UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #487

Submission information
Submission Number: 487
Submission ID: 8706
Submission UUID: 735bb374-fe03-4f52-a567-66ab70ed5edc

Created: Fri, 08/18/2023 - 02:47 PM
Completed: Fri, 08/18/2023 - 02:47 PM
Changed: Mon, 09/25/2023 - 08:13 PM

Remote IP address: 128.186.4.217
Submitted by: Anonymous
Language: English

Is draft: No
Primary Research Mentor Name Chao Huang
Research Mentor Preferred Pronouns
When potential research assistants are reaching out via email, what is your preferred honorific? Dr.
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated) chuang7@fsu.edu
Position Title Faculty
FSU College (if applicable) Arts and Sciences
FSU Department or Non-FSU Organization Affiliation Statistics
Headshot (optional)
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from above)
Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Pronouns
Research Assistant Supervisor Preferred Honorific?
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated)
Name of Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) (if applicable)
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Pronouns
Other Faculty/Collaborator(s) Preferred Honorific?
Contact Email (FSU Email if affiliated)
Title of the Project Causal Inference in human microbiome data
Project Keywords human microbiome, causal inference, mediation analysis. statistical regression model
Are you currently looking for research assistants? No
Number of Research Assistants Needed 2
Relevant Research Assistant Major(s) Statistics, CS, College of Medicine, Math, biomedical sciences
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
If the project location is off campus, does the research assistant(s) need to provide their own transportation?
Please select the choice that most accurately describes your expectations for the research assistant(s): In-person
Approximately how many hours a week would the research assistant(s) need to work? 6
Roughly what time frame do you expect research assistant(s) to work? During business hours
Overall Research Project Description The mediation analysis methodology of the cause-and-effect relationship through mediators has been increasingly popular over the past decades. The human microbiome can contribute to the pathogenesis of many complex diseases by mediating disease-leading causal pathways. However, standard mediation analysis is not adequate for microbiome data due to the excessive number of zero values and the over-dispersion in the sequencing reads, which arise for both biological and sampling reasons. In this project, we will download & preprocess the human microbiome data and develop novel mediation analysis algorithms to detect important biological causal pathways
Research Tasks literature review; download datasets, preprocess data; statistical data analysis
Skills that research assistant(s) may need: required: one programming language, e.g., Matlab, R, python
recommended: domain knowledge in human microbiome data; statistical causal inference.
Mentoring Philosophy 1. Preparation makes a difference. To engage my students, it is critical to maintain effective communication with students to ensure that they are on the same page with me. To achieve such, well preparation is the first thing on my mind.
2. Give them tools. To inspire growth in my students, I aim to give them tools to take into their future studies and into their life. These tools are a sense of curiosity, open-mindedness, and critical thinking. I would like my students to observe, compare and criticize the motivations and effectivenesses of different statistical approaches.
Please provide a link to your publications, a video clip, or a website for your research project (if applicable): https://sites.google.com/view/chao-huang/
Please add any additional information here (if applicable):
Roundtable times and Zoom links Tuesday, September 5, 2:30-3 pm (https://fsu.zoom.us/j/2586055653)
Mentor Handbook, FAQs, and Communication Yes
UROP Performance Evaluation Yes
Materials Grant Yes
UROP Poster Presentation Yes
Year 2023
update url https://cre.fsu.edu/urop-research-mentor-project-submission-portal?token=v5N3wN2DNQsQEUI78R3HJZkWxOeaxh9FIvr9twZG7hM