About Dr. Hao Deng

I am an early-stage investigator who is actively pursuing two primary endeavors in both clinical and public health research. Originally trained as a physician-statistician, my primary endeavor is to perform research in developing and applying innovative statistical methods and data algorithms to medicine and healthcare decision-making. The former research endeavor includes being an in-house statistical consultant to the Anesthesiology journal Editorial Board and as the PI/biostatistician for funded extra-mural grants (e.g., my FAER grant, and other NIH-funded projects). In my second endeavor, I am supported by DACCPM to serve as the in-house biostatistician to help departmental faculty members design and conduct high-quality anesthesia and pain research.

Investigation

As an investigator, I am interested in innovative technologies and computer algorithms in facilitating pain assessment and evaluating healthcare outcomes by taking individualized factors (e.g., pathophysiological, psychosocial, behavioral, genetics, etc.) into account. I have authored several meta-analysis publications exploring various biomedical markers regarding their links to substance dependence by examining and summarizing evidence from RCTs. Our team is actively working on a series of research to develop a machine learning algorithm to provide machine-observed continuous pain predictions with less human prejudice and improved efficiency. The outcome of this research is likely to improve and even redefine the clinical pain assessment and to help personalize clinical opioid therapy with reduced risk of addiction and overdose. As a statistician, I serve in several ongoing NIH-funded randomized controlled trials and grant applications to consult on the statistical methods and study design. My role in our department also enables me to constantly collaborate with different researchers to explore diverse aspects of clinical and basic research questions in anesthesia and pain medicine. I took the lead on the statistical component of these projects and applied appropriate methods (e.g. propensity score methods, mixed effects modeling, machine learning) to convey the underlying relationship between study exposure and outcome to testable research hypotheses. This research provides a new understanding of the field and I enjoy the diverse collaboration with researchers from different backgrounds and interests.

Teaching & Education

As part of my role in our department, I engage in considerable amounts of teaching and education. I serve as a statistical consultant available to over 100 departmental faculty members (e.g., assisting them with designing research and statistical analyses) and offer formal and informal talks within the department, regionally, nationally, and internationally. I have trained two postdoctoral visiting scholars from China in clinical research and provided statistical mentorship for two ARC research fellows. I am also currently serving as the biostatistical co-mentor of a T32 research fellow at DACCPM to advise during his training period. In addition, I enjoy the opportunity to assist and educate aspiring authors regarding international publication standards through my peer-review work for multiple journals.

Administration & Leadership

As a statistical consultant for our field’s flagship Journal Anesthesiology, I have been honored to work with my mentor Dr. Timothy Houle and some of our best researchers in this field in attempting to raise awareness in our community regarding the importance of proper research designs and appropriate statistical methods in the conduct of research (e.g. bias, poor reporting, type I and II errors). I also have given several local and international talks aiming to assist researchers in this field to reach international best practices for the conduct of research. I am enjoying a growing reputation as an international expert in statistical expertise as evidenced by my departmental and journal roles, and I hope to leverage my journal and MGH roles to improve research practice in statistics within MGH and even internationally.

Published Research

  1. Nanji KC, Garabedian PM, Langlieb ME, Rui A, Tabayoyong LL, Sampson M, Deng H, Boxwala A, Minehart RD, Bates DW. Usability of a perioperative medication-related clinical decision support software application: a randomized controlled trial. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2022 07 12; 29(8):1416-1424. PMID: 35575780; PMCID: PMC9277651.
  2. Rosenbloom JM, Deng H, Mueller AL, Alegria M, Houle TT. Race/Ethnicity and Duration of Anesthesia for Pediatric Patients in the US: a Retrospective Cohort Study. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2022 May 03. PMID: 35505152.
  3. Young AC, Deng H, Opalacz A, Roth S, Filatava EJ, Fisher CA, de Sousa K, Mogren G, Chen L. A Retrospective Analysis of Sacroiliac Joint Pain Interventions: Intraarticular Steroid Injection and Lateral Branch Radiofrequency Neurotomy. Pain Physician. 2022 03; 25(2):E341-E347. PMID: 35322989.
  4. Tsao AC, Parker MJ, Lovich MA, Suja VC, Deng H, Houle T, Peterfreund RA. Initiation of an Emulsion Microinfusion: Flow Direction Influences Delivery Onset Rate. Eur J Pharm Sci. 2022 May 01; 172:106154. PMID: 35227840.
  5. Eke OF, Selame L, Gullikson J, Deng H, Dutta S, Shokoohi H. Timing of pericardiocentesis and clinical outcomes: Is earlier pericardiocentesis better? Am J Emerg Med. 2022 Apr; 54:202-207. PMID: 35176659.
  6. Gibson LE, Knudsen AS, Arney D, Deng H, Sims NM, Peterfreund RA. Lag times to steady state drug delivery by continuous intravenous infusion: direct comparison of peristaltic and syringe pump performance identifies contributions from infusion system dead volume and pump startup characteristics. J Clin Monit Comput. 2022 Oct; 36(5):1489-1498. PMID: 34878612.
  7. Xuan C, Yan W, Wang D, Li C, Ma H, Mueller A, Deng H, Houle T, Wang J. Efficacy of different analgesia treatments for abdominal surgery: A network meta-analysis. Eur J Pain. 2022 03; 26(3):567-577. PMID: 34698423.
  8. Safavi KC, Deng H, Driscoll W, Nikolov M, Tolia K, Wiener-Kronish JP. A Remote Surveillance Platform to Monitor General Care Ward Surgical Patients for Acute Physiologic Deterioration. Anesth Analg. 2021 10 01; 133(4):933-939. PMID: 33830955; PMCID: PMC8415733.
  9. Houle TT, Deng H, Tegeler CH, Turner DP. Continuous updating of individual headache forecasting models using Bayesian methods. Headache. 2021 09; 61(8):1264-1273. PMID: 34435659; PMCID: PMC8672809.
  10. Chen L, Deng H, Houle T, Zhang Y, Ahmed S, Zhang W, Sullivan S, Opalacz A, Roth S, Filatava EJ, Stabach K, Vo T, Malarick C, Kim H, You Z, Shen S, Mao J. Comparison between acupuncture therapy and gabapentin for chronic pain: a pilot study. Acupunct Med. 2021 Dec; 39(6):619-628. PMID: 34325532.
  11. Cui J, Zhu H, Deng H, Chen Z, Liu D. FeARH: Federated machine learning with anonymous random hybridization on electronic medical records. J Biomed Inform. 2021 05; 117:103735. PMID: 33711540.
  12. Zhou Y, Leung-Pitt Y, Deng H, Ren Y, You Z, Kem WR, Shen S, Zhang W, Mao J, Martyn JAJ. Nonopioid GTS-21 Mitigates Burn Injury Pain in Rats by Decreasing Spinal Cord Inflammatory Responses. Anesth Analg. 2021 01; 132(1):240-252. PMID: 33264122; PMCID: PMC7736563.
  13. Shields BB, Hu V, Sabouri A, Deng H, Frendl D, McGovern F, Anderson TA, Sabouri AS. Rectus Sheath Block Versus Transversus Abdominis Plane (TAP) Block for Open Retropubic Prostatectomy Analgesia: A Retrospective Study. SN Comprehensive Clinical Medicine. 2020; 12(2):2856-62.
  14. Chamadia S, Pedemonte JC, Hobbs LE, Deng H, Nguyen S, Cortinez LI, Akeju O. A Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Study of Oral Dexmedetomidine. Anesthesiology. 2020 12 01; 133(6):1223-1233. PMID: 32986820; PMCID: PMC7657968.
  15. Turner DP, Deng H, Houle TT. Understanding and Applying Confidence Intervals. Headache. 2020 11; 60(10):2118-2124. PMID: 33249582.
  16. Shao YR, Kahali P, Houle TT, Deng H, Colvin C, Dickerson BC, Brown EN, Purdon PL. Low Frontal Alpha Power Is Associated With the Propensity for Burst Suppression: An Electroencephalogram Phenotype for a “Vulnerable Brain”. Anesth Analg. 2020 11; 131(5):1529-1539. PMID: 33079876; PMCID: PMC7553194.
  17. Vanneman MW, Balakrishna A, Lang AL, Eliason KD, Payette AM, Xu X, Driscoll WD, Donovan KM, Deng H, Dzik WH, Levine WC. Improving Transfusion Safety in the Operating Room With a Barcode Scanning System Designed Specifically for the Surgical Environment and Existing Electronic Medical Record Systems: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis. Anesth Analg. 2020 10; 131(4):1217-1227. PMID: 32925343.
  18. Turner DP, Deng H, Houle TT. Bayesian Approaches to Statistical Inferences. Headache. 2020 10; 60(9):1879-1885. PMID: 32996136.
  19. Vanneman MW, Balakrishna A, Lang AL, Eliason KD, Payette AM, Xu X, Driscoll WD, Donovan KM, Deng H, Dzik WH, Levine WC. Improving Transfusion Safety in the Operating Room With a Barcode Scanning System Designed Specifically for the Surgical Environment and Existing Electronic Medical Record Systems: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis. Anesth Analg. 2020 Aug 05. PMID: 32769384.
  20. Drevin G, Albutt K, Baluku M, Tuhumwiire C, Deng H, Musinguzi N, Modest V, Ngonzi J, Ttendo S, Firth P. Outcome Measurement at a Ugandan Referral Hospital: Validation of the Mbarara Surgical Services Quality Assurance Database. World J Surg. 2020 08; 44(8):2550-2556. PMID: 32333160.
  21. Nanji KC, Merry AF, Shaikh SD, Pagel C, Deng H, Wahr JA, Gelb AW, Orser BA. Global PRoMiSe (Perioperative Recommendations for Medication Safety): protocol for a mixed-methods study. BMJ Open. 2020 06 30; 10(6):e038313. PMID: 32606066.
  22. Turner DP, Deng H. A Conceptual Introduction to Regression. Headache. 2020 06; 60(6):1047-1055. PMID: 32474925.
  23. Shao YR, Kahali P, Houle TT, Deng H, Colvin C, Dickerson BC, Brown EN, Purdon PL. Low Frontal Alpha Power Is Associated With the Propensity for Burst Suppression: An Electroencephalogram Phenotype for a “Vulnerable Brain”. Anesth Analg. 2020 May 14. PMID: 32427658.
  24. Turner DP, Deng H. Overview of Common Statistical Tests and their Assumptions. Headache. 2020 05; 60(5):826-832. PMID: 32337724.
  25. Huang L, Yin Y, Fu Z, Zhang S, Deng H, Liu D. LoAdaBoost: Loss-based AdaBoost federated machine learning with reduced computational complexity on IID and non-IID intensive care data. PLoS One. 2020; 15(4):e0230706. PMID: 32302316.
  26. Shaydenfish D, Scheffenbichler FT, Kelly BJ, Lihn AL, Deng H, Nourmahnad A, Xu X, Houle TT, Eikermann M, Forman SA. Effects of Anticholinesterase Reversal Under General Anesthesia on Postoperative Cardiovascular Complications: A Retrospective Cohort Study. Anesth Analg. 2020 03; 130(3):685-695. PMID: 30896593.
  27. Turner DP, Deng H, Houle TT. Statistical Hypothesis Testing: Overview and Application. Headache. 2020 02; 60(2):302-308. PMID: 32011739.
  28. Cheng D, Liu D, Philpotts LL, Turner DP, Houle TT, Chen L, Zhang M, Yang J, Zhang W, Deng H. Current state of science in machine learning methods for automatic infant pain evaluation using facial expression information: study protocol of a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open. 2019 12 11; 9(12):e030482. PMID: 31831532; PMCID: PMC6924806.
  29. Brandão JC, Lessa MA, Motta-Ribeiro G, Hashimoto S, Paula LF, Torsani V, Le L, Bao X, Eikermann M, Dahl DM, Deng H, Tabatabaei S, Amato MBP, Vidal Melo MF. Global and Regional Respiratory Mechanics During Robotic-Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery: A Randomized Study. Anesth Analg. 2019 12; 129(6):1564-1573. PMID: 31743177.
  30. Chen L, Deng H, Houle T, Zhang Y, Ahmed S, Zhang V, Sullivan S, Opalaze A, Roth S, Filatava EJ, St Clair K, Vo T, Malarick C, Kim H, You Z, Shen S, Mao J. A randomized trial to assess the immediate impact of acupuncture on quantitative sensory testing, pain, and functional status. Pain. 2019 11; 160(11):2456-2463. PMID: 31283555.
  31. Scheffenbichler FT, Rudolph MI, Friedrich S, Althoff FC, Xu X, Spicer AC, Patrocínio M, Ng PY, Deng H, Anderson TA, Eikermann M. Effects of high neuromuscular blocking agent dose on post-operative respiratory complications in infants and children. Acta Anaesthesiol Scand. 2020 02; 64(2):156-167. PMID: 31529484.
  32. Huang L, Shea AL, Qian H, Masurkar A, Deng H, Liu D. Patient clustering improves efficiency of federated machine learning to predict mortality and hospital stay time using distributed electronic medical records. J Biomed Inform. 2019 11; 99:103291. PMID: 31560949.
  33. Zou J, Li Z, Deng H, Hao J, Ding R, Zhao M. TMEM213 as a novel prognostic and predictive biomarker for patients with lung adenocarcinoma after curative resection: a study based on bioinformatics analysis. J Thorac Dis. 2019 Aug; 11(8):3399-3410. PMID: 31559044; PMCID: PMC6753464.
  34. Brandão JC, Lessa MA, Motta-Ribeiro G, Hashimoto S, Paula LF, Torsani V, Le L, Bao X, Eikermann M, Dahl DM, Deng H, Tabatabaei S, Amato MBP, Vidal Melo MF. Global and Regional Respiratory Mechanics During Robotic-Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery: A Randomized Study. Anesth Analg. 2019 Jul 26. PMID: 31361671.
  35. Deng H, Coumans JV, Anderson R, Houle TT, Peterfreund RA. Spinal anesthesia for lumbar spine surgery correlates with fewer total medications and less frequent use of vasoactive agents: A single center experience. PLoS One. 2019; 14(6):e0217939. PMID: 31194777; PMCID: PMC6563985.
  36. Grabitz SD, Rajaratnam N, Chhagani K, Thevathasan T, Teja BJ, Deng H, Eikermann M, Kelly BJ. The Effects of Postoperative Residual Neuromuscular Blockade on Hospital Costs and Intensive Care Unit Admission: A Population-Based Cohort Study. Anesth Analg. 2019 06; 128(6):1129-1136. PMID: 31094777.
  37. Schaller SJ, Scheffenbichler FT, Bose S, Mazwi N, Deng H, Krebs F, Seifert CL, Kasotakis G, Grabitz SD, Latronico N, Houle T, Blobner M, Eikermann M. Influence of the initial level of consciousness on early, goal-directed mobilization: a post hoc analysis. Intensive Care Med. 2019 02; 45(2):201-210. PMID: 30666366.
  38. Liu D, Cheng D, Houle TT, Chen L, Zhang W, Deng H. Machine learning methods for automatic pain assessment using facial expression information: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore). 2018 Dec; 97(49):e13421. PMID: 30544420; PMCID: PMC6310598.
  39. Plummer GS, Ibala R, Hahm E, An J, Gitlin J, Deng H, Shelton KT, Solt K, Qu JZ, Akeju O. Electroencephalogram dynamics during general anesthesia predict the later incidence and duration of burst-suppression during cardiopulmonary bypass. Clin Neurophysiol. 2019 01; 130(1):55-60. PMID: 30476711; PMCID: PMC6377070.
  40. Rudolph MI, Ng PY, Deng H, Scheffenbichler FT, Grabitz SD, Wanderer JP, Houle TT, Eikermann M. Comparison of a novel clinical score to estimate the risk of REsidual neuromuscular block Prediction Score and the last train-of-four count documented in the electronic anaesthesia record: A retrospective cohort study of electronic data on file. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2018 11; 35(11):883-892. PMID: 30020144.
  41. Kong Y, Yan T, Gong S, Deng H, Zhang G, Wang J. Opioid receptor mu 1 (OPRM1) A118G polymorphism (rs1799971) and postoperative nausea and vomiting. Am J Transl Res. 2018; 10(9):2764-2780. PMID: 30323865; PMCID: PMC6176240.
  42. Ruscic KJ, Bøgh Stokholm J, Patlak J, Deng H, Simons JCP, Houle T, Peters J, Eikermann M. Supplemental Carbon Dioxide Stabilizes the Upper Airway in Volunteers Anesthetized with Propofol. Anesthesiology. 2018 07; 129(1):37-46. PMID: 29750662.
  43. Albrecht DS, Ahmed SU, Kettner NW, Borra RJH, Cohen-Adad J, Deng H, Houle TT, Opalacz A, Roth SA, Melo MFV, Chen L, Mao J, Hooker JM, Loggia ML, Zhang Y. Neuroinflammation of the spinal cord and nerve roots in chronic radicular pain patients. Pain. 2018 May; 159(5):968-977. PMID: 29419657.
  44. Shelton KT, Qu J, Bilotta F, Brown EN, Cudemus G, D’Alessandro DA, Deng H, DiBiasio A, Gitlin JA, Hahm EY, Hobbs LE, Houle TT, Ibala R, Loggia ML, Pavone KJ, Shaefi S, Tolis G, Westover MB, Akeju O. Minimizing ICU Neurological Dysfunction with Dexmedetomidine-induced Sleep (MINDDS): protocol for a randomised, double-blind, parallel-arm, placebo-controlled trial. BMJ Open. 2018 04 20; 8(4):e020316. PMID: 29678977.
  45. Sabouri AS, Jafari A, Creighton P, Shepherd A, Votta TJ, Deng H, Heard C. Association between Bispectral Index System and airway obstruction: an observational prospective cohort analysis during third molar extractions. Minerva Anestesiol. 2018 06; 84(6):703-711. PMID: 29338145.
  46. Kong X, Deng H, Gong S, Alston T, Kong Y, Wang J. Lack of associations of the opioid receptor mu 1 (OPRM1) A118G polymorphism (rs1799971) with alcohol dependence: review and meta-analysis of retrospective controlled studies. BMC Med Genet. 2017 10 26; 18(1):120. PMID: 29070014; PMCID: PMC5657079.
  47. Kong X, Deng H, Alston T, Kong Y, Wang J. Association of opioid receptor mu 1 (OPRM1) A118G polymorphism (rs1799971) with nicotine dependence. Oncotarget. 2017 Oct 13; 8(48):84329-84337. PMID: 29137427; PMCID: PMC5663599.
  48. Lee JM, Akeju O, Terzakis K, Pavone KJ, Deng H, Houle TT, Firth PG, Shank ES, Brown EN, Purdon PL. A Prospective Study of Age-dependent Changes in Propofol-induced Electroencephalogram Oscillations in Children. Anesthesiology. 2017 08; 127(2):293-306. PMID: 28657957.
  49. Royster RL, Deng H, Whalen SP. Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation. Anesth Analg. 2017 07; 125(1):10-12. PMID: 28628573.
  50. Burns SM, Turner DP, Sexton KE, Deng H, Houle TT. Using Search Engines to Investigate Shared Migraine Experiences. Headache. 2017 Sep; 57(8):1217-1227. PMID: 28660638; PMCID: PMC5937702.
  51. Parker MJ, Lovich MA, Tsao AC, Deng H, Houle T, Peterfreund RA. Novel Pump Control Technology Accelerates Drug Delivery Onset in a Model of Pediatric Drug Infusion. Anesth Analg. 2017 04; 124(4):1129-1134. PMID: 28181934.
  52. Diaz-Gil D, Haerter F, Falcinelli S, Ganapati S, Hettiarachchi GK, Simons JC, Zhang B, Grabitz SD, Moreno Duarte I, Cotten JF, Eikermann-Haerter K, Deng H, Chamberlin NL, Isaacs L, Briken V, Eikermann M. A Novel Strategy to Reverse General Anesthesia by Scavenging with the Acyclic Cucurbit[n]uril-type Molecular Container Calabadion 2. Anesthesiology. 2016 08; 125(2):333-45. PMID: 27341276; PMCID: PMC4955735.
  53. Zhao MF, Qu XJ, Qu JL, Jiang YH, Zhang Y, Hou KZ, Deng H, Liu YP. The role of E3 ubiquitin ligase Cbl proteins in interleukin-2-induced Jurkat T-cell activation. Biomed Res Int. 2013; 2013:430861. PMID: 23586039.