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About Me:

I am a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Biostatistics at MD Anderson Cancer Center. I received my Ph.D. from the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Michigan, under supervision of Prof. Xiang Zhou, focusing on developing statistical methods for genetic and genomic datasets. I also worked closely with Prof. Jennifer Smith in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan on large-scale quantitative trait mapping in African Americans in the GENOA study. Prior to that, I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Biology from the Zhiyuan Honored College at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Research Interests:

My research interest is in developing effective and efficient statistical and computational methods in single cell and spatial transcriptomics to address critical biological problems such as omics data dimension reduction and integration. My specific focus includes: 1). developing statistical and computational methods for data analysis in single-cell RNA-seq and spatial transcriptomics; 2). Bridging between population-level genome-wide association studies (GWASs) and individual-level single-cell and spatial transcriptomics data to unravel the underlying mechanisms of disease etiology; 3). Integrating multi-omics data with patient outcomes to foster translational research, ultimately connecting molecular insights with clinical applications.

Keywords:

• Statistical Methods: High-dimensional data analysis, mixed effects models, longitudinal data analysis, spatial statistics, non-parametric models, dimension reduction, data integration, statistical computing, network analysis and machine learning.
• Applications: High dimensional genetic and genomic data including spatial transcriptomics, single cell RNA sequencing studies, spatial and single cell multi-omics, genome-wide association studies, genome-wide quantitative loci mapping, methylation studies, and gene regulatory network.

Open Positions:

Applications are invited for postdoctoral fellow positions in my research group. The successful candidates will be working on various research topics in developing statistical methods and computational tools in the field of single cell and spatial transcriptomics. The successful candidates will be offered with competitive benefits and have the opportunity to analyze a variety of large-scale data types. Applicants should have, or be studying for, a PhD in biostatistics, statistics, computer science, bioinformatics, computational biology, mathematics, or related quantitative discipline. A strong computational background is preferred. Applicants should send a CV, a short statement of research interests, and contact information of three referees to: Lulu Shang lshang@mdanderson.org. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

We also have open positions for Research Assistant. The Research Assistant positions can be offered to students in MD Anderson, Rice, and UTHealth. Please feel free to reach out lshang@mdanderson.org if you are interested in joining our lab.

Selected Awards

• IMS New Researcher Travel Grant Award, Institute of Mathematical Statistics, 2024
• ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Awards, Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan, 2024 (the first recipient in the Department of Biostatistics since 2007)
• Charles J. Epstein Trainee Awards, Predoctoral semifinalist, American Society of Human Genetics, 2022
• Reviewer’s Choice Poster Award, American Society of Human Genetics, 2021
• Excellence in Research Award Honorable Mention, Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, 2020
• Most Interesting Methodological Advancement Poster Award, MIDAS Annual Symposium, University of Michigan, 2019