Selected Publications:

Zhang X*, Zhu L, Yang J, Sachdev N, Wang H, Mooney J, Sankararaman S, Lohmueller KE*. Neanderthal introgressed ancestry reveals human genomic regions enriched with recessive deleterious mutations. bioRxiv. 2025 May 7:2025.05.07.652751. doi: 10.1101/2025.05.07.652751.  In revision at Nature Communications
​*Corresponding authors.

Kim M*, Durvasula A, Zhang X*. Determining the driving factors shaping genetic architecture of complex traits in recently admixed populations. bioRxiv 2025.12.15.694350; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2025.12.15.694350.  Under Review at American Journal of Human Genetics
​*Corresponding authors.

Adegboyega, M., & Zhang, X. Ethics and Best Practices of Studying Contemporary Human Populations. Human Biology 94(2), 89-92. 2024 https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/hub.2023.a933266.

Ferrari T, Feng S, Zhang X*, Mooney JA*. Parameter Scaling in Population Genetics Simulations may Introduce Unintended Background Selection: Considerations for Scaled Simulation Design. Genome Biology and Evolution, Volume 17, Issue 6, June 2025, evaf097. https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evaf097 
​*Senior authors. Equal contribution.

Zhang X, Kim B, Singh A, Sankararaman S, Durvasula A, Lohmueller K. MaLAdapt reveals novel targets of adaptive introgression from Neanderthals and Denisovans in worldwide human populations. Molecular Biology and Evolution, Volume 40, Issue 1, Jan 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msad001

Witt KE, Villanea F, Loughran E, Zhang X, Huerta-Sanchez E. 2022. Apportioning archaic variants among modern populations. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 20200411. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0411 

Zhang P*, Zhang X* et al. Denisovans and Homo sapiens on the Tibetan Plateau: dispersals and adaptations. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Jan 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2021.11.004 *These authors contributed equally

Findley A, Zhang X, Boye C, Lin Y, Kalita C, Barreiro L, Lohmueller K, Pique-Regi R, Luca F. A signature of Neanderthal introgression on molecular mechanisms of environmental responses. PLOS Genetics 17(9): e1009493. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1009493

Zhang X, Witt K, Ko A, Yuan K, Xu S, Nielsen R, Huerta-Sánchez E. The history and evolution of the Denisovan-EPAS1 haplotype in Tibetans.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jun 2021, 118 (22) e2020803118; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2020803118

Zhang X, Kim BY, Lohmueller KE, Huerta-Sanchez E. Recessive deleterious variation has a limited impact on signals of adaptive introgression in human populations GENETICS July 1, 2020 vol. 215 no. 3 799-812

Berg J, Harpak A, Sinnott-Armstrong N, Jørgensen AM, Mostafavi H, Field Y, Boyle EA, Zhang X, Racimo F, Pritchard JK, Coop G.  Reduced signal for polygenic adaptation of height in UK Biobank. eLife 2019;8:e39275

Berg J, Zhang X, Coop G. Polygenic Adaptation has Impacted the Evolution of Multiple Anthropometric Traits. bioRxiv.

Zhang X, Kanthaswamy S, Trask JS, et al. Genetic Characterization of a Captive Colony of Pigtailed Macaques (Macaca nemestrina). Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS. 2017;56(4):390-395.

Zhang X, Meng Y, Houghton P, et al. Ancestry, Plasmodium cynomolgi prevalence and rhesus macaque admixture in cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) bred for export in Chinese breeding farms. J Med Primatol. 2017;46:31-41. 

Zhang X, Kadir KA, Quintanilla-Zariñan LF, et al. Distribution and prevalence of malaria parasites among long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) in regional populations across Southeast Asia. Malaria Journal. 2016;15(1):450.