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Lab Members
Faculty
Li Shen, PhD, FAIMBE

Professor of Informatics / Interim Director, Division of Informatics
li.shen@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
215-573-2956
Dr. Li Shen is Professor and Interim Director of Division of Informatics in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics at the Perelman School of Medicine in the University of Pennsylvania. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from Dartmouth College. His research interests include medical image computing, biomedical informatics, machine learning, network science, imaging genomics, multi-omics and systems biology, Alzheimer’s disease, and big data science in biomedicine.
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Senior Data Analysts
Ari Z. Klein, PhD

Senior Data Analyst, co-mentored by G Gonzalez-Hernandez and L Shen
ariklein@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Dr. Ari Z. Klein is a Senior Data Analyst in the Division of Informatics in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics at the University of Pennsylvania. He obtained his Ph.D. in Rhetoric from Carnegie Mellon University and his postdoctoral training from the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests are at the intersection of natural language processing, social media mining, corpus linguistics, and health informatics.
Senior Data Analysts
Karen O'Connor, MS

Senior Data Analyst, co-mentored by G Gonzalez-Hernandez and L Shen
karoc@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Ms. Karen O'Connor is a Senior Data Analyst in the Division of Informatics in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics at the University of Pennsylvania. She obtained her M.S. degree in Biomedical Informatics from Arizona State University. Her research interests are at the intersection of natural language processing, social media mining, and health informatics.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Sumita Garai, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow
Sumita.Garai@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Dr. Sumita Garai obtained her Ph.D. degree in Mathematics with a specialization in Algebraic Number Theory from the Penn State University. Her research interests include applied mathematics, machine learning, and biomedical data science.
Bojian Hou, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow
Bojian.Hou@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Dr. Bojian Hou obtained his Ph.D. degree in Computer Science and Technology at Nanjing University. His research interests include machine learning with feature evolvable streams, interpretability study for deep learning models, semi-supervised learning, natural language processing, medical image analysis, and survival analysis.
Daniele Pala, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow
Daniele.Pala@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Dr. Daniele Pala obtained his Ph.D. degree in Technologies for Health, Bioengineering and Bioinformatics at the University of Pavia, Italy. His research interests include machine learning, biomedical data science and bioinformatics
Davoud Ataee Tarzanagh, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, co-mentored by L Shen and Q Long
Davoud.AtaeeTarzanagh@Pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Dr. Davoud Ataee Tarzanagh is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the DBEI, hosted by Profs. Li Shen and Qi Long. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of EECS at the University of Michigan, hosted by Prof. Laura Balzano. He received his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Florida in 2020 under the supervision of Profs. William Ward Hager and George Michailidis. His research interests include Optimization for Machine Learning, High Dimensional and Network Data Analysis, Fairness in Machine Learning, and Tensor Analysis.
Shu Yang, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow
Shu.Yang@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Dr. Shu Yang obtained his Ph.D. degree in Computer Science at the University of British Columbia. His research interests include computational biology, bioinformatics algorithm, data mining, and machine learning.
PhD Students
Jingxuan Bao, BS, MA

PhD Student
Jingxuan.Bao@Pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Jingxuan Bao is a PhD student in Genomics and Computational Biology at Penn. He received his MA degree in Applied Mathematics and Computational Science from University of Pennsylvania. His research interests include machine learning, applied mathematics, imaging genomics, biomedical data science.
Jenna Ballard, BS

PhD Student (Rotation in Fall 2022)
Jenna.Ballard@Pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Jenna Ballard is a PhD student in Genomics and Computational Biology at Penn. She received her BS degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University. Her research interests include developing machine learning methods to extract predictive insights from imaging data in conjunction with multi-omics and clinical data to enable more precise and effective medical diagnosis and treatment.
Boning Tong, BS, MS

PhD Student
boningt@seas.upenn.edu
Boning Tong is a PhD student in Bioengineering at Penn. She received her ME degree from the same program. She joined the Shen lab in January, 2021. She is interested in applying machine learning method to detect Alzheimer’s disease using multimodal brain imaging data.
Zixuan Wen, BS, MA

PhD Student
Zixuan.Wen@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Zixuan Wen is a PhD student in Applied Mathematics and Computational Science at PhD. She received her MA degree from the same program. Her research interests include applied mathematics, machine learning, and biomedical data science.
Frederick Xu, BS

PhD Student
fredxu@seas.upenn.edu
Frederick Xu is a PhD student in Bioengineering at Penn. He received his BS degree from the Johns Hopkins University with major in Biomedical Engineering and minor in Computer Science and Math. His research interests include medical image computing, machine learning, biomedical engineering, and biomedical data science.
Qipeng Zhan, BS, MS

PhD Student
qipengz@sas.upenn.edu
Qipeng Zhan is a PhD student in Applied Mathematics and Computational Science at Penn. He received his MS degree in Applied Mathematics from ETH Zürich. His research interests include applied mathematics, deep learning and related statistical and computational problems.
Master's Students
Aaron Chacko, BS

Master's Student
Aaron.Chacko@uphs.upenn.edu
Aaron is a Biomedical Informatics student who is passionate about the intersection of medicine and technology. He received his BS degree in Biology and Public Health from Temple University. His research interests include machine learning, precision medicine, and data mining.
Jiong Chen, BS

Master's Student
jiongc@seas.upenn.edu
Jiong Chen is a Master’s student in Bioengineering at Penn. He received his BS degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin Madison. His research interests include genomics, neuroimaging, and cytometric analysis.
Yanbo Feng, BS

Master's Student
yanbof@seas.upenn.edu
Yanbo Feng is an MS student in Bioengineering at Penn. He received his BS degree in Biomedical Engineering and Neurobiology from University of Wisconsin Madison. He joined the Shen lab in November, 2021. He is interested in machine learning, deep learning, and brain-computer-interface.
Brian Lee, BA

Master Student
leebn@sas.upenn.edu
Brian Lee is a master’s student in the Bioengineering program. He received his BS degree from the Biology department at Penn. He was a CASURG scholar in 2020. He is broadly interested in using computational techniques to make sense of biological/biomedical data; currently, he studies multi-omics and genetic data to better understand biological contributors to Alzheimer’s disease.
Yamei Lu, BA, MS

Post Master Research Assistant
luyamei@upenn.edu
Yamei Lu is a research assistant in the Shen lab. She received her MS degree in the Data Analytics Master of Science in Social Policy program in the School of Social Policy & Practice from Penn. She is interested in applying machine learning and big data techniques to real-world biomedicine problems.
Yinfeng Lu, BA

Master's Student
luyf@sas.upenn.edu
Yinfeng Lu is a master's student in pure mathematics at Penn. He received his BA degrees in mathematics and physics from UC Berkeley in May 2021. His research interests include machine learning, deep learning, and their applications in medical image analysis.
Shizhuo Mu, BS

Master's Student
shizhuo@seas.upenn.edu
Shizhuo Mu is an MS student in Bioengineering at Penn. She received her BS degree in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Fudan University. She joined the Shen lab in August, 2022. She is interested in biomedical engineering, biomedical data science and biomedical modeling.
Jiahang Sha, BS, MA

Post Master Research Assistant
jhsha@sas.upenn.edu
Jiahang Sha is a research assistant in the Shen Lab. He received his MA degree in Applied Mathematics and Computational Science from Penn, and his BS degree in Mathematics – Computer Science from UCSD. His research interests include applied mathematics, machine learning, and biomedical computing.
Xinkai Wang, BS

Master's Student
wxinkai@sas.upenn.edu
Xinkai Wang is a master's student in Applied Mathematics and Computational Science at Penn. He received his BS degree in Mathematics, Computer Science, Cognitive Science and Machine learning from UCSD. He joined the Shen lab in February, 2022. He is interested in computer science, machine learning, cognitive science, and biomedical data science.
Zexuan Wang, BS

Master's Student
zxwang@sas.upenn.edu
Zexuan Wang is a master's student in Applied Mathematics and Computational Science at Penn. He graduated from the University of Virginia in May 2021 after studying Mathematics and Physics. He is interested in the intersection of statistical methods and machine learning.
Tianyi Wei, BS

Master's Student
tywei@seas.upenn.edu
Tianyi Wei is a Master's student in Data Science at Penn Engineering. She received her BS in Mathematics from the University of Minnesota. She is interested in machine learning strategies for Alzheimer's disease research.
Ruiming Ray Wu, BS

Undergraduate Student with Accelerated Master's Status
wuru@seas.upenn.edu
Ray is a master’s student in the Data Science program and undergraduate in the Bioengineering and Computer and Information Science programs at Penn. His research interests include machine learning, network analysis, and brain interface.
Yuezhi Xie, BA

Master's Student
debxie@upenn.edu
Yuezhi is an MS student of Social Policy and Data Analytics in the School of Social Policy & Practice. She received her BA degree in Literature and Economics from Hamilton College. Her interest lies in the area of machine learning, data ethics, and big data analytics.
Jia Xu, BS

Master's Student
jiaxu7@upenn.edu
Jia Xu is a master's student in the Data Analytics Master of Science in Social Policy program in the School of Social Policy & Practice. She is passionate about applying machine learning and big data science in biomedicine. Her research interests include machine learning, data mining, and biomedical data science.
Wenxi Yang, BS

Master's Student
ywenxi@sas.upenn.edu
Wenxi Yang is a master student in Applied Mathematics and Computational Science at Penn. His interests include theoretical analysis and applications Machine Learning and Optimization Methods.
Yuqin Zhang, BS

Master's Student
yuqinz@seas.upenn.edu
Yuqin Zhang is an MSE student in Data Science at Penn. She received her BS degree in Applied Mathematics from UCLA. She is interested in data mining, machine learning, and biomedical data science.
Zhuoping Zhou, BS, MA

Post Master Research Assistant
zhuopinz@sas.upenn.edu
Zhouping Zhou is a research assistant in the Shen lab. She received her MA degree in Applied Mathematics and Computational Science from Penn, and her BS degree in Mathematics from UC Irvine. Her research interests include applied mathematics, machine learning and deep learning.
Undergraduate Students
Justin Dong

Undergraduate Student
Justin is a Biochemistry student at Penn, and in the Vagelos program. He is interested in machine learning, brain imaging genomics, drug study, and Alzheimer's research.
Daniel Rohacs

Undergraduate Student
Daniel is an undergraduate studying Computer and Information Science at Penn. He is interested in applying machine learning and data science to genetics and Alzheimer’s research.
Amanda Lee

Undergraduate Student
Amanda is a Biology and CIS student at Penn. She is interested in the utilization of machine learning in healthcare.
Isabel Lopez

Undergraduate Student
Isabel Lopez is a Neurobiology major and Computer Science minor at Georgetown University. She is an SUIP scholar at Penn. She is interested in how machine learning and big data analysis can advance treatments for neurodisorders.
Jeffrey Qu

Undergraduate Student
Jeffrey is currently studying Computer and Information Science at Penn. He joined the Shen Lab as part of the PURM program in May 2020. He is interested in applying machine learning for outcome prediction within healthcare.
ALUMNI (Recent since 2023)
Joseph D. Romano, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow (11/2021-12/2022)
Joseph.Romano@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Dr. Joe Romano is an Assistant Professor of Informatics at the University of Pennsylvania. He was a postdoctoral researcher in Penn's Institute for Biomedical Informatics and Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology. His research focuses on using translational bioinformatics and artificial intelligence to make new discoveries in toxicology and systems pharmacology.
Duy Duong-Tran, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow (07/2022-01/2023)
duyanh.duong-tran@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Dr. Duy Duong-Tran is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics at The United States Naval Academy. He obtained his Ph.D. in Computational Neuroscience in the School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University. His research interest is in the intersection of applied mathematics and computational neuroscience. During his Ph.D., he was the recipient of Ross Doctorate Research Fellowship, Magoon Teaching Excellence Award, and Bilsland Dissertation Fellowship.