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Li Group People

Principal Investigator

Yun Li, Ph.D.

Professor Genetics, Biostatistics

Education
Ph.D., Biostatistics, University of Michigan, 2009
Email:
yunli@med.unc.edu
NIH Biosketch (updated 2021-02-04)

CV (updated 2021-02-04)

Current Members

    Jia (Elaine) Wen

    Postdoctoral Fellow

    Education
    PhD in Statistical Genomics, Nanjing Agricultural University, 2014
    BS in Statistics, Nanjing Agricultural University, 2009
    Research Topics
    Leveraging statistical and machine learning methods for In Silico Enhanced GWAS
    Multi-omic mechanistic study underlying genetics of Alzheimer's disease



    Jiawen Chen

    PhD student, Department of Biostatistics

    Education
    MS in Data Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2020
    BS in Statistics, East China Normal University, 2018
    Research Topics
    Spatial Transcriptomics
    Machine learning methods for genomics



    Brian Chen

    PhD student, Department of Biostatistics

    Education
    BS in Biostatistics and Mathematics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2021
    Research Topics
    Leveraging functional annotation data to construct polygenic risk score



    Frank Ockerman

    PhD student, Department of Biostatistics

    Education
    MS in Biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2022
    BS in Statistics and Analytics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2020
    Research Topics
    Polygenic Risk Score for admixed populations
    Analysis of metabolomics data



    Will/Chenwei Tang

    PhD student, Department of Biostatistics

    Education
    BA in Biological Sciences, University of Chicago, 2022
    BA in Computer Science, University of Chicago, 2022
    Research Topics
    Deep learning methods for cell-type-specific inference
    Genetics of cardiovascular diseases among individuals affected with CKD



    Lina Guan

    PhD student, Department of Biostatistics

    Education
    MS in Computer Science, Boston University Metropolitan College, 2020
    MA in Statistics, University of Michigan, 2018
    BA in Molecular Biology, Princeton University, 2012
    Research Topics
    Analysis of single cell omics data
    Leveraging single cell omics data for genetic dissection of complex traits



    Elena Kharitonova

    PhD student, Department of Biostatistics

    Education
    BS in Chemical Biology, University of California, Berkeley, 2020
    BA in Statistics, University of California, Berkeley, 2020
    Research Topics
    Construction of endophenotype-incorporated polygenic risk score for clinical endpoints



    Lingbo Zhou

    MS student, Department of Biostatistics

    Education
    BS in Biotechnology, Soochow University, 2020
    Research Topics
    Training prediction models for expression levels and splicing quantifications



    Jiawen Du

    MS student, Department of Biostatistics

    Education
    BS in Biology Science, Wuhan University, 2021
    Research Topics
    Statistical methods for the analysis of multiplexed DNA FISH data



    Sean Conneely

    MD-PhD student, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

    Education
    BS in
    Research Topics
    Single cell and multi-omic analysis to better understand malaria transmission



    Yiyan Zhang

    PhD student, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

    Education
    MS in Computational Biology and Quantitative Genetics, Harvard University, 2023
    BS in Statistics (Focus: Biostatistics) and Mathematics, Pennsylvania State University, 2021
    Research Topics
    Spatial transcriptomics, construction of knowledge graph



    Muqing Zhou

    PhD student, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

    Education
    MS in Biomedical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 2022
    BS in Biology Technology, Wuhan University, 2020
    Research Topics
    Spatial transcriptomics, construction of knowledge graph



    Walter Chen

    PhD student, Department of Biostatistics

    Education
    MS in Biostatistics, University of Washington, 2023
    BA in Plant Protection, Zhejiang University, 2021
    BS in Entomology, Cornell University, 2021
    Research Topics
    Statistical methods for chromatin spatial organization



    Hongyu Yu

    PhD student, Department of Biostatistics, 2024-

    Education
    BS in Mathematics and Statistics, Minor in Computer Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2024
    Research Topics
    Statistical methods for the analysis of data from multiplexed DNA imaging technologies



    Xavier Loffree

    PhD student, Department of Biostatistics, 2024-

    Education
    BS in Mathematics, Biostatistics Major, University of Waterloo, 2024
    Research Topics
    Drug repurposing with multi-omics data



    Wenhao Zheng

    PhD student, Department of Computer Science, 2024-

    Education
    Master of Software Engineering, Zhejiang University, 2024
    Bachelor of Computer Science, Zhejiang University, 2021
    Research Topics
    Deep learning and AI methods for the analysis of multi-modality data



Alumni Members

    Eric Yi Liu

    Education
    PhD in Computer Science, 2013
    Bachelor of Computing (Honour) with Minor in Mathematics, National University of Singapore, 2005
    Research Topics
    Genotype imputation in admixed populations or with large reference;
    Design of sequencing-based studies for complex traits
    Current Position
    Research Scientist at Facebook
    Webpage


    Andrea Byrnes

    Education
    Ph.D. in Biostatistics, UNC-CH, 2013
    Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, University of Chicago, 2006
    Research Topics
    Analysis of rare genetic variants in both Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and massively parallel sequencing (MPS) based studies.
    Current Position
    Postdoctoral Fellow at the Broad Institute



    Elvis Kuan-Chieh Huang

    Education
    Ph.D. in Biostatistics, UNC-CH, 2015
    Masters of Science in Statistics, University of Michigan, 2010
    Research Topics
    Inference on phenotype-genotype association using imputed data;
    Indel calling from massively parallel sequencing data
    Current Position
    Sr. Biostatistician at Gilead Sciences, Inc.



    Joshua S. Martin

    Postdoctoral Fellow

    Education
    Ph.D in Theoretical Physics, Brandies University, 2008
    B.A. in Physics, College of Wooster, 2002
    Research Topics
    Method developement and analysis of Hi-C data.
    Created HUGIn for Hi-C data exploration.
    Current Position
    Bioinformatics Scientist at Omicsoft



    Song Yan, Ph.D.

    Postdoctoral Fellow

    Education
    Ph.D. in Statistics, North Carolina State University, 2011
    M.S. in Applied Mathematics, Zhejiang University, 2002
    B.E. in Information and Electronics Engineering, Zhejiang University, 1999
    Research Topics
    Genetic association analysis involving family or longitudinal data
    Analysis of sequencing-based association studies
    Current Position
    Data Scientist at Bing Ads, Microsoft



    Zheng Xu, Ph.D.

    Postdoctoral Fellow

    Education
    PhD in Statistics and Economics, Iowa State University, 2012
    MS in Applied Economics, Illinois State University, PA, 2005
    BS in Business Economics, Fudan University, Shanghai 2001
    Research Topics
    Chromatin Interaction Detection from Hi-C Data
    Imputation of Association Summary Statistics
    Analysis of Next Generation Sequencing Data
    Analysis of Methylation Data
    Current Position
    Faculty, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Wright State University



    Guosheng Zhang

    Education
    Ph.D. in Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, UNC-CH, 2016
    B.S. in Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Peking University, 2011
    Double Major in Computer Software, School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science, Peking University, 2011
    Research Topics
    Epigenomic genetics for hepato-cellular carcinoma
    Analysis of rare variants in admixed populations
    Current Position
    Software Engineer at Google



    Qing Duan

    Postdoctoral Fellow

    Education
    Ph.D. in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, UNC-CH, 2016
    MS in Statistics and Operations Research, UNC-CH, 2015
    MS in Biochemistry, Iowa State University, 2010
    BS in Biotechnology, Shandong University, 2007
    Research Topics
    Genotype Imputation, TWAS, Single-cell RNAseq
    Current Position
    Research Associate at University of Cincinnati



    Yimeng Tianyao

    Education
    MS in Statistics and Operations Research (STOR), UNC-CH, 2017
    BS in Information & Computing Science, Zhejiang University, 2015
    Research Topics
    Genotype imputation
    Current Position



    Zoey Ho

    Education
    MS in Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, 2020
    Research Topics
    Genotype imputation
    Single cell Hi-C
    Position in Li Lab
    Undergraduate research volunteer, 2017-2018
    Current Position
    PhD student in Applied Mathematics, Northwestern University



    Jun Yin

    Education
    BS in biotechnology, College of Life Science, Beijing Normal University, 2018
    Research Topics
    Genotype imputation
    Position in Li Lab
    summer undergraduate research volunteer, 2017
    Current Position
    Teaching Assistant, Columbia University



    Ruth Huh

    Education
    BS in Statistics, UCLA, 2011
    PhD in Biostatistics, UNC, 2019
    Research Topics
    Single-cell Ensemble Clustering
    Single-cell Hi-C; deconvolution of bulk Hi-C data
    Current Position
    Research Scientist - Statistics, Eli Lilly



    Madeline Kowalski

    Education
    MS in Biostatistics, UNC, 2019
    BA in Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Chicago, 2017
    Research Topics
    Whole Genome Sequencing based Imputation in Minority Populations
    Imputation-aided Genetic Association for Hematological Traits in Minority Populations
    Current Position
    MD/PhD Student, NYU



    Huijun Qian

    Education
    PhD in Statistics and Operations Research, UNC-CH, 2019
    MS in Applied Statistics, BGSU, 2014
    BS in Statistics with Minor in Finance, Zhejiang Gongshang University, 2012
    Research Topics
    Whole Genome Sequencing based Imputation in Minority Populations
    Imputation-aided Genetic Association for Hematological Traits in Minority Populations
    Current Position
    Sr Quantitative Analyst, Enterprise Risk Management, Exelon



    Wujuan Zhong

    PhD in Biostatistics (2019)

    Education
    BS in Mathematics, Sichuan University, 2014
    Research Topics
    Method developement for mediation analysis
    Current Position
    Senior scientist in Merck BARDS



    Yuchen Yang

    Postdoctoral Fellow (2017-2020)

    Education
    Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Sun Yat-Sen University, 2016
    B.S. in Biotechnology, Sun Yat-Sen University, 2011
    Research Topics
    Clustering for single-cell RNA sequencing
    Batch effect correction for single-cell RNA sequencing
    Method developement and analysis of Hi-C data
    Current Position
    Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UNC-CH



    Eric Van Buren

    PhD student, Biostatistics (2015-2020)

    Education
    MS Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2015
    BS in Economics, Mathematics, The Honors College at Arizona State University, 2013
    Research Topics
    Statistical association testing for single cell RNA-Seq data
    Webpage
    Current Position
    Postdoctoral Fellow, Xihong Lin Lab, Harvard University



    Ai Ye

    PhD student, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience (2018-2020)

    Education
    MA in Social Research Methodology, UCLA, 2013
    BS in Engineering, Wuhan University, 2012
    Research Topics
    Epigenetic studies for infections and immunity
    Epigenetic studies of the interplay between maternal stressors, child adversity and adult traumas
    Current Position
    Statistical Consultant and Software Developer, RTI International



    Cheynna Crowley

    DrPH student, Biostatistics (2015-2020)

    Education
    BS in Mathematics and Public Health, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2015
    Research Topics
    Integrative analysis of Hi-C data
    analysis of multiple brain Hi-C datasets
    Current Position
    Principal Statistician, GlaxoSmithKline in Waltham, MA



    Taylor Lagler

    PhD in Biostatistics (2015-2021)

    Education
    BS in Mathematics, Millersville University, PA, 2016
    Research Topics
    Characterizing 3D chromatin interations
    Current Position
    Statistician at The Lubrizol Corporation



    Yue(Annie) Shan

    PhD in Biostatistics (2016-2021)

    Education
    M.S. in Biostatistics,UNC-CH, 2016
    BSPH in Biostatistics and Mathematics, UNC-CH, 2014
    Research Topics
    Imaging genetics
    Transcriptome-wide association studies
    Meta-analysis



    Gang (Frank) Li

    PhD in INSTORE (Interdisciplinary Statistics and Operations Research) (2017-2021)

    Education
    MS in Statistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2017
    BS in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, Beijing University of Posts & Telecommunications, 2016
    Research Topics
    Method developement and analysis of DNA methylation data
    Batch effect correction for single-cell RNA sequencing
    Deep learning methods to enhance resolution of HiChIP/PLAC-Seq chromatin 3D organization data
    SV calling from whole genome sequencing data
    Current Position
    Postdoctoral Fellow, the Noble Research Lab, University of Washington



    Amanda Tapia

    DrPh in Biostatistics (2015-2021)

    Education
    MS in Biostatistics, UNC-CH, 2015
    BA in Spanish, minor in Mathematics and Neuroscience, Regis University, 2009
    Research Topics
    TWAS for blood cell traits
    Multi-omic dissection of complex traits



    Zhentao Yu

    MS student, Department of Biostatistics

    Education
    BS in Mathematical Sciences, Binghamton University, 2019
    Research Topics
    Spatial Transcriptomics
    Current Position
    PhD student, Department of Biostatistics



    Yingxi Kaylee Yang

    Visiting undergraduate student, Harvard University

    Education
    BS in Logic, Sun Yat-Sen University, 2020
    BS in Statistics (Dual Degree), 2021 anticipated
    Research Topics
    Region-based association analysis for whole genome sequencing data
    Machine learning based method to better calibrate imputation quality metric
    Current Position
    PhD student, Yale University



    Ben Bodek

    PhD student, Department of Biostatistics

    Education
    BS in Mathematics Sciences, Clemson University, 2016
    Research Topics
    Multi-omics dissection of neuropsychiatric diseases
    Allelic specific study of quantitative sequencing data



    Chanhwa Lee

    PhD student, Department of Biostatistics

    Education
    BS in Statistics, Minor in Mathematical Sciences, Seoul National University, 2020
    Research Topics
    TWAS/MWAS/PWAS
    Detection and analysis of structural variants



    Jon Rosen

    PhD in Biostatistics, 2021

    Education
    MS in Statistics(Actuarial Science), University of Iowa, 2011
    BS in Medicinal Chemistry, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1996
    Research Topics
    Transcriptome-wide association studies
    genotype imputation
    Reproducibility metrics for HiChIP/PLAC-Seq chromatin 3D organization data



    Laura Raffield

    Education
    Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Genomics, Wake Forest University, 2015
    Research Topics
    Genetics of blood cell, inflammation, and hemostasis traits, with a focus on African American and Hispanic/Latino populations
    Integrate analysis of proteomics and metabolomics data with genetic data
    Generation of new multi-omics data resources in African American and Hispanic/Latino populations
    Current Position
    Assistant Professor, Genetics, UNC-CH



    Bryce Rowland

    PhD student, Biostatistics, 2017-2022

    Education
    BS in Mathematics, Centre College, 2017
    Research Topics
    Training of gene expression prediction models in multi-ethnic eQTL datasets
    Extending summary statitsic-based approaches relying on LD reference panels to admixed populations
    Method developement and analysis of single cell Hi-C data
    Current Position
    Senior Research Scientist, the Collaborative Studies Coordinating Center, UNC-CH



    Ying Alice Sun

    Undergraduate student

    Education
    BS in Quantitative Biology, Biostatistics, Minor in Mathematics, UNC-CH, 2018-2022
    Research Topics
    Chromatin spatial organization study by jointly modeling imaging and sequencing data
    Current Position
    MS in Biomedical Informatics, Stanford University



    Weifang Liu

    PhD student, Department of Biostatistics, 2018-2023

    Education
    BA in Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Economics, Macalester College, 2018
    Research Topics
    Hierarchical hidden Markov random field model for multi-tissue Hi-C data
    Methods for fine mapping of complex human traits
    Association of SVs with hematological traits
    Current Position
    Biostatistician II, Foundation Medicine



    Minzhi Jiang

    Postdoctoral Fellow, 2023

    Education
    PhD in Applied Physical Sciences, UNC-CH, 2022
    MS in Physics, New York University, 2016
    BS in Physics, Nanjing University, 2012
    Research Topics
    Integrative multi-omic analysis via canonical correlation analysis (CCA)
    Deep learning methods for 3D chromatin organization data
    SV calling from whole genome sequencing data
    Association of SV with hematological traits
    Current Position
    Postdoctoral Fellow, Johns Hopkins University



    Tianyou Luo

    PhD student, Department of Biostatistics, 2018-2023

    Education
    BS in Chemistry, BS in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics (Double Major), Peking University, 2018
    Research Topics
    GAN based models
    Spatial Transcriptomics
    Multi-omics analysis based on canonical correlation analysis
    Current Position
    Machine Learning Scientist, Tempus Labs



    Xiaoqi Li

    PhD student, Carolina Health Informatics Program, 2020-2023

    Education
    BS in Applied Mathematics, Engineering, and Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2020
    Double Major in Computer Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2020
    Research Topics
    Leveraging GPU for efficient analysis of single cell Hi-C data
    Polygenic Risk Score



    Laura Zhou

    Postdoctoral Fellow, 2022-2023

    Education
    PhD in Biostatistics, UNC-CH, 2022
    MS in Biostatistics, UNC-CH, 2016
    BSPH in Biostatistics, double major in Mathematics, minor in English, UNC-CH, 2014
    Research Topics
    Method development for constructing polygenic risk scores in diverse populations
    Current Position
    Assistant Professor, Department of Biostatistics and Health Data Science, Indiana University School of Medicine



    Sarah O'Brien

    BSPH student, Department of Biostatistics, 2023

    Research Topics
    Multi-omics associations with psychosocial measures among African Americans from the Jackson Heart Study



    Dinelka Nanayakkara

    MS student, Department of Biostatistics, 2021-2023

    Education
    BS in Mathematics and Economics, University of London, 2020
    Research Topics
    Polygenic risk score in admixed populations
    Analysis of chromatin spatial organization data



    Ruyue Zhang

    Postdoctoral Fellow

    Education
    PhD in Medical Science, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, 2022
    MPH in Epidemiology, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, 2017
    BS in Biological Sciences, Fudan University, 2015
    Research Topics
    Improving Polygenic Prediction for Psychiatric Disorders for Clinical Use



    Quan Sun

    PhD student, Department of Biostatistics

    Education
    BS in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, Zhejiang University, 2019
    Research Topics
    Whole Genome Sequencing Study of cystic fibrosis
    Genotype imputation
    Polygenic risk score for admixed populations
    GWAS for serum biomarkers
    Current Position
    Assistant Professor, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia



    Le Huang

    PhD student, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

    Education
    BS in Computer Science and Technology, Central China Normal University, 2016
    MS in Computer Science and Technology, Nankai University, 2019
    Research Topics
    Deep learning methods for enhancement of PLAC-Seq and HiChIP data
    Functional annotations of non-coding genetic variants
    Current Position
    HealthCare AI scientist, GE



    Shuai Huang

    PhD student, Department of Biostatistics

    Education
    MS in Biostatistics, UNC-CH, 2022
    BS in Agronomy, Zhejiang University, 2020
    Research Topics
    multi-omics analysis for CVD in CKD



    Amar Marthi

    PhD student, Department of Epidemiology

    Education
    MPH in Quantitative Methods, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 2016
    MBBCh (with Distinction) in Natural Sciences (Zoology), University of Cambridge, 2013
    BA (hons) in Natural Sciences (Zoology), University of Cambridge, 2010
    Research Topics
    Polygenic Risk Score for CVD Events