Ying Xu () is a

computational biologist Computational biology refers to the use of data analysis, mathematical modeling and computational simulations to understand biological systems and relationships. An intersection of computer science, biology, and big data, the field also has fo ...

and

bioinformatician Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data, in particular when the data sets are large and complex. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combine ...

, and a chair professor under the title 'Regents-Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar' in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the Institute of Bioinformatics at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, USA.

Early life and education

Xu was born in

Changchun Changchun (, ; ), also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a , comprising 7 districts, 1 county and 3 c ...

Jilin Province Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, to a family of two chemists in the early 1960s. Both his parents were professors in

Jilin University Jilin University (JLU; ; often abbreviated JLU or ) is a leading national research university located in Changchun, China. It is under the direct jurisdiction of China's Ministry of Education. It is a Chinese Ministry of Education Class A Doub ...

. He spent part of his childhood in a remote rural area in Fuyu County of Jilin from 1969 to 1972. Xu graduated from the Computer Science Department, Jilin University with a B.S. and a M.S. degree in 1982 and 1985, respectively. He then attended the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sys ...

starting in 1986, and received a Ph.D. degree in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

in 1991.

Career and research

He worked for

Colorado School of Mines The Colorado School of Mines, informally called Mines, is a public research university in Golden, Colorado, founded in 1874. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, and mathematics, with a focus on ener ...

from 1991 to 1993 as a visiting assistant professor, and then joined the Computer Science and Mathematics Division of

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. multiprogram science and technology national laboratory sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and administered, managed, and operated by UT–Battelle as a federally funded research and ...

in 1993. There he was a research associate, staff scientist, senior staff scientist and group leader from 1993 to 2003. He joined the

as an endowed chair professor in 2003. At the UGA, he is also a member of the Cancer Center. His research is mainly focused on computational and

systems biology Systems biology is the computational modeling, computational and mathematical analysis and modeling of complex biological systems. It is a biology-based interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on complex interactions within biological syst ...

relevant to human

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

s and their early detection,

microbial A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...

genome In the fields of molecular biology and genetics, a genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding ge ...

s and pathway encoding, and plant genomes and

cell wall A cell wall is a structural layer surrounding some types of cells, just outside the cell membrane. It can be tough, flexible, and sometimes rigid. It provides the cell with both structural support and protection, and also acts as a filtering mech ...

Education and Honors

*B.S. in computer science, Jilin University, China, 1982 *M.S. in computer science, Jilin University, China, 1985 *Ph.D. in computer science, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1991 *Eminent Scholar, Georgia Research Alliance *Distinguished Scholar, Georgia Cancer Coalition *Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science *Fellow, IEEEhttps://www.ieee.org/content/dam/ieee-org/ieee/web/org/about/fellows/2022-ieee-fellows-class.pdf

References

UGA Computational Systems Biology Lab
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xu, Ying Computational biologists American bioinformaticians Jilin University alumni Chinese emigrants to the United States University of Colorado alumni Colorado School of Mines faculty University of Georgia faculty Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Changchun Biologists from Jilin Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Oak Ridge National Laboratory people