People
The Zhao research group at Yale. We welcome motivated postdoctoral researchers, PhD students, and research assistants who share an interest in statistics, AI, machine learning, and data science.
Principal investigator
Postdoctoral fellows
Shengxian (Naomi) Ding ↗
Since September 2024
Bayesian methodology, scalable computation, and structured biomedical data.
Pangpang Liu ↗
Since September 2025
Trustworthy AI, reinforcement learning, and large language models for biomedical analysis.
Luyang Fang ↗
Postdoctoral Associate
Since June 2026
Statistical machine learning, large language models, and electronic health records.
Email ↗
Yang Long ↗
Postdoctoral Associate
Since August 2026
Trustworthy AI, robust inference, and functional data analysis for imaging.
Email ↗
Jae Chang ↗
Postdoctoral Associate
Since August 2026
Transfer and federated learning, network modeling, and high-dimensional inference.
Email ↗
Fangyi Wang ↗
Postdoctoral Associate
Since August 2026
Functional and shape data analysis, conformal prediction, and Bayesian methods.
Email ↗
Xiaohui Yin
Postdoctoral Associate
Since September 2026
PhD students
Yuanshuang Guo
PhD student in Biostatistics
Yale University
Previously Research Assistant · MS in Biostatistics, Yale, 2023–2025
Email ↗
Yifei Zhang ↗
PhD student in Biostatistics
Yale University
Diffusion models, high-dimensional inference, and brain connectomics.
Email ↗
Xinyuan Tian ↗
PhD candidate in Biostatistics
Previously Research Assistant · MS in Biostatistics, Yale, 2020–2022
Bayesian inference, deep learning, and imaging genetics.
Email ↗Research assistants
Huizhu Jia
Research Assistant
Biostatistics, Yale University
Ruoyun Li
Research Assistant
Health Informatics, Yale University
Alumni
Zhiling Gu ↗
Tenure-track Assistant Professor of Statistics, University of South Carolina
Postdoctoral Associate, 2024–2026
Simiao Gao ↗
Tenure-track Assistant Professor, Augusta University
Postdoctoral Associate, 2023–2026
Anton Orlichenko ↗
Tutor at CCAC and Freelance Developer
Postdoctoral Fellow, March 2025–March 2026
Selena Wang ↗
Tenure-track Assistant Professor of Biostatistics and Health Data Science, Indiana University
Postdoctoral Fellow, 2022–2024
Wanwan Xu ↗
Data Scientist, 23andMe
Postdoctoral Associate, 2021–2023
Tianqi Chen
Data Scientist, Uber
PhD student in Biostatistics, 2019–2024 · Co-advised with Hongyu Zhao
Emily Johns ↗
PhD student in Computational Biology and Biomedical Informatics, Yale University
Former PhD rotation student
Yumeng Yan
PhD student in Biomathematics, UCLA
Research Assistant, 2024–2026
Eric Gao
Data Scientist, Polymer Capital Management
Research Assistant, 2025–2026
Xinzhi Zhang ↗
PhD student in Biostatistics, University of Cambridge
Research Assistant, 2023–2025
Chenxi Li ↗
PhD student in Biostatistics, Duke University
Research Assistant, 2022–2024
Baijia Xu ↗
PhD student in Biostatistics, Emory University
Research Assistant, 2022–2024
Yunhe Liu ↗
PhD student in Statistics, Texas A&M University
Research Assistant, 2022–2024
Yiting Wang
PhD student in Statistics, University of Virginia
Research Assistant, 2020–2022
Chichun Tan ↗
PhD student in Biostatistics, Brown University
Research Assistant, 2020–2022
Jiachen Cai
PhD student in Health Data Science, University of Oxford
Research Assistant, 2019–2021
Jingwen Zhang ↗
PhD student in Biostatistics, Boston University
Research Assistant, 2019–2020