Patrick X. Zhao, PhD, EMBA

A recognized leader in computational biology and bioinformatics, Dr. Patrick X. Zhao joined Texas Children’s Hospital in September 2025 as Senior Bioinformatics Manager for the Pathology Department’s Better Together Biobank initiative. In this role, he leads the design and implementation of bioinformatics infrastructure and data platforms that support high-quality biospecimen management, multi-omics analysis, and transformative pediatric research. He also oversees daily biobank bioinformatics operations and fosters strategic collaborations with institutional partners to integrate clinical, technical, and operational needs into efficient, scalable, and sustainable systems that advance precision diagnostics and personalized medicine for children.

Throughout his career, Dr. Zhao has consistently bridged computational innovation with meaningful biological and clinical impact across multiple domains of genomics and precision medicine having developed innovative methods, tools, web servers, and databases applied across diverse genomics domains. His career highlights include:

· Head of the OMICS Bioinformatics Facility within the Genetics Branch at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health (2021 to 2025)

· Progressive faculty appointments as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics at the Noble Research Institute (2004 to 2020)

· Postdoctoral fellow and later bioinformatics research scientist in Dr. Eugenia Wang’s laboratory at the University of Louisville School of Medicine (2000–2004)

Personal Statement

I am deeply committed to building and sustaining robust biobanking and bioinformatics systems that empower cutting-edge research while safeguarding the integrity, privacy, and quality of the clinical, genetic, and genomic data entrusted to us. In my role at Texas Children’s Hospital, I work to advance bioinformatics, multi-omics analytics, artificial intelligence, big data, and advanced computational approaches to accelerate discovery and ultimately contribute to improved diagnostics, treatments, and cures for pediatric patients and their families.

I firmly believe that transformative science depends on reliable, well-documented processes, rigorous standards, advanced analytics, and unwavering attention to accuracy, safety, and regulatory compliance. Collaboration is also central to my professional philosophy, and I work to ensure that our bioinformatics infrastructure and data platforms are not only innovative, but also practical, scalable, and directly supportive of clinical impact and personalized medicine for children.

Outside of work, I enjoy traveling, fishing for relaxation, and “vibe coding”—exploring creative coding projects purely for curiosity and enjoyment. These activities help me stay balanced, recharged, and inspired in support of the mission to advance pediatric research through biobanking and data science.

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Education

School	Education	Degree	Year
Quantic School of Business and Technology	Masters	EMBA, Executive Master of Business Administration	2023
Shanghai Jiao Tong University	PhD	Doctor of Philosophy in Computer and Information Science	2000
Tong Ji University	Masters	Master of Science in Electrical Engineering	1993
Tong Ji University	Bachelors	Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering	1990

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Organizations

Organization Name	Role
Sigma Xi	Full Member

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Honors and awards

2022-2025 - NCI Integrative Oncogenomics Cloud Platform (IOCP) for Pediatric and Other Cancers, National Cancer Institute Office of Data Science Strategy

2015-2020 - NSF ABI Innovation Award #1458597 for Plant Genotype–Phenotype Association Discovery via Integrative Genome-scale Networks and GWAS, National Science Foundation 

2015-2021 - NSF Plant Genome Research Award #1444549 for Genome-wide Analysis of Small Signaling Peptides in Medicago truncatula, National Science Foundation 2015–2021

2010-2024 - NSF ABI Innovation Award #0960897 for Systems Bioinformatics Approaches to Plant Transcriptional Regulatory Networks, National Science Foundation

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* Texas Children’s Hospital physicians’ licenses and credentials are reviewed prior to practicing at any of our facilities. Sections titled From the Doctor, Professional Organizations and Publications were provided by the physician’s office and were not verified by Texas Children’s Hospital.

Research interests

Advancing bioinformatics and computational approaches to transform high-quality biobank-derived, multi-omics data into actionable insights, enabling robust data stewardship, accelerated discovery, and improved diagnostics, treatments, and cures for pediatric patients and their families

Dai, X., Zhuang, Z., Boschiero, C., Dong, Y., Zhao, P.X. LegumeIP V3: from models to crops-an integrative gene discovery platform for translational genomics in legumes. Nucleic Acids Research. 49(D1): D1472-D1479, 2021.

Boschiero, C., Dai, X., Lundquist, P.K., Roy, S., Christian, de Bang T., Zhang, S., Zhuang, Z., Torres-Jerez, I., Udvardi, M.K., Scheible, W.R., Zhao, P.X. The Medicago truncatula Small Secreted Peptide Database. Plant Physiology. 183(1): 399-413, 2020.

Kim, B., Dai, X., Zhang, W., Zhuang, Z., Sanchez, D.L., Lübberstedt, T., Kang, Y., Udvardi, M.K., Beavis, W.D., Xu, S., Zhao, P.X. GWASpro: a high-performance genome-wide association analysis server. Bioinformatics. 35(14): 2512-2514, 2019. 

Mishra, N.K., Chang, J., Zhao, P.X. Prediction of membrane transport proteins and their substrate specificities using primary sequence information. PLoS One. 9(6): e100278, 2014. 

Dai, X., Zhao, P.X. psRNATarget: a plant small RNA target analysis server. Nucleic Acids Research. 39(Web Server issue): W155-9, 2011. Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=zW-jGycAAAAJ