Research Interests
- Healthcare robotics and assistive technologies
- Artificial intelligence and machine learning in healthcare
- Neuroimaging and cognitive health diagnostics
- Biomechanics and cardiovascular modeling
- Biomedical signal processing
- Sensors and mechatronics
- Computational mechanics and multiscale modeling
- Dynamic systems and control
Biography
Dr. Xiaopeng Zhao is Professor and Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Mississippi. In his role, he leads the department's strategic planning and academic operations, with a focus on advancing research, enhancing education, and strengthening industry and community engagement. Dr. Zhao is committed to building faculty capacity in emerging areas such as AI, robotics, and advanced manufacturing while preparing students for the technological challenges of the future.
Before joining the University of Mississippi in 2025, Dr. Zhao was a professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. From 2024 to 2025 he served as a Congressional Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, where he was selected for the Rapid Response Cohort in Artificial Intelligence to provide guidance to policymakers. He also served as the founding director of the Applied AI Program at the University of Tennessee.
Dr. Zhao's research is highly interdisciplinary, focusing on healthcare robotics, artificial intelligence in medicine, neuroimaging, and biomedical modeling. His work has been recognized with numerous honors, including an NSF CAREER Award, and his research on AI powered social robots in dementia care was featured in NIH News in Health. He has authored more than 170 peer reviewed publications, and his work has been widely cited.
Publications
- Liu, Longjian and Hou, Jintong and Cui, Saishi and Zhao, Xiaopeng and Liu, Zuolu and Longenecker, J. Craig and May, Nathalie S. and Luo, Jin Jun and DiMaria-Ghalili, Rose Ann and Eisen, Howard J., Sex Differences in the Impact of Vascular Risk and Apoe Genotype on Cognitive Decline and Dementia: Evidence from a U.S. Longitudinal Study.
- Yuan, F., Bray, R., Oliver, M., Duzan, J., Crane, M., and Zhao, X., 2024. A Social Robot facilitated Performance Assessment of Self care Skills for People with Alzheimer's: A Preliminary Study. International Journal of Social Robotics, pp. 1–14.
- Liu, Z., Liu, L., Heidel, R. E., and Zhao, X., 2024. Explainable AI and transformer models: Unraveling the nutritional influences on Alzheimer's disease mortality. Smart Health, Volume 32, 100478.
- Yuan, F., Boltz, M., Bilal, D., Jao, Y. L., Crane, M., Duzan, J., Bahour, A., and Zhao, X., 2023. Cognitive Exercise for Persons with Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia Using a Social Robot. IEEE Transactions on Robotics.
- Shwab, E., Saraf, P., Zhu, X. Q., Zhou, D. H., McFerrin, B., Ajzenberg, D., Schares, G., Hammond Aryee, K., van Helden, P., Higgins, S., Gerhold, R., Rosenthal, B., Zhao, X., Dubey, J., and Su, C., 2018. Human impact on the diversity and virulence of the ubiquitous zoonotic parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 1722202115.
- Berger, C. M., Zhao, X., Schaeffer, D. G., Krassowska, W., Dobrovolny, H. M., and Gauthier, D. J., 2007. Period doubling bifurcation to alternans in paced cardiac tissue: Crossover from smooth to border collision characteristics. Physical Review Letters, 99, 058101.
- Zhao, X., 2008. Indeterminacy of Spatiotemporal Cardiac Alternans. Physical Review E, 78, 011902.
Courses Taught
- ENGR Biomedical Engineering Principles
- ENGR Dynamics
- ENGR Signals and Systems
- ENGR Bioinstrumentation
- ENGR Senior Design Capstone Project
- ENGR Advanced Nonlinear Dynamics
- ENGR Applied Machine Learning
- ENGR Human Robot Systems
Education
Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State (2004)
Recognitions
- Featured Article "Medical Robots to the Rescue", NIH News in Health, 2025
- Fellow, Inaugural Microsoft AI Economy Institute, 2025
- Congressional Science and Technology Policy Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2024-2025
- a2 Pilot Award, Artificial Intelligence and Technology Collaboratories (AITC), 2024
- Charles E. Ferris Faculty Award, Tickle College of Engineering, University of Tennessee, 2023
- NSF CAREER Award, National Science Foundation, 2009
- Inaugural Outstanding Postdoc Award, Duke University, 2006