Ke Hao

Ke Hao, ScD, Head of Statistical Genomics at Sema4, leads the development of prediction models for complex human diseases by integrating genetic predisposition and environmental / life style factors. Dr. Hao is also an Associate Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology. His main focus is on discovering genetic and environmental basis of human diseases comprised of leading-edge research in translational statistical genetics, and applying computational algorithms, e.g. polygenic risk score and machine learning approaches, to mine massive datasets and deliver clinical utility and insights.

Dr. Hao was trained in statistical genetics and environment health with a BSc at Tsinghua University, China, and a ScD at Harvard University School of Public Health. Dr. Hao has extensive experiences working in both biotech and pharmaceutical companies (Affymetrix, Inc, and Merck & CO) on high dimensional ‘omics data modeling and product development. He is also funded by grants from NIH and other agencies, and developed novel methods that are widely used in statistical genomics and environment health research. He is one of the pioneers studying the role of genetics and environment exposure during early life, including in utero period, and the health consequences. Dr. Hao developed a hardware/software system, Bio3Air, to long-term measure ambient pollutant exposure at individual level, which has been deployed in multiple human studies. Further, he led the first study demonstrating the influence of air pollution on human respiratory tract microbiome and health outcomes. Dr. Hao has published extensively in the fields of statistical genomics, epidemiology and environmental health, with more than 100 peer-reviewed papers in journals including Science, Nature Genetics, Nature Neuroscience and Nature Communications.