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Qian-Li Xue, Ph.D.

Headshot of Qian-Li Xue
  • Director of Biostatistics, Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology and Center on Aging and Health
  • Associate Professor of Medicine

Research Interests

Epidemiology of Aging, Frailty, Sarcopenia

Background

Dr. Xue is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology and a biostatistician and quantitative scientist focused on aging-related decline in muscle function and multisystem physiological determinants of late-life vulnerability. The breadth of Dr. Xue's impact on research on disability, frailty, systemic dysregulation and cognitive decline at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions is evidenced by his over 150 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Xue’s principal authorship of papers in the Archives of Internal Medicine, American Journal of Epidemiology, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, and BMC Medicine during this span indicates his growing leadership role and national prominence in discovery on aging.

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Titles

  • Director of Biostatistics, Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology and Center on Aging and Health
  • Associate Professor of Medicine

Departments / Divisions

Centers & Institutes

Education

Degrees

  • Ph.D.; Johns Hopkins University (Maryland) (2001)
  • B.S.; Shanghai Ocean University (China) (1991)

Research & Publications

Research Summary

My research interest focuses on the natural history of frailty and its phenotypic components including sarcopenia and low physical activity. As a co-investigator of the Women’s Health and Aging Studies since 2001, I’ve been spearheading the analysis of longitudinal data relating biomarkers of inflammation, hormonal dysregulation, and micronutrient deficiencies to the development and progression of frailty. This work is providing a critical foundation for the next generation of research to delineate the synergistic effects of dysregulation in multiple biological systems on frailty. It promises to provide new biological insights and, thereby, inform the development of new interventions to treat the concurrent multisystem changes that occur in accelerated aging. In addition, I have recently developed an interest in methods to study the clinical relevance of aging-related loss of muscle mass and strength in older adults (referred to as sarcopenia), with the goal of establishing the prognostic value of intra-person variability and change in muscle mass and strength for long-term health outcomes.

Technology Expertise Keywords

Biostatistics

Clinical Trials

Baltimore Experience Corps Trial


The Community Aging in Place, Advancing Better Living for Elders Trial

Selected Publications

View all on PubMed

Xue QL, Bandeen-Roche K, Zhou J, Varadhan R, Fried LP. Initial manifestations of frailty criteria and the development of frailty phenotype in the Women’s Health and Aging Study II. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2008; 63(9): 984–990. PMID: 18840805

Xue QL, Buta B, Ma LN, Ge ML, Carlson MC. Integrating Frailty and Cognitive Phenotypes: Why, How, Now What? Current Geriatrics Reports. April 2019

Chu NM, Bandeen-Roche K, Tian J, Kasper JD, Gross AL, Carlson M, Xue QL. Hierarchical Development of Frailty and Cognitive Impairment: Clues into Etiological Pathways. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2019 Oct 4;74(11):1761-1770. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glz134. PMID: 31120105

Xue QL, Tian J, Walston JD, Chaves PHM, Newman AB, Bandeen-Roche K. Discrepancy in Frailty Identification: Move beyond Predictive Validity. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2020 Jan 20;75(2):387-393. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glz052. PMID: 30789645

Xue QL. Frailty as an integrative marker of physiological vulnerability in the era of COVID-19. BMC Med. 2020 Oct 23;18(1):333. doi: 10.1186/s12916-020-01809-1. PMID: 33092582

Contact for Research Inquiries

Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health
2024 E. Monument Street
Room 2-722
Baltimore, MD 21205 map
Phone: 410-614-9625

Academic Affiliations & Courses

Courses and Syllabi

  • Statistics for Psychosocial Research

Activities & Honors

Honors

  • Tuition Scholarship, Johns Hopkins University Department of Biostatistics, 1995 - 2000
  • Distinguished Student Paper Award, International Biometric Society, 2000
  • Travel Award, American Federation of Aging Research, 2007
  • Nathan Shock Scholar, Nathan W. and Margaret T. Shock Aging Research Foundation, 2010
  • Nathan Shock Scholar, Nathan W. and Margaret T. Shock Aging Research Foundation, 2011
  • California Sea Grant College Traineeship, 1991

Professional Activities

  • Co-convener, Gerontological Society of America, 2011 - 2013
  • Statistical Editor, Progress in Community Health Partnerships, 2011

Videos & Media

Lectures and Presentations

  • Studying disability in subset populations: a latent variable method for combining information
    The Gerontological Society of America’s 50th Annual Scientific Meeting, Cincinnati (11/16/1997)
  • A latent class model for combining information
    The American Statistical Association’s Annual Joint Statistical Meetings, Dallas, Texas (08/10/1998)
  • Pseudo maximum likelihood inference for latent variable regression subject to selection bias
    International Biometric Society Eastern North American Region 2000 Spring Meeting (03/20/2000)
  • Fitting Latent Class Regression Models with Ignorably Missing Covariates
    The American Statistical Association’s Annual Joint Statistical Meetings, Atlanta, Georgia (08/09/2001)
  • Comparison of population-averaged and subject-specific methods for analyzing longitudinal data: a case study
    The Gerontological Society of America’s 54th Annual Scientific Meeting, Chicago, Illinois (11/15/2001)
  • Modeling Health Trajectories Before and After a Sentinel Event
    The American Statistical Association’s Annual Joint Statistical Meetings, San Francisco, California (08/05/2003)
  • Compensatory Strategies as Preclinical Markers of IADL Disability
    Lecture, The Gerontological Society of America’s 56th Annual Scientific Meeting, San Diego, California (11/24/2003)
  • Analyzing trajectories of physical and cognitive function before or after a sentinel health event among older women
    Lecture, The Gerontological Society of America’s 56th Annual Scientific Meeting, San Diego, California (11/24/2003)
  • Type of Compensation May Identify Those Transitioning to IADL Difficulty
    Invited Symposium: Opportunities for primary secondary and tertiary prevention of disability in older adults, The 18th Congress of the International Association of Gerontology, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (06/27/2005)
  • The Effect of Education on Transitions in Mobility Function in The Women’s Health and Aging Study II (WHAS II)
    The Gerontological Society of America’s 58th Annual Scientific Meeting, Orlando, Florida (11/19/2005)
  • Is the Association between Life Space and Incident Frailty Biased by Competing Mortality?
    The Gerontological Society of America’s 59th Annual Scientific Meeting, Dallas, Texas (01/19/2006)
  • Multisystem physiologic abnormalities in frailty: evidence for nonlinear system biology at the macro level
    The Gerontological Society of America’s 60th Annual Scientific Meeting, San Francisco, California (11/18/2007)
  • Joint Effects of Multiple Physiological Systems on the Development of Frailty
    The Gerontological Society of America’s 61st Annual Scientific Meeting, Baltimore, Maryland (11/22/2008)
  • Joint Modeling of Longitudinal and Survival Data: Assessing the Impact of Change in Lower Extremity Muscle Strength on Incident Falls, ADL and IADL Disability in Older Women
    The Gerontological Society of America’s 62th Annual Scientific Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia (11/19/2009)
  • Using Longitudinal Data to Develop Aging Phenotypes
    The Gerontological Society of America’s 62th Annual Scientific Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia (11/22/2009)
  • Aging Phenotype Development: Getting Weaker vs Being Weak
    The Gerontological Society of America’s 62th Annual Scientific Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia (11/22/2009)
  • Trajectories of Change in Physical Activity and All-Cause Mortality: The Women’s Health and Aging Study (WHAS) II
    The Gerontological Society of America’s 64th Annual Scientific Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts (11/22/2011)
  • Managing Missing Data in the Analysis Phase: the Stormy Seas
    Older Americans Independence Center Annual Meeting, Bethesda, Maryland (04/16/2012)
  • Overview of Key Concepts of Missing Data Issues in Gerontological Research
    Presentation, The Gerontological Society of America’s 65th Annual Scientific Meeting, San Diego, California (11/15/2012)
  • Is There a Causal Relationship Between Poor Sleep Quality and Frailty in Older Women?
    Presentation, The Gerontological Society of America’s 65th Annual Scientific Meeting, San Diego, California (11/17/2012)
  • Short-Term Trajectory of Grip Strength is Predictive of Long-Term Change in Grip Strength in Older Disabled Women
    The International Conference on Sarcopenia Research, Orlando, Florida (12/07/2012)
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