University of Pennsylvania · Mathematics & StatisticsTissue Organization and Data Integration Lab
Mingyao Li · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Research Focus
Dr. Mingyao Li's lab focuses on understanding the complex organization of tissues by combining techniques from biostatistics and machine learning. The lab specifically works on integrating spatial transcriptomics, which maps gene expression in tissues, with histology images and single-cell data. This innovative approach aims to improve our understanding of how different cells interact within their environment, which is crucial for studying diseases.
spatial transcriptomicsmachine learninghistologysingle-cell RNA sequencingtissue organizationbiostatisticscell communicationdata integrationdisease pathology
Research Aims
4AIM 01Develop novel machine learning methods to analyze spatial transcriptomics data alongside histology images.
AIM 02Characterize the spatial organization of different cell types within tissues.
AIM 03Predict spatial gene expression patterns based on histological data.
AIM 04Apply methods to public datasets and collaborative disease studies to evaluate their effectiveness.
Skills the Lab Values
statistical modelingmachine learning methodsRNA sequencingimage analysisdata visualizationprogramming in R/Pythonbioinformaticsdata integration techniquescomputational biology
Output against the department
Publications365top 27% of dept.36th of 131
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations34ktop 17% of dept.22nd of 131
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.