Zheng Chang

Principal Researcher at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet.

Group leader of the Psychiatric and pharmaco-epidemiology research group.

While randomized controlled trials are the gold standard for evaluating the effectiveness and safety of pharmacological treatments, they are often unfeasible or unethical for certain psychiatric research questions. My research addresses these gaps by applying advanced pharmacoepidemiological methods on large-scale, real-world health data to assess the effectiveness and safety of pharmacological treatments for psychiatric conditions. We examine a broad spectrum of outcomes, ranging from short-term adverse events and rare safety signals to long-term health risks, mortality, and functional outcomes. By integrating rigorous causal inference frameworks with real-world data, my work bridges the gap between clinical trials and everyday clinical practice, generating insights that inform clinical guidelines and public health policy.

1. Li L, Coghill D, Sjölander A, Yao H, Zhang L, Kuja-Halkola R, Brikell I, Lichtenstein P, D'Onofrio BM, Larsson H, Chang Z. Increased Prescribing of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Medication and Real-World Outcomes Over Time. JAMA Psychiatry. 2025 Aug 1;82(8):830-837. PMID: 40560574
2. Li L, Zhu N, Zhang L, Kuja-Halkola R, D’Onofrio BM, Brikell I, Lichtenstein P, Cortese S, Larsson H, Chang Z. ADHD pharmacotherapy and mortality in individuals with ADHD: a target trial emulation study with observational data. JAMA. 2024 Mar 12;331(10):850-860. PMID: 38470385 
3. Zhang L, Li L, Andell P, Garcia-Argibay M, Quinn PD, D’Onofrio BM, Brikell I, Kuja-Halkola R, Lichtenstein P, Johnell K, Larsson H, Chang Z. ADHD medications and long-term risk of cardiovascular diseases: a nationwide nested case-control study in Sweden. JAMA Psychiatry 2024 Feb 1;81(2):178-187. PMID: 37991787
4. Virtanen S, Lagerberg T, Takami Lageborn C, Kuja-Halkola R, Brikell I, Matthews AA, Lichtenstein P, D'Onofrio BM, Landén M, Chang Z. Antidepressant Use and Risk of Manic Episodes in Children and Adolescents With Unipolar Depression. JAMA Psychiatry. 2024 Jan 1;81(1):25-33. PMID: 37755835
5. Brikell I, Yao H, Li L, Astrup A, Gao L, Gillies MB, Xie T, Zhang-James Y, Dalsgaard S, Engeland A, Faraone SV, Haavik J, Hartman C, Ip P, Jakobsdóttir Smári U, Larsson H, Man KK, de Oliveira Costa J, Pearson SA, Hostrup Nielsen NP, Snieder H, Wimberley T, Wong IC, Zhang L, Zoega H, Klungsøyr K, Chang Z. ADHD medication discontinuation and persistence across the lifespan: a retrospective observational study using population-based databases. Lancet Psychiatry. 2024 Jan;11(1):16-26. PMID: 38035876

My research work has been supported by the Swedish Research Council (VR), the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life, and Welfare (Forte), the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for research and innovation, the Research Council of Norway, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and Karolinska Institutet Faculty Board and Research Fund.

We are looking for motivated postdoctoral fellows and junior researchers to join our team—please feel free to get in touch if you are interested.