I have taught several different topics to students with varied backgrounds:

• STAT 212: A first course in biostatistics for undergraduates
• STAT 430: Data analysis for senior undergraduates and masters
• STAT 434: Survival analysis for graduates and advanced undergraduates
• STAT 530: Bioinformatics for masters and PhDs
• STAT 578: Topics courses for statistics PhDs

My main goal is to help students understand how the statistical topics they learn are connected to each other and to other disciplines.

One common disconnect is between statistics and data analysis. I am interested in embedding statistical concepts and methods in the larger scientific context of how substantive questions can be answered using quantitative data. Here are slides from my latest attempt, from a two-hour short course on statistics that I teach each summer as part of the Mayo Clinic and Illinois Alliance Computational Genomics Course:

Another common disconnect is between different statistical methods. I am interested in illustrating how standard procedures are all based on the same core set of statistical and probabilistic principles. I am interested in how to teach students to start from these core principles to create and understand standard procedures.

Finally, I am interested in how to teach PhD students to do research. I encourage all of my students to read this and this, and so far have been fortunate to advise:

NameCurrent position
Will BiscarriJP Morgan
Robin TuNorthrop Grumman
Yihe WangFacebook
Huiqin XinFacebook
Rachel ZhouWaymo