·         Gut microbiome, especially the diet-microbiota-host interactions in specific population (e.g. people living with HIV;  US Hispanic population, etc.).

·      Microbial genomics, microbial phylogenetics and dynamic evolution, functional components and mechanism pathways.

·         Integrative multi-omics (e.g. metagenomics and metabolomics) studies of human chronic diseases (e.g. obesity, metabolic syndrome, long-standing HIV infection).

Wang Z, Peters BA, Yu B, Grove ML, Wang T, Xue X, Thyagarajan B, Daviglus ML, Boerwinkle E, Hu G, Mossavar-Rahmani Y, Isasi CR, Knight R, Burk RD, Kaplan RC, Qi Q. Gut microbiota and blood metabolites related to fiber intake and type 2 diabetes. Circulation Research. 2024 Mar 28; 134(7):842-854. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.123.323634.   PubMed PMID: 38547246. 

Wang Z, Peters BA, Bryant M, Hanna DB, Schwartz T, Wang T, Sollecito C, Usyk M, Grassi E, Wiek F, Peter L, Post WS, Landay AL, Hodis HN, Weber KM, French A, Golub ET, Lazar J, Gustafson D, Sharma A, Anastos K, Clish CB, Burk RD, Kaplan RC, Knight R, Qi Q. Gut Microbiota, Circulating Inflammatory Markers and Metabolites, and Carotid Artery Atherosclerosis in HIV Infection. Microbiome. 2023 May 27;11(1):119. doi: 10.1186/s40168-023-01566-2. PubMed PMID: 37237391; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10224225.

Wang Z, Peters BA, Usyk M, Xing J, Hanna DB, Wang T, Post WS, Landay AL, Hodis HN, Weber K, French A, Golub ET, Lazar J, Gustafson D, Kassaye S, Aouizerat B, Haberlen S, Malvestutto C, Budoff M, Wolinsky SM, Sharma A, Anastos K, Clish CB, Kaplan RC, Burk RD, Qi Q. Gut Microbiota, Plasma Metabolomic Profiles, and Carotid Artery Atherosclerosis in HIV Infection. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2022 Aug;42(8):1081-1093. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.121.317276. Epub 2022 Jun 9. PubMed PMID: 35678187; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9339474.

Wang Z, Usyk M, Vázquez-Baeza Y, Chen GC, Isasi CR, Williams-Nguyen JS, Hua S, McDonald D, Thyagarajan B, Daviglus ML, Cai J, North KE, Wang T, Knight R, Burk RD, Kaplan RC, Qi Q. Microbial co-occurrence complicates associations of gut microbiome with US immigration, dietary intake and obesity. Genome Biol. 2021 Dec 10;22(1):336. doi: 10.1186/s13059-021-02559-w. PubMed PMID: 34893089; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8665519.

Wang Z, Usyk M, Sollecito CC, Qiu Y, Williams-Nguyen J, Hua S, Gradissimo A, Wang T, Xue X, Kurland IJ, Ley K, Landay AL, Anastos K, Knight R, Kaplan RC, Burk RD, Qi Q. Altered Gut Microbiota and Host Metabolite Profiles in Women With Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Clin Infect Dis. 2020 Dec 3;71(9):2345-2353. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciz1117. PubMed PMID: 31748797; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7713676.

Kaplan RC, Wang Z, Usyk M, Sotres-Alvarez D, Daviglus ML, Schneiderman N, Talavera GA, Gellman MD, Thyagarajan B, Moon JY, Vázquez-Baeza Y, McDonald D, Williams-Nguyen JS, Wu MC, North KE, Shaffer J, Sollecito CC, Qi Q, Isasi CR, Wang T, Knight R, Burk RD. Gut microbiome composition in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos is shaped by geographic relocation, environmental factors, and obesity. Genome Biol. 2019 Nov 1;20(1):219. doi: 10.1186/s13059-019-1831-z. PubMed PMID: 31672155; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6824043.

Wang Z, Qi Q. Gut microbial metabolites associated with HIV infection. Future Virol. 2019 May;14(5):335-347. doi: 10.2217/fvl-2019-0002. Epub 2019 May 15. Review. PubMed PMID: 31263508; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6595475.

Wu Y*, Wang Z*, Zhao Z, Song X, Miao M, Zhang X. Bile acid metabolites in early pregnancy and risk of gestational diabetes mellitus: results from a prospective cohort study. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. 2023 May 10. doi: 10.1111/dom.15104. Online ahead of print. PMID: 37161712. (*Equally contributed First Author)

Wang Z, Zolnik CP, Qiu Y, Usyk M, Wang T, Strickler HD, Isasi CR, Kaplan RC, Kurland IJ, Qi Q, Burk RD. Comparison of Fecal Collection Methods for Microbiome and Metabolomics Studies. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2018;8:301. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2018.00301. eCollection 2018. PubMed PMID: 30234027; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6127643.

Gomez A*, Annavajhala MK*, Wang Z*, Macesic N, Hu Y, Giddins MJ, O'Malley A, Toussaint NC, Whittier S, Torres VJ, Uhlemann AC. Genomic and Geographic Context for the Evolution of High-Risk Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacter cloacae Complex Clones ST171 and ST78. mBio. 2018 May 29;9(3). doi: 10.1128/mBio.00542-18. PubMed PMID: 29844109; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5974468. (*Equally contributed First Author)

Wang Z, Zhou H, Wang H, Chen H, Leung KK, Tsui S, Ip M. Comparative genomics of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ST239: distinct geographical variants in Beijing and Hong Kong. BMC Genomics. 2014 Jun 26;15:529. doi: 10.1186/1471-2164-15-529. PubMed PMID: 24969089; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4085340.

Luo K, Wang Z, Peters BA, Hanna DB, Wang T, Sollecito CC, Grassi E, Wiek F, Peter LS, Usyk M, Post WS, Landay AL, Hodis HN, Weber KM, French A, Golub ET, Lazar J, Gustafson D, Sharma A, Anastos K, Clish CB, Knight R, Kaplan RC, Burk RD, Qi Q. Tryptophan metabolism, gut microbiota, and carotid artery plaque in women with and without HIV infection. AIDS. 2023 May 12;. doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000003596. PubMed PMID: 37199567.

Wang DD, Qi Q, Wang Z, Usyk M, Sotres-Alvarez D, Mattei J, Tamez M, Gellman MD, Daviglus M, Hu FB, Stampfer MJ, Huttenhower C, Knight R, Burk RD, Kaplan RC. The Gut Microbiome Modifies the Association Between a Mediterranean Diet and Diabetes in USA Hispanic/ Latino Population. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2022 Feb 17;107(3):e924-e934. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgab815. PubMed PMID: 34747479; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8851916.

Mei Z, Chen GC, Wang Z, Usyk M, Yu B, Baeza YV, Humphrey G, Benitez RS, Li J, Williams-Nguyen JS, Daviglus ML, Hou L, Cai J, Zheng Y, Knight R, Burk RD, Boerwinkle E, Kaplan RC, Qi Q. Dietary factors, gut microbiota, and serum trimethylamine-N-oxide associated with cardiovascular disease in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos. Am J Clin Nutr. 2021 Jun 1;113(6):1503-1514. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqab001. PubMed PMID: 33709132; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8168354.

Peters BA, Xue X, Wang Z, Usyk M, Santoro N, Sharma A, Anastos K, Tien PC, Golub ET, Weber KM, Gustafson D, Kaplan RC, Burk R, Qi Q. Menopausal status and observed differences in the gut microbiome in women with and without HIV infection. Menopause. 2021 Jan 11;28(5):491-501. doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000001730. PubMed PMID: 33438892; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8068580.

Moon JY, Zolnik CP, Wang Z, Qiu Y, Usyk M, Wang T, Kizer JR, Landay AL, Kurland IJ, Anastos K, Kaplan RC, Burk RD, Qi Q. Gut microbiota and plasma metabolites associated with diabetes in women with, or at high risk for, HIV infection. EBioMedicine. 2018 Nov;37:392-400. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2018.10.037. Epub 2018 Oct 23. PubMed PMID: 30366816; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6286648.

Ahn D, Peñaloza H, Wang Z, Wickersham M, Parker D, Patel P, Koller A, Chen EI, Bueno SM, Uhlemann AC, Prince A. Acquired resistance to innate immune clearance promotes Klebsiella pneumoniae ST258 pulmonary infection. JCI Insight. 2016 Oct 20;1(17):e89704. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.89704. PubMed PMID: 27777978; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5070956.

Shitole SG, Naveed M, Wang Z, Wang T, Kato Y, Ambale-Venkatesh B, Kaplan RC, Tien PC, Anastos K, Lazar JM, Lima JAC, Qi Q, Kizer JR. Metabolomic Profiling of Cardiac Fibrosis and Steatosis in Women With or at Risk for HIV. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. 2023 Feb 1;92(2):162-172. doi: 10.1097/QAI.0000000000003118. PubMed PMID: 36215981; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9839486.