Yifan Zhang

Yifan Zhang, PhD, is a Senior Research Scholar at Stanford University School of Medicine. Her research applies statistical and causal inference methods to large-scale population data to study health risks, health policy, and injury prevention. Her work focuses on how exposures—particularly firearm ownership and household dynamics—shape risks of mortality, including suicide and homicide. She has been a core member of the Study of Handgun Ownership and Transfer (LongSHOT) since its inception and has played a key role in its design and analysis.

Zhang collaborates with multidisciplinary teams across academia and government and leads the design and analysis of large longitudinal studies using complex administrative data. Her research also examines drivers' crash risks, physician behavior following malpractice claims, and health outcomes in vulnerable populations.

She received her PhD and MSc from Harvard University and her BSc in Actuarial Science from the University of Hong Kong.