Research Interest

My current research interest focuses on developing statistical methods for genetic association studies and population genetic studies. I use a combination of mathematical modeling, statistical computation, and bioinformatics approaches to address questions in human genetic research, with the goal to help understand human evolutionary history and dissect the genetic basis of complex diseases.

Research Experience

Sep 2012 - Present: Harvard Unversity, Boston
Postdoctoral research under Drs. Xihong Lin and Liming Liang
Statistical methods for genetic mapping of complex traits and disease.


Feb 2012 - Aug 2012: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Research under Drs. Gonçalo Abecasis and Sebastian Zöllner
Estimating individual ancestry from next generation sequencing.


Jan 2009 - Aug 2012: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Ph.D. dissertation research under Dr. Noah A Rosenberg
Dissertation title: Statistical methods for analyzing human genetic variation in diverse populations.


Sep 2008 - Dec 2008: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Research rotation, under Dr. Xiaoxia (Nina) Lin
Mathematical modeling of the regulatory network of the G1-S phase transition in the yeast cell cycle


Jul - Aug 2008, 2007, 2006: Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
Junior research assistant, under Dr. Kwok Yip Szeto
Topology and dynamics of complex networks, bioinformatics


Sep 2007 - Jun 2008: Peking University, Beijing
Bachelar thesis, under Dr. Fangting Li
Modeling positive feedbacks in transcriptional regulation of genetic networks


Mar 2007 - Oct 2007: Peking University, Beijing
Undergraduate research, under Dr. Minghua Deng
Prediction of the MHC Class II binding peptides using a hidden Markov model