Goals for the AACR
With research funding and staffing under increasing scrutiny, I aim to help train cancer investigators to harness data science, machine learning, and AI with efficiency and integrity. I aspire to work with AACR to create programs that strengthen statistical and computational literacy, expand access to novel analytic tools, and foster cross disciplinary collaboration across North America, Europe, and Asia. Above all, I hope to advance AACR’s leadership in promoting rigor, reproducibility, and innovation so that transformative discoveries in cancer research are both trustworthy and impactful.
Research Interests
Biostatistics; bioinformatics; health policy; data science; artificial intelligence; omics; RNA-sequencing; predictive modeling; biomarkers; personalized medicine; clinical trial design; adaptive trials; epidemiology; biobanks; immunology; cancer and COVID-19; sample size estimation for high-dimensional data; statistics education; data coordination; application development; career development and resource management.
Current Affiliations
Distinguished chair professor, Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taiwan; founding executive director, Vanderbilt Biostatistics Data Coordinating Center; chair, biostatistics; Harold L. Moses Chair in Cancer Research; associate director, Center for Quantitative Sciences; director, Vanderbilt Technologies for Advanced Genomics Analysis and Research Design (VANGARD); associate director, quantitative sciences, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center; professor, biostatistics, biomedical informatics, and health policy, Vanderbilt University Medical Center; director, Biostatistics Core, Breast Cancer, GI Cancer, and Lung Cancer SPOREs; training faculty member, cancer biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee; chair professor, health data science, Taipei Medical University; visiting distinguished chair professor, statistics, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan.
Previous Positions
Director, quantitative sciences shared resource (2014-2019), Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center; professor, cancer biology (2011-2017), Vanderbilt University School of Medicine; director, cancer biostatistics center (2007-2011), Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center; chief, department of biostatistics, division of cancer biostatistics (2006-2017), Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Ingram Professor of Cancer Research (2003-2013), Vanderbilt University School of Medicine; faculty, center for technology-guided therapy (2001-2003), Vanderbilt University School of Engineering, Vanderbilt University Medical Center; acting director (2000) and associate professor (1999-2002), division of biostatistics, department of preventative medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine; director, biostatistics shared resource (1998-2014), Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.
Postdoctoral Training
Chief biostatistician, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (1994-1998).
Education
PhD, biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (1994); MS, statistics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan (1989); BBA, Statistics, Tamkang University, Taiwan (1985).
Selected AACR Service, Honors, and Awards
Chair, AACR Biostatistics in Cancer Research Task Force (2026-present); member, AACR Cancer Data Science Task Force (2025-present); invited plenary speaker, Annual Meeting (2022); codirector, BMSF-AACR Design and Implementation of Clinical Trials Workshop (2021); member, Exploratory IND/Phase 0 Clinical Trials Task Force (2021-present); member, AACR Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research Committee (2021-2023); member, Precision Combination Therapy Task Force (2021-2023); vice chair (2021-2022), cochair (2017-2018), and member (2011), Annual Meeting Program Committee; Member, Education and Training Committee (2019-2022); member, Annual Meeting Clinical Trials Committee (2019-2021; 2016-2018); chair, Major Symposium: “Integrative Data Science for the Precision Medicine Era, Annual Meeting (2018); faculty, ECCO-AACR-EORTC-ESMO Workshop on Methods in Clinical Cancer Research (2018-2019); member, Science Education and Career Advancement Committee (2017-2020, 2014-2017); member, Annual Meeting Education Committee (2017-2018, 2014-2015); chair, Career Development and Mentor Committee for Early-Stage Faculty (2016); recipient, Merrill J. Egorin Outstanding Mentor Award, AACR/ASCO Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Educational Workshop (2016); member, Editorial Board, Clinical Cancer Research (2009-present); codirector (2014-2016) and faculty (2004-2016), AACR/ASCO Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Educational Workshop.
Selected Non-AACR Service, Honors, and Awards
Invited keynote speaker, The International Conference on Recent Advances in Precision Medicine and Public-Private Partnership, Taiwan (2021); cochair, North American Biostatistics Chairs Executive Committee (2020–2021); member, CTEP Early Drug Development (EDD) and Investigational Drug Steering Committee (IDSC) (2019-present); chair, Special Emphasis Panel, National Cancer Institute (NCI) (2018); recipient, Honorary Doctoral Degree, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan (2018); member, Steering Committee, International Workshop on Cancer Systems Biology (2017); consultant, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CEDR), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (2016-present); elected fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2016); elected fellow, American Statistical Association (2010); invited keynote speaker, Japan Symposium on Innovation in Medical Research and Ethical Challenges, Tokyo, Japan (2010); invited professorship, Shanghai Center for Bioinformatics Technology, China (2006-2018).