Lei Zhang, PhD, MBA
Professor - Associate Dean for Research and Schola
Department:
SON-Instruction School Nursing
Email:
lzhang2@umc.edu
Work Phone:
(601) 815-9780
Biography
Dr. Lei Zhang is professor and associate dean for research and scholarship in School of Nursing at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). In addition to the associate dean title, he serves as the school's Harriet G. Williamson Endowed Chair for Population Health Nursing. He also holds the secondary appointments as professor of data science in UMMC’s John D. Bower School of Population Health and professor of Health Administration in School of Health Related Professions.
Prior to becoming an associate dean, Dr. Zhang served as director and chief research biostatistician of Office of Health Data and Research at the Mississippi State Department of Health, where he oversaw surveillance, research and program evaluation for maternal and child health, chronic disease, oral health, tobacco control, and occupational health programs.
He is a certified public manager from the Mississippi State Personnel Board and a graduate from the State Executive Development Institute of Mississippi.
Dr. Zhang's research interests and expertise focus on statistics education, complex sampling and survey data analysis, public health statistics and surveillance, youth obesity, maternal health and infant mortality, and violence research and prevention.
Education
| University of Mississippi Medical Center, PhD, Biostatistics | 2006 |
| University of Mississippi Medical Center, MS, Biostatistics | 2004 |
| University of Louisiana at Monroe, MBA, Business | 1998 |
| Chengdu University of Technology, BS, Engineering | 1989 |
Academic Appointments or Other Previous Appointments
| Professor, University of Mississippi Medical Center, School of Population Health | |
| Professor, University of Mississippi Medical Center, School of Health Related Professions | |
| Harriet G. Williamson Endowed Chair of Population Health Nursing, University of Mississippi Medical Center, School of Nursing |
Sponsored Program Funding
| Extramural, A Multimodal and Interdisciplinary Data Science Training Program to Enhance a Diverse Workforce for Addiction Research, NIH | 09/2024 - 09/2029 |
| Extramural, The SUD and IPV among Mississippi’s Moms – Initiative to Prevent and Treat program (SIMM Initiative), HHS | 09/2022 - 09/2026 |
| Extramural, Mississippi Violence Injury Prevention program (MS VIP), NIH | 09/2022 - 09/2027 |
Publications
Journal Article | |
| Matthew Morris, Laura Vearrier, Matthew Kutcher, Masoumeh Karimi, Fazlay Faruque, Alyscia Severance, Michelle Brassfield, and Lei Zhang Understanding disparities in firearm mortality: The role of person- and place-based factors. Injury. 2025 | 2025 |
| Aman I, Welsch M, Zhang L, Mann J, Davis R, Islam R, Clark J, Brodell R, Nahar V Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perception of Medical and Nursing Students Towards Telemedicine/Telehealth Journal of Health and Social Sciences. 2025; 10:86-98 | 2025 |
| Zhang Z, Gordy XZ, Zhang L. Obesity Prevalence and Trend Among Mississippi High-School Students: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) Obesities, 5(1), 6. | 2025 |
| Rebeccah Sokol, Maureen Walton, Daniel Lee, Laura Seewald, Victor Medina Del Toro, Mahum Farooqui, Gregory Sallabank, Marc Zimmerman, Mark Edberg, Yan Wang, Tanya Zakrison, Elizabeth L. Tung, William B. Hillegass, Laura Vearrier, Lei Zhang, Matthew E. Kutcher, Dara Blachman‑Demner, and Patrick M. Carter Advancing Science to Prevent Firearm Violence in Communities: A Process for Harmonizing Studies to Develop Research Infrastructure Prevention Science. 2024; 25:1122-1132 | 2024 |
| Zhang S, Lefmann T, Lim Y, Robbins C, Zhang L Religiosity’s Links to Adolescent Wellbeing and the Role of Supportive Networks and Sex. Youth & Society, I-23, 2024 | 2024 |
| Zhang Z, Mitra A, Schroeder J, Zhang L The Prevalence of and Trend in Drug Use among Adolescents in Mississippi and the United States: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) 2001–2021 International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2024; 21(7):919 | 2024 |
| Klamm M, Stewart M, Duck A, Lim C, Brocks T, Zhang L, Tacy J Increasing autonomous motivation for physical activity among adolescents. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 2024;29:e12423. | 2024 |
| Joseph Tacy, Alaina Herrington, James Hughes, Masoumeh Karimi, Robyn MacSorley, Sharon McElwain, Daniel Weiss, and Lei Zhang. Examining the use of a digital stethoscope within academia. STORM, 2023; 2(2), 32-39 | 2023 |
| Clark J, Burrell A, Arnold A, Schmitz T, Zhang L, Jones D, Summers R, Bondurant W, Nahar V Experience and perception of clinical research participation at an academic medical center. Journal of Health and Social Sciences. 2023; 8: 249-261 | 2023 |
| Risley C, Douglas K, Karimi M, Brumfield J, Gartrell G, Vargas R, and Zhang L Trends in sexual risk behavioral responses among high school students between Mississippi and the United States: 2001 to 2019 YRBSS J Sch Health | 2023 |
| Crouch J, Winters K, Zhang L, Stewart M Telehealth during the Pandemic: Patients Perceptions and Policy Implications Journal of Nursing Scholarship. 2022; 55:141-148 | 2022 |
| Gordy, X., Bagwell, J., Jones, P., Ferrell, T., Kolbo, J., Zhang, L. Trends and subgroup comparisons in overweight and obesity prevalence among Mississippi public school students, 2005-2019. Journal of the Mississippi State Medical Association | 2022 |
| Hall, K., Robinson, J., Cooke, W. III, Parnell, A., Zhang, L., Northington, L. Relationship between environmental air quality and congenital heart defects. Nurs Res | 2022 |
| Mendy, V., Rowell-Cunsolo, T., Bellerose, M., Vargas, R., Enkhmaa, B., Zhang, L. Cardiovascular disease mortality in Mississippi, 2000-2018. Preventing Chronic Disease. | 2022 |
| Yufeng, Z., Christman, B., Morris, M., Hillegass, W., Zhang, Y., Douglas, K., Kelly, C., Zhang, L. Adolescent behavioral risk analysis and prediction using machine learning: A foundation for precision suicide prevention. Multimodal Image Exploitation and Learning. | 2022 |
Book Chapter | |
| Bhuiyan A, Zhang L “Chapter 25 – Multivariate Analysis Using SAS” in Amal Mitra (Editor), Statistical Approaches for Epidemiology: From Concept to Application. Springer Nature. ISBN-13: 978-3031417832 | 2023 |
| Goodman M, Zhang L “Chapter 12 – Quantitative Research Methods” in Melody Goodman and Vetta L. Sanders Thompson (Editor), Public Health Research Methods for Partnerships and Practice. 2017 by Taylor & Francis/Routledge. ISBN 978-1498785068. | 2017 |
| Zhang L, Graham J. “Chapter 11 - Maternal and Child Health in Mississippi” in Mario Azevedo (Editor), The State of Health and Health Care in Mississippi 2015 by University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-62846-000-1. | 2015 |
Presentations
| State/Local Invited Seminars/Lectures, Co-occurring intimate partner violence and substance use during the perinatal period: Teaching providers how to screen and intervene, Mississippi State Department of Health, Jackson, MS | 01/2025 |
| State/Local Invited Seminars/Lectures, Linking Solutions to Violence: Communities, Hospitals, and Healthcare, Mississippi Public Health Association Annual Conference, Vicksburg, MS | 11/2024 |
| Poster Presentation, Youth violence trends on school property in the United States: Youth Risk Behavior Survey 2001- 2021, American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN | 10/2024 |
| National and International Invited Seminars/Lectures, Small area estimation methods for county level obesity prevalence estimation: generalized linear mixed models vs. machine learning techniques, American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN | 10/2024 |
| Poster Presentation, African American Diabetes Risk Assessment Using Machine Learning: Jackson Heart Study, American Public Health Association Annual and Expo, Minneapolis, MN | 10/2024 |
| Regional Invited Seminars/Lectures, Application of Stepped-Wedge Trial Design in Community-Engaged Gun Violence Prevention and Research, Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, School of Public Health, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX | 10/2024 |
| Regional Invited Seminars/Lectures, Application of Stepped-Wedge Trial Design in Community-Engaged Gun Violence Prevention and Research, Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA | 08/2024 |
| National and International Invited Seminars/Lectures, Associations of smoking and bacterial vaginosis with cervical precancer in strides: studying risk and improving disparities in cervical cancer., The American Medical Science Conference | 02/2024 |
| National and International Invited Seminars/Lectures, Inequities and social challenges to a healthiest Mississippi: Trends analysis of 2011-2021 MS BRFSS data, American Public Health Association Annual Meeting and Expo, Atlanta, GA | 11/2023 |
| National and International Invited Seminars/Lectures, Community-Engaged Gun Violence Prevention with a Stepped-Wedge Trial Design, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Center for Health Statistics Seminar | 11/2023 |
| Poster Presentation, Prevalence of the Violence-Related Behaviors among Mississippi public high school students-findings from analysis of YRBSS., Mississippi Public Health Association Annual Conference, Jackson, MS | 08/2023 |
| Poster Presentation, Associations of bacterial vaginosis and smoking with HPV clearance/persistence and precancer in STRIDES: Studying Risk and Improving Disparities in Mississippi., International Papillomavirus Conference., Washington, D.C. | 07/2023 |
| Poster Presentation, Factors associated with COVID-19 vaccination coverage in Mississippi, March-November 2021., UMMC School of Nursing Research and Scholarship Day, Flowood, MS | 04/2023 |
Honors, Awards, and Recognition
| Billy S. Guyton Distinguished Professorship, UMMC | 2025 |
| Lifetime Outstanding Service Award, Applied Public Health Statistics Section | 2024 |
| Lifetime Achievement Award- Pillars, UMMC | 2024 |
| Excellence in Research Award- Gold, UMMC | 2023 |
| Norman C. Nelson Order of Teaching Excellence Award, UMMC | 2018 |
| Alton B. Cobb Lifetime Achievement Award, Mississippi Public Health Association | 2017 |
Professional Membership and Service
| American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Member | |
| IRB, Mississippi State Department of Health, Appointed by the State Health Officer, Member | |
| Jackson Heart Study Ancillary Studies Subcommittee, Member | |
| Advisory Committee, Community Research Fellow Training, Mississippi State Department of Health, Member | |
| Data Use Council for Mississippi Healthcare Data System, Member | |
| State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup, Mississippi Department of Mental Health, Member | |
| Steering Committee, Hinds County /National Children’s Study, Member | |
| American Statistical Association, Member | |
| American Public Health Association, Member | |
| Mississippi Public Health Association, Member | |
| Mississippi Health Data System Task Force, Member | |
| Mississippi Patient Information System Replacement and Electronic Health Record (EHR) Steering Committee, Member | |
| Council on African American Affairs, Member | |
| Curriculum Committee, School of Public Health, Jackson State University, Member | |
| MPH Admission Committee, School of Public Health, Jackson State University, Member | |
| Chair Search Committee, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Jackson State University, Member | |
| Mississippi Chronic Disease Coalition, Member | |
| Mississippi Alliance School Health, Member | |
| Governor’s Task Force on Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, Member | |
| Governor’s Task Force on Obesity Prevention, Member | |
| Governor’s Task Force on Teen Pregnancy, Member | |
| Mississippi Suicide Prevention Workgroup, Member |
Directed Student Learning
| Statistics Advisor for DNP Scholarly Project, Non-pharmacological Interventions for Acute Pain Management in Patients with Opioid Abuse or Opioid Tolerance: A Scoping Review Advised: Jennifer Hargett | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Evaluating the Efficacy of a Collaborative Care Model among a Texas Medicaid Managed Care Organization and Acute Care Behavioral Health Hospitals Advised: Jonathan W. Leonard | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Socially Determined: Moving from Clinical Care to Population Health in Mississippi Communities Advised: Shawn Rossi | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Dyad Leadership in Private Practice: Working Title and Waiting for Inspiration Advised: Marella Yates | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, A Surgical Collaboration between an Academic Medical Center and a Local Private, Community-Based Hospital Advised: Jonathan Vaughn | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Implementing Co-Curricular Transcripts at an Academic Health Science Center Advised: Emily Cole | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Perceptions Regarding Clinical Research Participation in the School of Medicine at an Academic Medical Center Advised: Travis W. Schmitz | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Effectiveness of an Educational Intervention at an Academic Medical Center to Reduce Stigma of Accelerated Pre-licensure Nursing Students Towards Patients Living with HIV Advised: James S. Miller | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Efficacy of Motivational Interviewing on Adolescent Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Patterns Advised: Melissa M. Klamm | |
| Statistics Advisor for DNP Scholarly Project, An Impact Evaluation of a Falls Prevention Program in the Outpatients Setting Advised: Magan Evans | |
| Statistics Advisor for DNP Scholarly Project, A Program Evaluation of the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training Program of Hinds County Advised: Tiffany Griffin | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, The Association between Healthcare Access and Healthcare Utilization, and Incident Diabetes Type 2 and Diabetes Control among African Americans: Findings from the Jackson Heart Study Advised: Monica N. White | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Estimating the Validity and Reliability of the Healthcare Technology Acceptance Model Questionnaire in Mississippians Enrolled in Telehealth Programs Advised: Jacob R. Crouch | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Considering a Relationship between Stigma and Quality of Care Advised: Amanda Criswell | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Effects of recruitment strategies and demographic factors on inclusion in a cognitive based outcome research in older adults - in the Southeastern US Advised: Stacee Naylor | |
| Thesis Committee Member, Medical and Nursing Students’ Attitudes and Perception on Tele Medicine Advised: Iram Aman | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Spatio-temporal Data Modeling and Forecasting of COVID-19 Hospitalization with Machine Learning and Neural Network Advised: Xiaojian Liu | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Statistical Applications in Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial Advised: Taylor Ward | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, The Relationship between Vitamin D and Chronic Pain in People with Human Immunodeficiency Virus Advised: Aubri B. Hickman | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Effectiveness of a Video Game Intervention on Sexual Information, Motivation, and Behavior in Young Adults Ages 15 to 21 Advised: Jennifer K. Brumfield | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Association between Metabolic Syndrome, Smoking Status, and Cardiovascular Events in the U.S. Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis using NHANES 2017-2020 Advised: Lynsey M. McQueen | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Exploring the Relationship between Social Support and Stress among Caregivers of Children Newly-diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus Advised: Sara Cartee | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Intention to Engage in Advance Care Planning among Community-Dwelling Adults Advised: Lesley Thweatt | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Physical Activity, Hypertension, and Community Perception among Mississippi Delta Adults: Findings from the Mississippi Delta Cardiovascular Health Examination Survey Advised: Melinda Williams | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Obesity and cardiometabolic disease risks among children and adolescents in a clinical care setting in Mississippi Advised: Kisa Harris | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Association of Social Support with Depressive Symptoms Comparing MSMs and Women Advised: Matthew Byrd | |
| Dissertation Committee Member, Estimating Prevalence of Youth Obesity and the Age at which Youth Seen at UMMC Advised: Brian D. Christman |