Jun Li
Jun Li, PhD
Associate Professor of
School of Data Science and Society
Core Faculty
Phone: 919-445-1273 | Office: 4601 ITS Manning
Email: jli14@unc.edu | Website: https://jlilab.org
Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Computational Genomics, Computational Systems Biology
Research Interests: My research focuses on developing computational tools and integrative multi-omics approaches to uncover cancer vulnerabilities and advance precision oncology. Leveraging genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and AI-driven analytics, I aim to translate complex molecular data into actionable biomarkers and therapeutic insights.
Ran Zhang
Ran Zhang, PhD
Assistant Professor of
School of Data Science and Society
Core Faculty
Phone: N/A | Office: 4502 ITS Manning
Email: ranzhang@unc.edu | Website: https://ranzhang08.github.io/
Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Computational Genomics, Computational Systems Biology
Research Interests: My lab develops machine learning methods for multimodal single-cell and bulk genomics data, with the goal of characterizing the molecular basis underlying complex human diseases and disentangling heterogeneity across individuals.
Laura Ferguson, PhD
Laura Ferguson, PhD
Assistant Professor of
Pharmacology and Psychiatry
Core Faculty
Phone: 919-445-3862 | Office: Thurston-Bowles Building, Room 3027A
Email: laura_ferguson@med.unc.edu | Website: https://tarheels.live/fergusonlab/
Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Computational Genomics, Computational Systems Biology, Statistical and Population Genetics
Research Interests: My lab uses computational, molecular, and behavioral approaches to identify biomarkers and mechanistic pathways underlying alcohol use disorder and related behavioral and neuropsychiatric conditions. We integrate omics data, cross-species studies, and computational modeling to inform therapeutic strategies.
Huaxiu Yao, PhD
Huaxiu Yao, PhD
Assistant Professor of
Computer Science & School of Data Science and Society
Resource Faculty
Phone: N/A | Office: 254 Sitterson Hall
Email: huaxiu@cs.unc.edu | Website: https://www.huaxiuyao.io/aiming-lab
Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Computational Genomics, Computational Systems Biology, Image Analysis
Research Interests: My research focuses on building generalizable and well-aligned foundation models (e.g., LLMs, VLMs) with applications in healthcare and medicine.
Tarek Zikry
Tarek Zikry, PhD
Assistant Professor of
School of Data Science and Society (Starting July 2025)
Core Faculty
Phone: N/A | Office: ITS Manning School of Data Science and Society
Email: tarek@unc.edu | Website: http://www.zikrylab.com/
Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Computational Genomics, Computational Systems Biology, Statistical and Population Genetics
Research Interests: I am interested in the intersection of precision medicine and and data science, specifically topics in dimensionality reduction, single-cell omics, and statistical machine learning across applications in cancer, neuroscience, and public health.
Pew-Thian Yap, PhD
Pew-Thian Yap, PhD
Professor of
Radiology
Core Faculty
Phone: (919) 843-8712 | Office: 3117 Bioinformatics Building
Email: ptyap@med.unc.edu | Website: https://www.yaplab.io/
Research Areas: Image Analysis, Bioinformatics, Computational Biophysics, Computational Systems Biology
Research Interests: Image acquisition, reconstruction, quality control, harmonization, processing, and analysis with application to neuroscience.
Sarah Linnstaedt, PhD
Sarah Linnstaedt, PhD
Associate Professor of
Anesthesiology
Resource Faculty
Phone: 919-966-5136 | Office: 120 Taylor Hall
Email: sarah_linnstaedt@med.unc.edu | Website: https://www.med.unc.edu/anesthesiology/research/linnstaedt-lab/
Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Computational Genomics, Computational Systems Biology, Statistical and Population Genetics
Research Interests: We are interested in understanding the recovery process following traumatic stress exposures and use large-scale molecular and genetic human cohort data from trauma survivors to better understand risk factors and mechanisms driving adverse outcomes such as chronic pain, posttraumatic stress, and depression.
Karin Leiderman
Karin Leiderman, PhD
Associate Professor of
Mathematics
Core Faculty
Phone: 919-962-5962 | Office: Mary Ellen Jones Building 11212A
Email: karinlg@unc.edu | Website: https://sites.google.com/view/leiderman-research-group
Research Areas: Computational Biophysics, Computational Systems Biology
Research Interests: I am a mathematical biologist interested in the biochemical and biophysical aspects of blood clotting and emergent behavior in biological fluid-structure interaction problems. I especially love mathematical modeling, where creativity, biological knowledge, and mathematical insight meet. My research typically includes the integration of mathematical and experimental approaches together with statistical analyses and inference, to determine mechanisms underlying complex biological phenomena.
Brian Miller, MD PhD
Brian Miller, MD PhD
Assistant Professor of
Medicine, Division of Oncology
Resource Faculty
Phone: 919-966-7763 | Office: 5202 Marsico Hall
Email: BrianMiller@med.unc.edu | Website: http://www.themillerlab.org/
Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Computational Systems Biology, Computational Genomics
Research Interests: The Miller lab is working to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy to treat cancer. Using single-cell transcriptomic and epigenetic techniques, along with functional genomic approaches, we want to understand the determinants of immune cell differentiation and function in the tumor microenvironment.
Natalie Stanley, PhD
Natalie Stanley, PhD
Assistant Professor of
Computer Science & Genetics
Core Faculty
Phone: 919-590-6018 | Office: Sitterson Hall and Mary Ellen Jones Building
Email: natalies@cs.unc.edu | Website: https://stanleyn.github.io/
Research Areas: Bioinformatics, Computational Systems Biology
Research Interests: Our research is focused on computational and systems immunology, with a particular emphasis on developing new algorithms for extracting information from flow and mass cytometry data. We are also interested in multimodal integration of biological and biomedical data.