Los Angeles
- UCLA Department of Statistics & Data Science
- 8125 Mathematical Sciences Building, Box 951554
- Los Angeles, CA 90095
- Email: zhou@stat.ucla.edu
- Phone: (310)794-7563
Research Interests:
- Causal inference and graphical models: We develop methods and theory for statistical learning of graphical models, in particular, causal Bayesian networks, from large-scale and high-dimensional data. Bayesian networks are a class of popular graphical models widely used for modeling conditional independence structures in a joint distribution and causal relations among a set of variables. The structure of a Bayesian network is represented by a directed acyclic graph (DAG). We have developed penalized likelihood methods, divide-and-conquer strategies, and associated software packages for structure learning of causal DAGs and causal inference on both experimental and observational data.
- High-dimensional statistics: We are interested in uncertainty quantification for regularized sparse estimators with applications to statistical inference for high-dimensional models. We have developed the technique of estimator augmentation to characterize the sampling distribution of a lasso-type estimator, which allows us to integrate Markov chain Monte Carlo and importance sampling into statistical inference for high-dimensional models. Recently, we developed a projection and shrinkage method for constructing confidence sets in high-dimensional regression that combines inferential advantages of sparse regularization and Stein estimation.
- Monte Carlo methods: We develop Monte Carlo methods to estimate statistical and topological structures of a probability distribution, with applications in Bayesian inference and statistical physics. We are interested in exploring and reconstructing energy landscapes by estimating the density of states, the tree of sublevel sets, and the domain of attraction.
- Bioinformatics: We develop statistical methodologies for efficient analysis of large-scale high-throughput genomic data. We employ model-based and sparse regularization methods to make statistical inference on these data. Our goal is to understand gene regulation and decode regulatory circuits by integrating gene expression data, protein binding data, chromatin interaction data, and DNA sequence data. We have constructed gene regulatory networks and identified combinatorial binding patterns in mouse embryonic stem cells. In addition, we also have biological applications in alternative splicing and complex diseases via collaborations with experimental groups.
Sample Publications:
- Zhou, Q. (2025). Latent Structure and Causality: Inference from Data, World Scientific. [Book website] [Sample chapter]
- Zhou, K., Li, K.C., and Zhou, Q. (2023). Honest confidence sets for high-dimensional regression by projection and shrinkage. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 118: 469-488. [Reprint]
- Ye, Q., Amini, A.A., and Zhou, Q. (2021). Optimizing regularized Cholesky score for order-based learning of Bayesian networks. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 43: 3555-3572. [Reprint]
- Aragam, B. and Zhou, Q. (2015). Concave penalized estimation of sparse Gaussian Bayesian networks. Journal of Machine Learning Research, 16: 2273-2328. [Reprint]
- Shen, S., Park, J.W., Lu, Z., Lin, L., Henry, M.D., Wu, Y.N., Zhou, Q., and Xing, Y. (2014). rMATS: Robust and flexible detection of differential alternative splicing from replicate RNA-Seq data. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, 111: E5593-E5601. [Reprint]
- Zhou, Q. (2014). Monte Carlo simulation for lasso-type problems by estimator augmentation. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 109: 1495-1516. [Reprint]
- Fu, F. and Zhou, Q. (2013). Learning sparse causal Gaussian networks with experimental intervention: Regularization and coordinate descent. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 108: 288-300. [Reprint]
- Zhou, Q. (2011). Random walk over basins of attraction to construct Ising energy landscapes. Physical Review Letters, 106: 180602. [Reprint]
- Sridharan, R., Tchieu, J., Mason, M.J., Yachechko, R., Kuoy, E., Horvath, S., Zhou, Q., and Plath, K. (2009). Role of the murine reprogramming factors in the induction of pluripotency. Cell, 136: 364-377. [Reprint]
- Kou, S.C.*, Zhou, Q.*, and Wong, W.H. (2006). Equi-energy sampler with applications in statistical inference and statistical mechanics (with discussion). Annals of Statistics, 34: 1581-1652. (*Equally contributed authors.) [Reprint]
- Zhou, Q. and Wong, W.H. (2004). CisModule: De novo discovery of cis-regulatory modules by hierarchical mixture modeling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of USA, 101: 12114-12119. [Reprint]