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Lu Zhong

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I am currently a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Clemson University, working with Dr. Lior Rennert within the Center for Public Health Modeling and Response. Before that, I was a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, as advised by Dr. Jianxi Gao. I obtained my Ph.D. degree in Data Science at the City University of Hong Kong, advised by Dr. Qingpeng Zhang.

My research focuses on improving healthcare operations and resilience. I develop data-driven approaches (Big Data/ML/AI) combined with complex-network modeling to study human behavior and structural dynamics, guiding evidence-based policymaking for public health preparedness and response to shocks such as pandemics, natural disasters, and climate events. Using predictive modeling, complex systems analysis, and network optimization, my work has advanced the understanding of infectious disease spread (Nat.Commun.Phys'21, IEEETrans.Cybern'18), human mobility patterns (Nat. Cities'25), and healthcare system resilience during global pandemics (Nat. Med'24). Beyond healthcare, my research extends to the resilience of urban and socio-technical systems, addressing broader societal challenges.

Broadly, my research advances data-driven modeling of resilience in complex systems. Leveraging terabytes to petabytes of human mobility data and electronic health records from the COVID-19 Research Database, I explore the dynamics of human networks and behaviors at the center of societal crises. My research has been awarded the Research Accelerator Grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I am also the referee for Journals like IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems, BMC Public Health, and Scientific Reports.​​

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Last Updates: July 2024

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