What do you consider your hometown and how has it shaped you today?
I was born and raised in Shanghai, China. It is a lively, global city where tradition meets innovation. Growing up in such an energetic city sparked my curiosity.
The city inspired me to dream big and stay open to new opportunities, while its focus on education and innovation motivated me to pursue continuous learning and personal growth with a practical and grounded mindset.
What did you study before coming to Dartmouth?
I did my undergraduate in human biology at UC San Diego, and the master of public health in the epidemiology track at Brown University.
What graduate program are you currently in, and what excites you most about it?
I am currently a 2nd year PhD candidate in quantitative biomedical sciences (QBS). What excites me most about QBS is that it is an integrative and interdisciplinary program, combining data science and biomedical research.
The program gives me the chance to develop and apply advanced quantitative tools to solve actual health problems, collaborate with amazing experts from different fields, and be part of research that truly makes a difference. Honestly, it feels great to be part of something that combines my passion for data with the goal of improving people's lives.
Why did you choose Dartmouth to pursue your degree?
I chose Dartmouth because it has a really close-knit community where both the faculty and peers genuinely care about each other. The professors are super supportive.
Plus, the collaborative vibe among students means I am surrounded by people who are just as motivated and supportive, making it a great place to grow both academically and personally.
What is your area of research and what inspired your research?
I am a member of Dr. Li Song's lab. I am really interested in computational immunology, especially using genomic big data to help design precision treatments.
During my two-year working experience in the pharmaceutical industry, I observed the challenges and gaps between wet-lab discoveries and their translation into effective clinical applications. That made me want to find ways to bridge that gap by creating computational tools that bring together all kinds of complex genomic data and speed up the process of developing precision and/or personalized therapies.
Additionally, my advisor, Dr. Li Song, inspires me with his innovative integration of computational methods and immunology, as well as his dedication to translating research into real-world clinical applications. I have gained valuable insights into immunotherapy and have been encouraged to think creatively about solving complex problems.
I hope my work can lead to better, more targeted treatments that make a real difference for patients.
Your presentation, "Genotyping CFTR with next-generation sequencing data using T1K" recently won the Best Talk Award at the Great Lake Bioinformatics (GLBIO) conference. Can you tell us more about your presentation and what the recognition means to you?
My presentation focused on adapting the T1K, a bioinformatics tool for genotyping HLA and KIR genes, developed by our lab, to analyze RNA and DNA sequencing data for the CFTR genotyping. We developed a method to generate the reference allele database for T1K by systematically inducing mutations for each CFTR variant given their variant names curated in the CFTR2 database.
We also combined variants into more complex allele sets in the reference to genotype the allele with more than one variant, and it was successfully proven in the validation. CFTR gene variants are directly relevant to the disease cystic fibrosis, and we hope this new approach will facilitate cystic fibrosis precision medicine development.
Winning the award was a huge honor. The award motivates me to keep pushing forward in my research and continue contributing to advancements in precision medicine.
What is your favorite place or activity that you like best in the Hanover area?
One of my favorite things to do in the Hanover area is visiting the little charming coffee shops. These places are so cozy that makes them perfect for relaxing, getting some work done, or catching up with friends.
