Hsin-Chou Yang

Biography

I am serving as an Associate Research Fellow in Institute of Statistical Science, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. The two main areas in my research career are: (1) Statistical Genomics and Genetic Epidemiology, in which I develop novel bioinformatics tools to identify disease susceptibility genes for complex disorders and to investigate genetic background of the humans, and (2) Quantitative Ecology and Ecological Dynamics, in which I develop computational procedures to estimate population abundance and related quantities to monitor wildlife and human communities. In terms of development of cutting-edge methodologies, we have invented analysis tools for genomic data (software: SAQC, PDA, MPDA, KBAT, ALOHA, LOHAS, and BIASLESS) and for ecological data (software: CARE-2 and CARE-4; joint work with my PhD thesis advisor, Prof. Anne Chao). The tools are online available to the researchers around the world (http://www.stat.sinica.edu.tw/hsinchou/). In terms of my interdisciplinary research, I have also closely cooperated with experts in genomics, biomedicine, ecology, and statistics to examine relevant scientific hypotheses and answer practical issues. The collaborations with geneticists, clinicians, and epidemiologists have successfully identified important genes associated with common diseases, cancers, and ethnic ancestry. The accomplishments have expanded our knowledge in the etiology of complex disorders and gained a deeper understanding about human population genomics. The joint work with ecologists has studied population dynamics of different animal species. The accomplishments have provided essential evidence and direction for ecological conservation and environmental preservation.