Shurong Fang

Hello, I am Shurong Fang, a PhD student at Michigan Technological University. I have been a member of the ASA since January 1, 2009. When I receive Amstat News, I always read about upcoming conferences and professional opportunities first. These two sections give me a lot of information about building my career.

I am interested in statistical genetics and work with a group of statisticians in the department of mathematical sciences at Michigan Tech. My research helps me understand genome-wide association studies, linkage analysis, disease association studies, and rare variants analysis. Currently, I am working with my advisers, Qiuying Sha and Shuanglin Zhang, to develop efficient approaches for investigating the genetic association between human genes and complex diseases such as diabetes, and to identify gene-gene/gene-environment interactions that affect the complex disease. I hope I can contribute to the development of pharmacological drugs for cancer patients one day.

The impressive statistics faculty is not the only reason I love Michigan Tech. The department of mathematical sciences provides me with the opportunity to instruct an undergraduate course each semester. I have taught hundreds of students and helped them understand the world from a statistical point of view. This is precious experience for me.

Born in Tianjin, a big city in the northeast of China, I was used to cold winters. However, winters in Houghton, home of Michigan Tech, really shocked me. There were 195 inches of snow last year! In winter, I enjoy skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing. In summer, Houghton is absolutely beautiful. I like kayaking and fishing on Portage Lake.

I love traveling and camping. I drove twice from Houghton, located in the very far north of Michigan, to Key West, in the very south of Florida, with my husband. I am collecting stamps of National Parks. I have visited 19 national parks and several national monuments and forests in the United States, as well as five national parks in Canada. I also love to cook, especially Chinese and Thai food. I look forward to meeting many of you at JSM next summer in Québec. My email is shurongf@mtu.edu, if you wish to contact me.