The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute is pleased to welcome four doctoral-level biomedical data scientists who have joined as members of the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core in 2024 and 2025.
Yang Shi, Ph.D., joined Karmanos as co-scientific director of the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core in July 2024 and as an assistant professor in the Department of Oncology at Wayne State University (WSU) School of Medicine. Dr. Shi received his Ph.D. in biostatistics from the University of Michigan. Before joining Karmanos, he was an assistant professor of biostatistics in the Department of Population Health Sciences and director of the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core in the Department of Neuroscience at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University. An expert in bioinformatics, computational statistics and applied biomedical data science, Dr. Shi has published over 40 peer-reviewed papers in renowned journals in bioinformatics, biostatistics and biomedical science. He has also served as the primary biostatistician or bioinformatician for 12 National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded grants over the past decade.
Janaka Liyanage, Ph.D., joined the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core at Karmanos in January 2024 and is an assistant professor in the Department of Oncology at WSU. Dr. Liyanage received his Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Before joining Karmanos, he completed two postdoctoral trainings in biostatistics—one at the University of Florida and another at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Dr. Liyanage has experience in collaborative research and novel statistical methodology development in genetic causal inference, mediation analysis, survival analysis, structural equation modeling, and high-dimensional covariance estimation. He has authored 10 publications in peer-reviewed journals spanning biostatistics, statistics and biomedical science.
Vy Ong, Ph.D., joined the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core as a research biostatistician in August 2024 after earning his doctorate in biostatistics from Augusta University. He has received rigorous training in biostatistics and bioinformatics and has gained significant experience in data analysis in biomedical research. His dissertation focused on “Advancements and Innovative Applications of the Cross-Entropy Method in Biomedical Data Analysis.” His research interests include biostatistics, bioinformatics, Bayesian analysis, computational statistics, and clinical trials research. He has co-authored one collaborative paper and has three additional manuscripts currently under peer review in these fields.
Yingnan Zhang, Ph.D., joined the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core as a research bioinformatician in August 2025. Dr. Zhang received his Ph.D. in computer science with a concentration in bioinformatics from Ohio University. Before joining Karmanos, his research focused on developing computational approaches to uncover functional interactions in 3D genome data, particularly focusing on feature pair analysis to identify key regulatory mechanisms in biology. He has co-authored collaborative publications in high-impact journals, including Nature and Nature Methods.
“Data science is foundational to discovering, testing and delivering new cancer therapies. By strengthening our Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core with exceptional data scientists, we expand our ability to translate complex genomic, imaging and clinical data into insights that accelerate trials and personalize care,” said Boris Pasche, M.D., Ph.D., FACP, president and CEO at Karmanos. “This growth aligns with our vision to continually strengthen the scientific engines that power discovery at Karmanos. I’m confident this team will catalyze breakthroughs across our research programs and, most importantly, improve outcomes for the patients we serve.”
The Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core at Karmanos Cancer Institute serves as a resource for cancer investigators engaged in basic, clinical, population, and translational sciences. Biostatistics plays a crucial role in designing cancer research studies, ensuring that scientific questions are framed for precise and efficient answers, and in analyzing these studies to guarantee accurate and valid conclusions. Bioinformatics is essential for computationally efficient and informative analyses in cancer research.
Learn more about the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core at Karmanos here.
Yang Shi, Ph.D.
Janaka Liyanage, Ph.D.
Vy Ong, Ph.D.
Yingnan Zhang, Ph.D.