"I want people to know that we are always there willing to help, even though we don’t know the answer yet, but we are passionate to together explore with users."
Where did you grow up? Were you always interested in your current field?
I spent my childhood in China. I got my PhD in geophysics from the University of Cambridge, UK and then spent my early research career in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, US. My family moved to Australia several years ago. While working in Geoscience Australia, I found my interests in data science. I am genuinely interested in math and science, which seems never changed. The challenges in data sciences always ignite my interests and act as the source of my passion in my daily work.
Are you working from home? If so, how’s it going?
I am currently working from home. Working from home is a challenging but fun thing. The positive side is that my commute time is saved, but working while looking after three young kids are a lot of work. I need to use early morning, kids nap time, and late night to catch up my work.
The picture below describes exactly my daily routine and status.
Do you have kids/pets at home that are helping/hindering?
I have three little cute “monsters”, they are very helpful most of the time. Two older ones (10 and 7 yo) are responsible babysitters for the youngest one (2yo). My daughter helps nappy changes, sometimes bathing her little sister. My son helps feeding his little sister in the early morning. They all help house chaos, but it seems never enough. My son is also an energetic babysitter. He played muddy puddle game with his litter sister one minute after I get her changed with clean clothes. Tired but enjoy my time being with kids at home.
What projects are you working on?
I am bridging the knowledge gap between NCI’s data collections and researchers’ interests. My role includes creating tutorials and examples to reveal the great potential of NCI’s data collections and presenting to users. Bring datasets together will promote cross-disciplinary research which was not be possible otherwise. Advanced data analysis and processing tools will be recommended to the research community. I will share advanced skills and knowledge through training courses, workshops and online documentation.
What do you want people to know about the work that you do?
I am always looking for researchers to tell me what is the problem that they encounter in their research. Is there anything that I can do to help speed up their research progress if it is data or tools that hinder? Please don’t hesitate to contact me. I want people to know that we are always there willing to help, even though we may not know the answer yet. I am passionate to explore with our users together.
Why do you love what you do?
My role is a bit of mystery as there is no set procedure or answer. I love the style of figuring out how to do it and then do it well. It is a very satisfying process especially when I made something that our research community will enjoy.
What is one specific thing that you have achieved (research or otherwise) that you are most proud of?
My collaborators and I published an article in Nature Scientific Data in 2018. The paper built a graph that connect researchers, publication, grants and their affiliations. This is evolutionary in research fields. The graph offers a comprehensive database. We can reveal the researchers’ footprint, research and funding trends efficiently and accurately.
