Mingyao Li
Affiliation:University of Pennsylvania, USA
Technical Title:Professor
Dr. Li received her PhD in Biostatistics from the University of Michigan in 2005. She was trained as a statistical geneticist, but since she joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania in 2006, she has gradually transitioned her research from traditional statistical genetics to statistical genomics with the goal of having a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanism of human disease. The central theme of her current research is to use statistical and machine learning methods to understand cellular heterogeneity in human-disease-relevant tissues, to characterize gene expression diversity across cell types, to study the patterns of cell state transition and crosstalk of various cells using data generated from single-cell and spatial transcriptomics studies, and to translate these findings into clinics. More recently, she expanded her expertise into computational pathology, which is critical when processing and analyzing spatial transcriptomics data. In addition to methods development, she is also interested in collaborating with researchers seeking to identify complex disease susceptibility genes and acting cell types. At UPenn, she serves as the Director of the Statistical Center for Single-Cell and Spatial Genomics. She also chairs the Graduate Program in Biostatistics. She is an elected member of the International Statistical Institute, a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.