Zhirui's Lab

Bayesian statistics, computational statistics, phylogenetics, bioinformatics

Bioinformatics Fellow

Data Science and Biotechnology

Gladstone Institutes

I graduated from Tsinghua Univeristy in 2011, did my master in bioinformatics at Tsinghua, then received my PhD in statistics at Harvard University in 2019.

My research interest is to develop new statistical methodologies with application to biological data. My ongoing research are:

  • Bayesian phylogenetics: develop model-based methods to study the molecular basis of phenotypic evolution in multiple species and further identify the function of genomic elements based on their evolutionary profiles and other functional genomics data.

  • Single-cell omics: develop statistical tools to discover disease associated cell populations using single cell transcriptome data and further characterize the cell landscape by integrating different omics data at single cell level.

  • Deep learning methods in the framework of Bayesian statistics.

news

Oct 26, 2021 Postdoctoral fellow or Research Assistant Position Job description:
  1. Develop new machine learning or statistical methods for multi-modal data, especially for single cell multi-omics data
  2. Develop novel methodologies for discovering therapeutic target using multi-omics data
  3. Implement and improve current methods, and build a integrated platform for multi-modal data
Qualifications:
  1. Bachelor’s degree or above in bioinformatics, biostatistics, computer science and related field
  2. Research experience in analyzing GWAS and high-throughput sequencing data
  3. Strong background in statistical modeling and/or deep learning
  4. Good publication in bioinformatics or biostatistics preferred
  5. Proficiency in the following tools: Python, R, SQL and common bioinformatics tools.
Mar 4, 2021 Welcome to Zhirui’s lab!

selected publications

  1. Measurement error models: from nonparametric methods to deep neural networks
    Hu, Zhirui, Ke, Zheng Tracy, and Liu, Jun S
    2021
  2. Convergent regulatory evolution and loss of flight in paleognathous birds
    Sackton, Timothy B., Grayson, Phil, Cloutier, Alison, Hu, Zhirui, Liu, Jun S., Wheeler, Nicole E., Gardner, Paul P., Clarke, Julia A., Baker, Allan J., Clamp, Michele, and Edwards, Scott V.
    Science 2019
  3. Bayesian Detection of Convergent Rate Changes of Conserved Noncoding Elements on Phylogenetic Trees
    Hu, Zhirui, Sackton, Timothy B, Edwards, Scott V, and Liu, Jun S
    Molecular Biology and Evolution 2019