Biography
JIANG Xilin leads a biomedical informatics group at the University of Cambridge that studies the molecular mechanisms underlying complex human diseases. He is interested in developing statistical/ML/AI tools to identify genetic and molecular explanations for health outcomes. Currently, his research focuses on two ends of the data spectrum: (1) on the molecular side, genotype, functional annotation of genes, and molecular measures (with a focus on data that can be obtained from a tube of blood, such as plasma proteomics); and (2) on the health outcome side, disease onset, disease progression, and treatment response (with a focus on outcomes that inform clinical decision-making, such as how a patient responds to a drug). In statistical terms, his research involves Bayesian inference for high-dimensional data, longitudinal analysis, and causal inference. Xilin is a recipient of the Wellcome Early-Career Award.
Xilin received their DPhil in Genomic Medicine and Statistics from the University of Oxford, funded by a Rhodes Scholarship and a Wellcome Trust studentship. He delivered the scholar address for the Rhodes Scholar class of 2017. Before Oxford, he received a BSc from Fudan University with an overall top GPA in Natural Sciences and in Biological Sciences. Xilin was a gold medalist in the 1500m at the Shanghai College Track and Field Championship.