I am currently a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Clemson University, working with Dr. Lior Rennert within the Center for Public Health Modeling and Response. Before that, I was a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, as advised by Dr. Jianxi Gao. I obtained my Ph.D. degree in Data Science at the City University of Hong Kong, advised by Dr. Qingpeng Zhang.

 

My research focuses on improving healthcare operations during disaster events. Through developing data-driven modeling (Big Data/ML/AI) with network science theory, my research endeavors to understand human behavior and social network dynamics to guide data-driven policymaking for public health preparedness and response. Utilizing predictive modeling, complex systems analysis, and network optimization, my work has advanced insights into infectious disease spread (Nat.Commun.Phys'21, IEEETrans.Cybern'18), mobility patterns (ArXiv'23), and strengthening healthcare resilience to withstand and recover from global pandemics (Nat. Med'24).

​​

My research leverages terabytes and petabytes of data sourced from various human mobility data and the COVID-19 Research Database (EHR data) to better understand human networks and behaviors at the center of societal challenges during disaster events. I have been awarded the Research Accelerator Grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I am also the referee for Journals like IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems, BMC Public Health, and Scientific Reports.​​​

​

Related links​

• Mobility Models and Infectious Disease Spread