2024 New Faces

Yuan Bian, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

Yuan is currently a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in the Department of Biostatistics at Columbia University, working with Professor Yuanjia Wang. He earned his PhD in Statistics from the University of Western Ontario in 2024, under the supervision of Professors Grace Y. Yi and Wenqing He. He also holds an MSc in Biostatistics, under the guidance of Professor Shelley B. Bull, and a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Toronto. During his graduate studies, his research focused on developing statistical methodologies and machine learning techniques to address challenges posed by noisy data, including missing data, censored data, and measurement errors. His current research explores machine learning and reinforcement learning approaches, with applications to interventional and observational biomedical data, such as electronic health records, multi-modal neuroimaging/omics, behavioral tasks, clinical assessments, and environmental exposures.

Lingke (Lincole) Jiang

Data Analyst

Email: lj2575@cumc.columbia.edu

Won Eui Hong, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

Email: wh2581@cumc.columbia.edu

Stanley Lemeshow, PhD

Adjunct Professor

Email: sl5530@cumc.columbia.edu

Stan Lemeshow, a native New Yorker, returned to New York a year ago after spending the past 23 years at the Ohio State University. His primary role at Ohio State was Professor of Biostatistics but also served, for 10 years (between 2003 and 2013), as Founding Dean of the College of Public Health. He also served as Director of the biostatistics core of the Comprehensive Cancer Center and Director of the University’s Center for Biostatistics. His biostatistics research includes statistical modeling of medical data, sampling, health disparities and cancer prevention. He has published extensively in the applied and methodological literature and has co-authored three textbooks in the John Wiley & Sons Wiley statistics series, a leading publisher for the scientific, technical and medical communities worldwide. The textbooks he authored are: Applied Logistic Regression, (now in its 3rd edition), Applied Survival Analysis (now in its 2nd edition) and Sampling of Populations; Methods and Applications (now in its 4th edition). In 1995, he was elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association, In 2003, Dr. Lemeshow was awarded the Wiley Lifetime Award and elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In 2006 he was elected to the UCLA School of Public Health Alumni Hall of Fame In 2023 Dr. Lemeshow was designated Distinguished University Professor by Ohio State. In 2019, he received Boston University’s L. Adrienne Cupples Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research, and Service in Biostatistics. Professor Lemeshow maintains an ongoing relationship with Aarhus University, Denmark as an Honorary Professor in Biostatistics and is a member of the faculty of the Erasmus Summer Program, Rotterdam, Holland. He has taught more than 100 short courses on biostatistical methods in this country and abroad, including eight European countries, Australia, China and India.

Qi Liu, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

Email: ql2561@cumc.columbia.edu

Qi Liu is currently a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in the Department of Biostatistics at Columbia University, co-mentored by Prof. Wenpin Hou and Prof. Ying Wei. Prior to that, she received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at City University of Hong Kong. Her research lies in closing the loop between AI and scientific discovery and building biomedical and healthcare AI applications, with a particular emphasis on utilizing structure-based models to achieve robustness, and generalization in the algorithmic and application of healthcare AI.

Álvaro Mendez Civieta, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

Email: am5490@cumc.columbia.edu

Álvaro Mendez Civieta is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Biostatistics at Columbia University working with professor Jeff Goldsmith. He earned his PhD in Statistics from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid in 2022, where his research focused on developing statistical methodologies for high-dimensional regression problems, dimensionality reduction, and functional data analysis, with a particular emphasis on quantile regression as a robust alternative to traditional mean-based estimators. He also holds an MSc in Big Data from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Oviedo. His work has been published in leading journals and conferences, and he has contributed to the open-source community by developing Python and R packages, including "asgl," and “FunQ”. His research spans various application areas, including genetics, physical activity, finance, and chemometrics. Nowadays his work is centered in the development of statistical methodologies combining the benefits of functional data analysis and quantile regression in the context of physical activity analysis.

Cynthia Rubiera

Associate Director, Faculty/HR

Email: cr2699@cumc.columbia.edu

Cynthia Rubiera joined the Department of Biostatistics as the Associate Director of Faculty and Human Resources in December 2024. In this role, Cynthia is responsible for managing the department’s faculty affairs, human resources initiatives, and administrative functions. She is dedicated to fostering a supportive and collaborative environment while ensuring efficient processes in recruitment, onboarding, and faculty appointments. Cynthia holds a BA from Lehman College and is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Social-Organizational Psychology at Teachers College. She also holds SHRM certification and brings extensive experience in human resources and administrative management. Previously, Cynthia served as the HR & Payroll Manager in the Department of Health Policy and Management, where she focused on improving processes and building strong partnerships to support department goals.

Ziqing Wang

Data Analyst

Email: zw2899@cumc.columbia.edu

In July 2024, Ziqing started her role as a data analyst in the biostatistics department, where she earned an MS in Biostatistics in the same year. She works on developing causal inference methods that address competing risks and aims to apply these methods to answer questions in environmental health and aging research.

Yujian Wu, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

Email: yw4471@cumc.columbia.edu

Weijie Xia

Data Engineer

Email: wx2281@cumc.columbia.edu

Weijie is a Data Engineer in the Department of Biostatistics at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. He manages data requests within the department, curates electronic health record (EHR) databases, and develops user-friendly interface applications using Streamlit or Shiny to streamline workflows for researchers. Weijie holds an MA in Statistics from Columbia University and a BA in Mathematics from Vassar College. His work bridges data and research, contributing to advancements in public health and facilitating impactful studies.

Huang Xu, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

Email: hx2397@cumc.columbia.edu

Huang is a postdoctoral research scientist in the Department of Biostatistics at Columbia University, working with Dr. Shuang Wang. She earned her PhD in Statistics from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2024, under the guidance of Professors Yaning Yang and Shuang Wang. During her doctoral studies, she developed innovative statistical and computational methods for analyzing omics data, with a particular focus on genomics and microbiome research. Currently, she work centers on creating a novel co-clustering method for microbiome data. Her research interests broadly encompass omics data analysis, emphasizing the development of advanced methodologies to address complex biological questions.

Zirui Zhang

Data Analyst

Email: zz3039@cumc.columbia.edu

Zirui joined the BERD (Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design) group as a data analyst in July 2024, after completing her MS in Biostatistics in the department. She works on providing statistical solutions and analyses for clinical trials, as well as conducting statistical consultations with researchers and clinicians at CUIMC.

Yinjun (Abby) Zhao, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Email: yz3503@cumc.columbia.edu