Research

Overview:

With the rapid expansion of the available genomic and metagenomic sequencing data design of scalable, robust, and principled methods for sequence analysis became a critical question at the intersection of computer science and biology. The scope of my research work aims to address these requirements by developing theory and algorithms, as well as implementing software that (a) scales to the amount of the available data, (b) maintains strong empirical performance on community benchmarks, and (c) provides provable theoretical guarantees. This translates into several specific research interests. First, I am interested in software deployable at the point-of-care/on-device paradigms and corresponding streaming algorithms for rapid or continuous monitoring in public health settings. Second, I am interested in principled mathematical characterization of evolutionary dynamics including both scalable phylogenetic analyses and efficient modeling of microbiomes. Finally, I am broadly interested in differentiable algorthims and algebraic methods in computational biology.

My background:

I have obtained my Ph.D. in Computer Science from Rice University under the guidance of Dr. Todd J. Treangen in 2024. My reserach interest are a symbiotic product of my prior mathematical training and extensive exposure to empirical biological data. In particular, the five years in Dr. Treangen’s lab improved my ability to approach data critically with biological and modeling prior biases in mind. Furthermore, my (shallow) understanding of and (deep) fascination with microbial world is fully owed to the engagement with data, stories, and research that was part of my interaction with the broader community of microbioligists and metagenomicists within and outside Houston area.

I have completed B.Sc. degrees in Mathematics (with Honors) and Computer Science at the University of Chicago. During my time at the Unviersity of Chicago, I have worked with Dr. Monisha Ghosh on modeling Wi-Fi and car-to-car communciation interference, and with Dr. Esmael Haddadian on conformational dynamics if insulin degrading enzyme. [Note: projects in this paragraph are mentioned for archival purpose only and do not represent current research intrests.]