Yian Yu - Academic Homepage

Yian Yu
Department of Statistics
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Michigan, USA
Email: yianyu@umich.edu

I am a Postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Statistics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, under the mentorship of Prof. Yang Chen.

Before that, I got my Ph.D. degree in Mathematics in the Department of Statistics and Data Science at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in June, 2025, privileged to be under the guidance of Prof. Jian Qing Shi.

Education

Ph.D. in Mathematics, SUSTech, (Sept. 2020 – June 2025)
B.S. in Statistics, SUSTech, (Sept. 2016 – June 2020)

Research Interests

My research interests integrates statistical modeling with theoretical foundations, machine learning, and data-driven insights to transform complex data into actionable solutions for real-world challenges. My past and ongoning projects encompasses the following domains:

Multimodal large-scale spatio-temporal data modeling with efficient Bayesian computational algorithms.
Irregular functional data analysis with applications in free-lving acceleration data.
Clinical trial design for ordinal responses data.
Psychometric scale development and validation.

Research Overview: My Ph.D. focus on advancing functional data analysis for irregular (data with shape constraints, or varying covariance structures), high-dimensional datasets, emphasizing applications in gait data acquired from individuals with neurodegenerative diseases via wearable devices. During this period, I conducted an efficient clinical trail design for comparisions of treatments with ordinal responses with sequential monitoring and response-adaptive randomization under the supervisor Prof. Siu Hung Cheung. I co-developed a novel scale Neuo-11 with the Department of Neurology, Shenzhen People's Hospital and conducted the structural data analysis and statistically validated the scale for somatic symptom disorder screening.

News and Updates

[May. 2025] Hornor to receive the Top 10 Outstanding Graduate Student Award, College of Science, SUSTech.
[Apr. 2025] Our paper has been released at arXiv and submitted to Journal of the American Statistical Association, proposing an innovative curve-based sampling scheme for the analysis of functional data characterized by a mixture of covariance structures.
[Dec. 2024] Our paper has been accepted at Entropy, proposing a parametric hierarchical model for functional data with an elliptical shape and demonstrating its effectiveness through the reconstruction of curve trajectories and novel feature extrations using real-world acceleration data.
[Oct. 2023] Hornor to receive the frist prize (highest award) at 7th National Academic Forum for Doctoral Students in Statistics, China.
[Aug. 2023] Our paper has been accepted at General Psychiatry (BMJ Connections journal), establishing the realiability, validity and threshold of the Neuro-11 by comparing it with standard questionnaires commonly used in general hositals for assessing somatic symptom disorder.
[Dec. 2022] Hornor to receive the National Scholarship for Graduate Students, China.
[Aug. 2022] Our paper has been accepted at Statistics in Medicine, proposing the modified latent Weibull model to address the skewed ordinal responses with sequential monitoring and response-adaptive randomization.

Publications

(¹ denotes equal contribution)

Yian Yu, Bo Wang, and Jian Qing Shi. (2025). "Analyzing functional data with a mixture of covariance structures using a curve-based sampling scheme". arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.01313.
Yian Yu, Long Tang, Kang Ren, Zhonglue Chen, Shengdi Chen, and Jian Qing Shi (2024). "Bayesian regression analysis for dependent data with an elliptical shape". Entropy, 26(12), 1072.
Yian Yu, Cong Xu, Jun jiang Zhong, and Siu Hung Cheung. (2022). "Comparison of treatments with ordinal responses in trials with sequential monitoring and response-adaptive randomization". Statistics in Medicine, 41(25), 5061-5083.
Silin Zeng¹, Yian Yu¹, Jian Qing Shi, Qingshan Geng, Rafael H Llinas, Yi Guo, et al. (2023). "Neuro 11: A new questionnaire for the assessment of somatic symptom disorder in general hospitals". General Psychiatry, 36(4).
Jian Qing Shi, Yutian Zeng, Yian Yu, et al. (2022). "Gait analysis and neurodegenerative disease classification system software". China, 2022SR1591079[CP]. (Application Serial No. 2022R11L2175851, Software Copyright Registration Certificate No. 10545278)
Jian Qing Shi, Siqi Yan, Yian Yu, Beini Liu, Xiaorui Wang, Lin Tang, and Wenjing Zhao. (2025). Neurode generative Disease Analysis Method, Device, and Terminal Based on Multimodal Data. China. (Invention Patent Application No. 2025106436652, Current Status: Accepted, pending authorization)

Talks

"Analyzing Functional Data with a Mixture of Covariance Structure Using a Curve-Based Sampling Scheme". Talk at the 2025 Academic Annual Conference of the Multivariate Analysis Application Committee of China Field Statistics Research Association, June 2025, Chongqing, China.
"Bayesian Regression Analysis for Elliptical Dependent Variables". Talk at the 2nd Joint Conference on Statistics and Data Science, July 2024, Kunming, China.
"Bayesian Curve Fitting and Prediction with Ellipsoid-Gaussian Distribution". Talk at the 7th National Academic Forum, Oct. 2023, Guangzhou, China.

Teaching Assistantships

[Summer 2023] Functional Data Analysis (University faculties), Yunnan University. China mathematics Yuan fund summer school for statistics teachers in western universities.
[Spring 2022] Probability and Statistics (Undergraduate), SUSTech.
[Fall 2022] Time Series Analysis (Undergraduate), SUSTech.
[Spring 2021] Sample Surveys (Undergraduate), SUSTech.
[Fall 2021] Statistical Linear Models (Undergraduate), SUSTech.