Trans-regulatory gene mapping prioritizes disease drivers in asthma
Salamone, I. M., Tian, P.*, Qi, Z., et al. (2026). "Trans-regulatory gene mapping prioritizes disease drivers in asthma." Cell.
Curriculum Vitae
Academic Appointment
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Teaching Fellow
Department of Applied Mathematics
Hong Kong SAR | Present
Education
The University of Hong Kong
Ph.D. in Statistics and Actuarial Science
Hong Kong SAR | 2020–2024
Supervisors: Dr. Yan Dora Zhang and Dr. Zhonghua Liu
University of Michigan
M.S. in Applied Statistics
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA | 2018–2020
Wuhan University
B.S. in Applied Mathematics
Wuhan, China | 2014–2018
Research Interests
- Statistical genetics and genomics
- High-dimensional statistical inference
- Causal inference and mediation analysis
- Polygenic risk prediction
- Transcriptome-wide association studies
- Machine learning for longitudinal electronic health records
- Biomedical and clinical data science
Professional Experience
The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University
Statistician
Kunming, China | 2025–2026
- Developed and maintained statistical and machine learning pipelines for large-scale electronic health record data.
- Conducted clinical data quality monitoring and harmonization of longitudinal outpatient and inpatient records.
- Developed statistical learning models for patient care trajectories and clinical risk prediction.
- Worked on cross-modal representation learning using diagnoses, prescriptions, laboratory tests, and other structured clinical information.
- Supervised graduate and undergraduate students in clinical data science projects, including data preprocessing, statistical modeling, validation, and manuscript preparation.
Publications
* Indicates equal contribution as first author.
CoxMDS: multiple data splitting for high-dimensional mediation analysis with survival outcomes in epigenome-wide studies
Yao, M., Tian, P.*, Li, X., et al. (2026). "CoxMDS: multiple data splitting for high-dimensional mediation analysis with survival outcomes in epigenome-wide studies." Briefings in Bioinformatics, 27(1), bbaf730.
TWAS-GKF: a novel method for causal gene identification in transcriptome-wide association studies with knockoff inference
Wang, A., Tian, P.*, Zhang, Y. D. (2024). "TWAS-GKF: a novel method for causal gene identification in transcriptome-wide association studies with knockoff inference." Bioinformatics, 40(8), btae502.
Genome-wide cross-trait analysis and Mendelian randomization reveal a shared genetic etiology and causality between COVID-19 and venous thromboembolism
Huang, X., Yao, M., Tian, P., et al. (2023). "Genome-wide cross-trait analysis and Mendelian randomization reveal a shared genetic etiology and causality between COVID-19 and venous thromboembolism." Communications Biology, 6, 441.
Grace-AKO: a novel and stable knockoff filter for variable selection incorporating gene network structures
Tian, P., Hu, Y., Liu, Z., Zhang, Y. D. (2022). "Grace-AKO: a novel and stable knockoff filter for variable selection incorporating gene network structures." BMC Bioinformatics, 23, 478.
CoxMKF: a knockoff filter for high-dimensional mediation analysis with a survival outcome in epigenetic studies
Tian, P.*, Yao, M.*, Huang, T., Liu, Z. (2022). "CoxMKF: a knockoff filter for high-dimensional mediation analysis with a survival outcome in epigenetic studies." Bioinformatics, 38(23), 5229–5235.
Multiethnic polygenic risk prediction in diverse populations through transfer learning
Tian, P., Chan, T. H., Wang, Y.-F., Yang, W., Yin, G., Zhang, Y. D. (2022). "Multiethnic polygenic risk prediction in diverse populations through transfer learning." Frontiers in Genetics, 13, 906965.
Teaching Experience
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Teaching Fellow
Department of Applied Mathematics
Hong Kong SAR | Present
The University of Hong Kong
Undergraduate Tutor
Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science
- STAT 1600 — Statistics: Ideas and Concepts, 2020
- STAT 3901 — Life Contingencies, 2021
- STAT 1600 — Statistics: Ideas and Concepts, 2021
- STAT 1005 — Essential Skills for Undergraduates: Foundations of Data Science, 2022
- STAT 3600 — Linear Statistical Analysis, 2022
- STAT 1600 — Statistics: Ideas and Concepts, 2023
- STAT 3621 — Statistical Data Analysis, 2024
Research Experience and Methodological Expertise
Statistical Genetics and Genomics
Research on statistical methods for genetic and genomic studies, including trans-regulatory gene mapping, transcriptome-wide association studies, polygenic risk prediction, and disease-gene prioritization.
High-dimensional Statistical Inference
Development of statistical methods for variable selection and false discovery rate control in high-dimensional settings, including knockoff-based inference, structured variable selection, and multiple data splitting.
Causal Inference and Mediation Analysis
Development of methods for high-dimensional mediation analysis, particularly for survival outcomes and epigenomic studies.
Biomedical and Clinical Data Science
Application of statistical learning and machine learning to longitudinal electronic health records, clinical risk prediction, patient trajectory modeling, and cross-modal biomedical data integration.
Technical Skills
Programming: R, Python, SQL, Linux, PyTorch
Statistical Methods:
High-dimensional inference, variable selection, knockoff methods, mediation analysis, survival analysis, causal inference, transfer learning, statistical genetics
Biomedical Data:
UK Biobank, TCGA, GTEx, ADNI, electronic health records
Languages:
English, Mandarin
Awards
- Excellent Research Award, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, The University of Hong Kong, 2023
- Excellent Research Award, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, The University of Hong Kong, 2022
Professional Training
- Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching & Learning, The University of Hong Kong
- Reading and Writing for Academic Writing, Graduate School, The University of Hong Kong, 2023
- Advanced Statistical Methods, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, The University of Hong Kong, 2021
Selected Academic Presentations
“Grace-AKO: a novel and stable knockoff filter for variable selection incorporating gene network structures”
Departmental Seminar, The University of Hong Kong, 2023“Multiethnic polygenic risk prediction in diverse populations through transfer learning”
Departmental Seminar, The University of Hong Kong, 2022“Two methods for variable selection with finite-sample false discovery rate control in high-dimensional data settings”
Departmental Seminar, The University of Hong Kong, 2022