About me
I am currently a Ph.D. candidate in Biostatistics in the Department of Biostatistics at Vanderbilt University, advised by Dr. Simon Vandekar.
My research focuses on developing and applying a universally applicable effect size reporting framework, aiming to facilitate the result communication between studies using different effect size indices. Recently, utilizing our proposed effect size reporting framework, we are engaged in methodological work to help address the growing concerns about low replicability in brain-behavior association studies. In addition, I have been participating in the development of statistical models to characterize the overall disease progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) using the “fragmentary” data commonly seen in AD studies such as ADNI and NACC.
I have been very fortunate to work with many amazing researchers. My collaboration interests span various fields, including psychiatry, geriatric medicine, neuroimaging, and health equity.
Beyond my work, I also enjoy playing Kendo (剑道, a kind of Japanese martial art), hiking, fishing and photography. I currently hold a black belt (1-Dan) in Kendo and am an active member of the Nashville Kendo Club. I have been actively participating in many regional and national Kendo tournaments, including 2023 All-US Kendo Championships.
Recent News
[Jan 2024] I will present my work on the detrimental longitudinal design in ABCD at the ABCD Insights & Innovation Meeting (AIIM) held at NIH from Mar 3-4, 2024. Come and talk with me if you are there as well and interested in my work!
[Jan 2024] My paper published in Psychometrika last year was highlighted as the top 5 most downloaded papers from the journal in 2023!
[Oct 2023] 3rd place at Midwest Kendo tournament, St. Louis, MO.
I participated in the 2023 Midwest Kendo tournament in St. Louis, MO from Oct 7-8, 2023, and won the 3rd place in mudansha (无段者, people below black-belt rank) division. I also passed the promotional test held on the next day and was promoted to Sho-dan (the entry-level black-belt rank) in Kendo!
[Oct 2023] New paper!
My collaboration paper in the field of health equity, Differences in Health Professionals’ Engagement With Electronic Health Records Based on Inpatient Race and Ethnicity, has been accepted at JAMA Network Open!
[Aug 2023] Contributed talk at JSM, Toronto, Canada.
I attended and presented my work on Study design features that improve the effect sizes in brain-wide association studies at the Joint Statistical Meeting (JSM) 2023.
[Jul 2023] 3rd place at All US National Kendo Championships, Rochester, MI.
I was selected to the Southeast team to compete for National Champions at the All-US Kendo Championships – the highest-level Kendo tournament in the US. We won 3rd place representing the Mudansha team from the southeastern region! This achievement is the result of the hard work and sweat of every team member!
[Jun 2023] Student paper award at NESS, Boston, MA.
I presented my work on Alzheimer’s disease progression modeling in the student paper competition session at the 36th New England Statistics Symposium (NESS), and won the NESS Studet Paper Award!
[May 2023] Invited talk at SMI 2023, Minneapolis, MN.
I gave an invited talk about my work on Study design features that improve the effect sizes in brain-wide association studies in the session “Collaborative Case Study: Statistical Methods and Findings from Large Consortia Studies” at the Statistical Methods in Imaging (SMI 2023) Conference.
[May 2023] New preprint!
This work is the 2nd and 3rd chapters of my dissertation work!
Study design features that improve effect sizes in cross-sectional and longitudinal brain-wide association studies
[Mar 2023] Blitz talk at the 4th Annual Vanderbilt Alzheimer’s Disease Research Day, Nashville, TN.
I gave a blitz talk and poster presentation about my work on Alzheimer’s disease progression modeling at the 4th Annual Vanderbilt Alzheimer’s Disease Research Day held by Vanderbilt Memory & Alzheimer’s Center, and was awarded as the Best Blitz Talk of the year.
[Mar 2023] Contributed talk at ENAR, Nashville, TN.
I presented my work on Study design features that improve the effect sizes in brain-wide association studies at the ENAR 2023.