Zhe Chen | Biostatistician & Causal Inference Researcher

Research Interests

Causal Inference Observational Studies Individual Treatment Effects Causal Machine Learning Randomization-Based Inference Instrumental Variables Statistical Matching Experimental Design Clinical Trials Stepped-Wedge Designs Vaccine Immunology

Publications & Preprints

* Denotes equal contribution as co-primary authors.

Statistical Methodology

2026
Chen, Z., Li, X. Enhanced inference for distributions and quantiles of individual treatment effects in various experiments. Journal of the American Statistical Association. In Press.
2026
Chen, Z., Wang, W., Lu, Y., Halpern, S., Courtright, K., Li, F., Harhay, M. O. Time-varying treatment effect models in stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trials with multiple interventions. Statistics in Medicine, 45(13–14), e70625.
2025
Chen, Z., Cho, M. H., Zhang, B. Manipulating an Instrumental Variable in an Observational Study of Premature Babies: Design, Bounds, and Inference. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 120(552), 2065–2078.
2025
Chen, Z., Heng, S., Tapley, A., De Rosa, S., Zhang, B. Determining vaccine responders in the presence of baseline immunity using single-cell assays and paired control samples. Biostatistics, Volume 26, Issue 1, kxaf045.
2024
Chen, Z., Li, X., Zhang, B. The role of randomization inference in unraveling individual treatment effects in early phase vaccine trials. Statistical Communications in Infectious Diseases, 16(1), 20240001.
2026
Zhang, J., Chen, Z., Courtright, K. R., Halpern, S. D., Harhay, M. O., Small, D. S., Li, F. Randomization inference for stepped-wedge designs with noncompliance with application to a palliative care pragmatic trial. Journal of the American Statistical Association (revision submitted) Revision · arXiv:2509.14598
2026
Meng, Q., Chen, Z., Zhang, B. One-shot variable-ratio matching with fine balance. Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics (revision submitted) Revision · arXiv:2510.04383
2026
Blette, B. S., Chen, Z., Kahan, B. C., Forbes, A., Harhay, M. O., Li, F. Evaluating Informative Cluster Size in Cluster Randomized Trials. Statistics in Medicine (revision invited) Revision · arXiv:2510.01127
2025
Chen, Z., Li, X., Harhay, M. O., Zhang, B. Design-based nested instrumental variable analysis. Preprint Preprint · arXiv:2511.21992

Collaborative & Applied Work

2026
Marinho, L. L., Lileikyte, G., …, Chen, Z., …, Lawler, P. R. Evaluating Possible Treatment Effect Heterogeneity in a Randomized Trial of Milrinone Versus Dobutamine in Cardiogenic Shock. Critical Care, 30(1):310.
2026
Ebert, J. P., Huo, S., Perrone, J., …, Chen, Z., …, Delgado, M. K. An Emergency Department Nudge-Based Strategy to Screen and Treat Patients with Alcohol Misuse. Annals of Emergency Medicine. In Press.
2026
Jorda, A., Gelbenegger, G., …, Chen, Z., …, Auriemma, C. L. Effects of an early restrictive versus liberal fluid strategy on long-term patient-centered outcomes in sepsis-induced hypotension (SHAMROC): an open-label, randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, aamag154.
2025
Mkhize, N. N., Zhang, B., Brackett, C., …, Chen, Z., …, CoVPN 3008 Study Team. Neutralizing and binding antibodies are a correlate of risk of COVID-19 in the CoVPN 3008 study in people with HIV. Nature Communications, 16(1), 8876.
2025
Dorovini-Zis, K., Li, H., Chen, Z., Zhang, B., Small, D. S., Taylor, T. E. Mapping the expression of endothelial adhesion receptors for Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes in fatal cerebral malaria in Malawian children. Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, 84(12), 1113–1134. Journal Cover
2026
Zhang, B., Fong, Y., Yu, C., …, Chen, Z., …, COVAIL Study Team. Distinct T-cell correlates of COVID-19 risk before and after a second booster in previously SARS-CoV-2 infected vs. naïve COVAIL trial participants. Nature Communications (revision submitted) Revision
2026
Granton, D.*, Chen, Z.*, Hajage, D., Combes, A., Li, F., Fan, E., Harhay, M. O. Limited Heterogeneity of Treatment Effect of Venovenous ECMO in Severe ARDS: A Secondary Analysis of the EOLIA Trial. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (revision submitted) Revision
2026
Khuzwayo, S., Zhang, B., …, Chen, Z., …, CoVPN 3008 Study Team. CD4+ T cell responses after mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in people with HIV are associated with risk of COVID-19. Nature Communications (revision invited) Revision
2026
Kelly, J. J., Chen, Z., Bavaria, J. E., …, Desai, N. D. Patients Undergoing Surgery for Acute Type A Aortic Dissection on Preoperative Anticoagulants and Antiplatelets. The Annals of Thoracic Surgery (revision invited) Revision

Talks & Presentations

May 2026

Design-based nested instrumental variable analysis.

Poster American Causal Inference Conference · Salt Lake City, UT
May 2026

Time-varying treatment effect models in stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trials with multiple interventions.

Oral 5th International Conference on Stepped Wedge Trial Design · University of York, York, UK Virtual
Dec 2025

Causal Inference Methods for Treatment Effect Heterogeneity in Trials and Observational Studies.

Seminar Penn Medicine CCEB DBEI Epidemiology Seminar Series · Philadelphia, PA
May 2025

Determining vaccine responders using single-cell assays and paired control samples.

Invited Fred Hutch VTN Stats Meeting · Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA
Aug 2024

Randomization Inference for Partial Identification Bounds in Matched Instrumental Variable Studies.

Contributed Joint Statistical Meetings · Portland, OR
Jun 2024

Enhanced inference for distributions of individual treatment effects in randomized experiments and quasi-experiments.

Poster ICSA Applied Statistics Symposium · Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
Apr 2024

Manipulating a Continuous IV: Algorithm, Partial Identification Bounds, and Inference.

Poster European Causal Inference Meeting · Copenhagen, Denmark
Nov 2023

The role of randomization inference in unraveling individual treatment effects in clinical trials.

Invited The China-R Conference · Online (China)

Conference Abstracts

Oct 2026

van den Beuken, S.J.L.W., Eyssen, A.J.H., Cremer, O.L., Chen, Z., Harhay, M.O., Derde, L.P.G., de Grooth, H.J. Realistic Effect Sizes for Mortality in Critical Care Trials.

Oral ESICM LIVES 2026 Congress · Selected as one of the ten best abstracts
May 2026

Kuhl, N., Ortiz, A., Chen, Z., Prasad Kerlin, M. Assessing the Construct Validity of Electronic Health Record-Based Definitions of Early Deep Sedation.

Poster ATS 2026 International Conference
Mar & May 2026

Song, A., Brown, C.K., Chen, Z., Harhay, M.O., Aysola, J., Courtright, K.R. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Inpatient Palliative Care Consults in the United States: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Poster 2026 Annual Assembly of Hospice and Palliative Care; ATS 2026 International Conference

Experience & Education

Assistant Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology

Jul 2026 – Present

University of Pennsylvania · Dept. of Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Informatics

Philadelphia, PA

Postdoctoral Researcher

Sep 2024 – Jun 2026

University of Pennsylvania · Dept. of Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Informatics

Working with: Dr. Michael Harhay & Dr. Dylan Small · Philadelphia, PA

Research Associate

May – Sep 2023

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center · Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division

Mentor: Dr. Bo Zhang · Seattle, WA

Ph.D. in Statistics

Aug 2020 – Aug 2024

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Advisor: Dr. Xinran Li · GPA: 3.96/4.0

Berkeley Global Exchange Program

Jan – Aug 2019

University of California, Berkeley

GPA: 4.0/4.0

B.S. in Statistics

Sep 2016 – Jun 2020

Southern University of Science and Technology

GPA: 3.91/4.00 · Rank 1st in cohort · Shenzhen, China

Honors & Service

Awards & Honors

UIUC List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent — Spring 2024
Alteryx SparkED & Phillips 66 Datathon — 1st Place, Sep 2022
International Financial Planning Competition, Morgan Stanley — Champion, Aug 2018

Professional Service

Peer Reviewer: Nature Communications, Biostatistics, Statistics in Medicine, Annals of the American Thoracic Society

Contact

Email

zhe.chen@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Institution

Dept. of Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Informatics
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA