Linying Zhang

Asst Prof of Biostat @WashUMedi2db @WashUMedicine. Causality for reliable and responsible AI in health. Past: @ColumbiaDBMI, @Harvard, @BU_Tweets. Views mine.

[Linying Zhang @Z_Linying]

@SiqiSunAI

[Linying Zhang @Z_Linying]

❓Do retinal images add prognostic value beyond EHRs in real-world clinical care? ✅ We developed a multimodal AI framework that integrates retinal OCT imaging + EHR data to predict visual improvement in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) receiving anti-VEGF therapy.

Using real-world data from
👥 973 patients
🏥 14 hospitals across WashU/BJC Health System
👁️ 196k OCT images
📊 22,227 EHR features

We found
✅ OCT provides complementary prognostic information beyond structured EHR data
✅ Multimodal EHR+OCT models improved visual improvement prediction and risk stratification
✅ Foundation model choice matters — RETFound showed the strongest prognostic value
✅ Different ophthalmic foundation models capture very different types of clinical information

This work highlights both the promise and the challenges of deploying multimodal foundation models in real-world clinical settings.

📚 Preprint: https://t.co/d974uzKHsT

Huge thanks to my amazing student Siqi Sun and our amazing collaborators Cindy Cai, Cecilia S. Lee, Aaron Y. Lee, and Marc Suchard! Suggestions are welcome and appreciated!

@WashUMedi2db @washumeddovs @washumedgmg @washudeptmed
#Ophthalmology #MultimodalAI #FoundationModels #RealWorldEvidence #MachineLearning #MedicalAI #OCT #EHR #DiabeticMacularEdema #Retina

[Linying Zhang @Z_Linying]

Very proud mentor moment today at #ENAR2026.

Yesterday, my PhD co-advisee Yiqiao Jin presented his work on Federated R-Learner for Estimating Conditional Average Treatment Effects across Heterogeneous Datasets. His work receives the #ENAR Distinguished Student Paper Award. This is a highly competitive award, with 186 submissions and only 21 papers selected this year.

As a junior faculty member, moments like this are deeply meaningful. One of the most rewarding parts of academia is watching students grow into confident researchers and seeing their work recognized by the community.

I’m very grateful to Nan Lin, Yiqiao’s co-mentor in the Department of Statistics & Data Science, for the fantastic collaboration and mentorship. I also want to thank both the Department of Statistics & Data Science and the WashU Institute for Informatics, Data Science and Biostatistics (I2DB) for creating such a collaborative research environment where interdisciplinary ideas like this can grow.

#ENAR2026 @WashUMedi2db

[WashU Informatics, Data Science and Biostatistics @WashUMedi2db]

Yiqiao Jin, a PhD student in Statistics and Data Science, has been selected to receive one of the International Biometric Society Eastern North American Region’s (ENAR) Distinguished Student Paper Awards for his paper.

👏 Read more: https://t.co/V8uG2lWXV4

[Linying Zhang @Z_Linying]

Proud to contribute to this @OHDSI network study! Kudos to the study lead Cindy X. Cai @HopkinsMedicine and the team!

[WashU Informatics, Data Science and Biostatistics @WashUMedi2db]

@Z_Linying led WashU's team in a nationwide OHDSI study on semaglutide & diabetic retinopathy, published in @DiabetesRC. Data from 800K+ users found no increased risk of vision-threatening diabetic eye complications.
📖 Read more → https://t.co/wry49FNr47

[Linying Zhang @Z_Linying]

🚀 Exciting keynote at the BIDS retreat! Dr. Cecilia Lee shared her groundbreaking work in #OphthalmologyAI at @WashUMedi2db showcasing how AI + big data can transform eye care and beyond. 👁️🤖

[Linying Zhang @Z_Linying]

Excited to have my undergrad summer intern Xiaoyu Klay Sun, from our BIDS@I2DB program, working on applying AI for fluid segmentation in macular OCT images — and he presented this work at our retreat! Love seeing the next generation tackle real-world challenges in ophthalmology. 👁️🧑‍💻🩺 @WashUMedi2db

[Linying Zhang @Z_Linying]

Congrats to Siqi!

[WashU Informatics, Data Science and Biostatistics @WashUMedi2db]

Congrats to Dr. Siqi Sun & Dr. Linying Zhang on presenting at CVPR 2025 Workshop on MMFM-BIOMED! 🎉 Their model estimates causal effects from EHRs & chest X-rays.👏 #AI #Biomedicine #CVPR2025 @CausAI_Lab

[Linying Zhang @Z_Linying]

Excited to kick off the spring semester seminar series with Dr. Yevgeniy Vorobeychik! @WashUengineers Dive into the intersection of privacy, utility, and fairness in biomedical research today at @BeckerLibrary, room 502. Don’t miss it!

#WashUMed

[WashU Informatics, Data Science and Biostatistics @WashUMedi2db]

Join our Speaker Series with Yevgeniy Vorobeychik, PhD, MSE, Computer Science & Engineering, @WashUengineers! Topic: "Privacy, Utility, and Fairness in Biomedical Research" at @BeckerLibrary, room 502.

🔗https://t.co/30o2VXSnAI

#WashUMed

[Linying Zhang @Z_Linying]

A great causal inference book by @_MiguelHernan and James Robins. Excited for its upgrade.

[Miguel Hernán @_MiguelHernan]

Upgrade your #causalinference arsenal.

A revision of our book "Causal Inference: What If" is available at https://t.co/3rrh0l8nFu

Thanks to everyone who suggested improvements, reported typos, and proposed new citations and material.

Enjoy the #WhatIfBook. Also, it's free.

[Linying Zhang @Z_Linying]

@FumihikoUrano @washumedicine @WUICTS Thanks Fumi! Im looking forward to working with you to improving care for rare disease using informatics.

[Linying Zhang @Z_Linying]

I’m excited too! Come see me present my 100+ pages of dissertation in under 40 mins ;) Will I make it? 🤓

[WashU Informatics, Data Science and Biostatistics @WashUMedi2db]

We are excited to announce that @Z_Linying will receive the AMIA Edward H. Shortliffe Doctoral Dissertation Honorable Mention at #AMIA2024 for her dissertation!

📅 Nov. 11
🕒 1:45-3:15 p.m.
📍 Franciscan B

🔗 https://t.co/D3eenHAA1O

#WashUMed #AMIA @AMIAinformatics

[OHDSI @OHDSI]

Thank you, OHDSI community, for an amazing #OHDSI2024! #JoinTheJourney

[Linying Zhang @Z_Linying]

It was a tremendous honor for me to receive the OHDSI Titan Award! Thanks @OHDSI for this recognition! #OHDSI2024

[Columbia DBMI @ColumbiaDBMI]

Congratulations to two of our recent PhD graduates, Anna Ostropolets and Linying Zhang (@Z_Linying) on receiving Titan Awards at #OHDSI2024.

[Linying Zhang @Z_Linying]

@NEIDirector @theNAMedicine @NHGRI_Director @genome_gov @NIH @theNASEM Congratulations 🎊🍾

[Weijie Su @weijie444]

10 years ago, ML papers were math-heavy. Advice I got: less math, more empirics. Today, many ML/AI papers lack even a single math formula, let alone math thinking. My advice to young LLM researchers: do a little math if possible. It'll distinguish yours from the sea of LLM papers!

[Linying Zhang @Z_Linying]

I’m very honored to receive this award! Thanks to my mentors Drs George Hripcsak and David Blei, and committee members @noemieelhadad @proftatonetti @yixinwang_ for their guidance and support. Thanks to @ColumbiaDBMI faculties, students, and staffs and @OHDSI collaborators for making this journey fun and meaningful!

[AMIA @AMIAinformatics]

🎉 AMIA is thrilled to announce the 2024 Edward H. Shortliffe Doctoral Dissertation Award winners!

First Prize: Alice Tang, MD, University of California, San Francisco
Honorable Mention: Linying Zhang, PhD, Columbia University

Read the press release: https://t.co/nHN6yV6eWr

[Linying Zhang @Z_Linying]

@RuiZhang1229 @AMIAinformatics Congrats Dr Zhang! 🎉🎉