PhD Student · Computational and Data Sciences
Building responsible AI for public health, social science, and human decision-making.
I am a PhD student in Computational and Data Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and a McDonnell International Scholar. My research brings together agentic AI, qualitative inquiry, public health, and human-centered decision-making.
Advised by Dr. Ruopeng An and Dr. Jiaxin Huang.
Academic impact
Research profile as of August 9, 2026
Research
I develop and evaluate agentic AI systems for qualitative inquiry, public health simulation, and human-centered decision-making across social and healthcare contexts.
I examine how large language models can support thematic analysis, grounded theory coding, and constant comparative analysis—where they approximate expert interpretation, where they diverge, and how retrieval, multi-agent workflows, audit trails, and human evaluation can make their use transparent and methodologically sound.
I develop LLM-based frameworks that simulate economic preferences, survey responses, policy reasoning, behavioral dynamics, information diffusion, and collective decision-making. This work evaluates both the promise and limits of AI agents as models of complex human and population-level systems.
I develop reliable, interpretable, and culturally sensitive AI for mental health, digital health, vaccine safety surveillance, health communication, and public health education—grounded in rigorous evaluation, traceability, ethical accountability, and practical utility.
AI systems should complement established empirical and qualitative methods rather than obscure them.
Tools should remain interpretable, culturally sensitive, and accountable to the people affected by them.
Research should support better health communication, policy reasoning, and real-world decisions.
I welcome interdisciplinary collaborations spanning AI, public health, and social work.
I enjoy Chinese cooking and dessert-making, making music on the piano, violin, and harmonica, and playing badminton.