Education
Ph.D. of Experimental Pathology, Master of Public Health, The University of Texas Medical Branch
Bio
Guang Xu, Ph.D., MPH, is an Associate Professor and Course Director of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Public Health at the College of Osteopathic Medicine, SA国际传媒. Dr. Xu has extensive experience mentoring graduate and medical students with a focus on biostatistics and public health. He also serves as a data analyst and/or Co-Principal Investigator for colleagues and external collaborators.
Dr. Xu has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications in public health, infectious diseases, immunology, and pharmacology. He has held numerous leadership and service roles at SA国际传媒, including Faculty Representative on the Financial Subcommittee of the Board of Trustees, member of the University Personnel and Policy Committee, member of the Institutional Review Board, Vice Chair of the WCOM Committee on Committees, member of the WCOM Research Committee, and Chair of the WCOM BMS Curriculum and Assessment Committee.
Beyond SA国际传媒, Dr. Xu contributes to the broader scientific community as a reviewer and editor for several peer-reviewed journals, including Emerging Infectious Diseases (CDC). He also serves as a reviewer and faculty member for the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners. Currently, Dr. Xu is Treasurer and Immediate Past Chair of the Statistics Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA), as well as Co-Chair of the Mentoring Committee and Governing Councilor for the APHA Epidemiology Section.
Before joining academia, Dr. Xu worked part-time for the Health Science Global Business Unit at Oracle Corporation. He earned his PhD in Experimental Pathology and MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas.
Courses Taught
Areas of Teaching Expertise
Research Interests
Dr. Xu’s research interests focus on the control and prevention of infectious diseases (e.g., scrub typhus, Rickettsia, and dengue), public health evaluation and promotion, data analysis, and biostatistics. His expertise in biostatistics and public health has led to extensive collaborations with researchers across diverse disciplines.
He has partnered with faculty and senior medical students from SA国际传媒, the Ascension Hospital system, Indiana University Riley Children’s Hospital, and other institutions on a variety of community-based and clinical research projects.
Selected Publications
Smith, H., Azar, M., & Xu, G. (2025). Risky Behaviors Amongst Medical Students Within the United States. MedEdPublish, 15(3), 3.
Thibodaux, L. K., Orr, A. L., Reisinger, D. L., Fodstad, J., Xu, G., Wikel, K., & Curtin, M. (2024). A pilot study of the utility of a hospital-based school program for pediatric patients with cardiac diagnoses. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 12, 1502378.
Xu, G., Geiger, J. L., & Pfaff, S. J. (2024). Wilson’s Disease: A Rare and Enigmatic Disease. Clinical & Translational Metabolism, 22(1), 13.
Abraham, B. M., Zaazoue, M. A., Xu, G., & Ducis, K. A. (2023). Intraventricular hemorrhage in term infants: a single institutional experience between 2016 and 2020. Child's Nervous System, 39(8), 2123-2129.
Belsky, J. A., Carroll, W. R., Xu, G., & Jacob, S. A. (2023). Side effects with a focus on lymphadenopathy following COVID-19 vaccination in pediatric and AYA oncology patients. Journal of pediatric hematology/oncology, 45(2), 88-90.
Mendell, N. L., Xu, G., Shelite, T. R., Bouyer, D. H., & Walker, D. H. (2022). A murine model of waning scrub typhus cross-protection between heterologous strains of Orientia tsutsugamushi. Pathogens, 11(5), 512.
Xu, G., Walker, D. H., Jupiter, D., Melby, P. C., & Arcari, C. M. (2017). A review of the global epidemiology of scrub typhus. PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 11(11), e0006062.
Xu, G., Mendell, N. L., Liang, Y., Shelite, T. R., Goez-Rivillas, Y., Soong, L., ... & Walker, D. H. (2017). CD8+ T cells provide immune protection against murine disseminated endotheliotropic Orientia tsutsugamushi infection. PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 11(7), e0005763.
Soong, L., Mendell, N. L., Olano, J. P., Rockx-Brouwer, D., Xu, G., Goez-Rivillas, Y., ... & Bouyer, D. H. (2016). An intradermal inoculation mouse model for immunological investigations of acute scrub typhus and persistent infection. PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 10(8), e0004884.
Shelite, T. R., Liang, Y., Wang, H., Mendell, N. L., Trent, B. J., Sun, J., ... & Soong, L. (2016). IL-33-dependent endothelial activation contributes to apoptosis and renal injury in Orientia tsutsugamushi-infected mice. PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 10(3), e0004467.
Shelite, T. R., Saito, T. B., Mendell, N. L., Gong, B., Xu, G., Soong, L., ... & Walker, D. H. (2014). A hematogenously disseminated Orientia tsutsugamsushi-infected murine model of scrub typhus. PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 8(7), e2966.
Gong, B., Shelite, T., Mei, F. C., Ha, T., Hu, Y., Xu, G., ... & Cheng, X. (2013). Exchange protein directly activated by cAMP plays a critical role in bacterial invasion during fatal rickettsioses. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(48), 19615-19620.
Gong, B., Lee, Y. S., Lee, I., Shelite, T. R., Kunkeaw, N., Xu, G., ... & Walker, D. H. (2013). Compartmentalized, functional role of angiogenin during spotted fever group rickettsia-induced endothelial barrier dysfunction: evidence of possible mediation by host tRNA-derived small noncoding RNAs. BMC infectious diseases, 13(1), 285.
Xu G, Guo LC, Shi S, Wang X, Yin M. (2009). New target of treating Alzheimer’s disease: Neprilysin. Progress in Modern Biomedicine. 9(24): 1151-4.
Professional Service and Affiliations
Faculty representative on the Financial Subcommittee of the Board of Trustees
Member of the University Personnel and Policy Committee
Member of the Institutional Review Board
Vice chair of the WCOM Committee on Committees
Member of the WCOM Research Committee
Chair of the WCOM BMS Curriculum and Assessment Committee
Faculty member for the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME)
Treasurer and Immediate Past Chair of the Statistics Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA)
Co-Chair of the Mentoring Committee and Governing Councilor for the APHA Epidemiology Section
Member of the American College of Epidemiology
Member of the American Statistical Association
Reviewer and editor for several peer-reviewed journals, including Emerging Infectious Diseases (CDC), MDPI, Frontiers, APHA Conferences.
Community and Public Engagement