Mohan Yang Receives CRA Honorable Mention for Outstanding Undergraduate Research
The Computing Research Association recognized Mohan Yang, an ICS junior who is double majoring in data science and economics, with an Honorable Mention for the 2024-2025 Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award. This prestigious honor highlights his contributions to biostatistics and bioinformatics at UC Irvine.
Under the mentorship of his advisor, Statistics Professor Zhaoxia Yu, Yang’s research explores the effects of electro-acupuncture (EA) on Alzheimer’s disease in transgenic mouse models.
“Through a meta-analysis of over 28 studies, I estimated the influence of EA on cognitive performance and neuroinflammation markers. In addition to traditional direct comparisons between treatment and control groups, I implemented indirect comparisons through network analysis to maximize the data utility from various studies,” he says.
Yu highlighted that Yang independently mastered meta-analysis, a method of synthesizing quantitative data from independent studies. To address the challenges in data extraction from published work, a critical step in meta-analysis, he developed a fully automated web application based on deep learning methods, reducing the manual labor of meta-analysis for his research.
“When I suggested creating a fully automated data extraction tool, Yang not only built a pipeline from scratch but also refined it step by step,” says Yu. “His work is a perfect example of applying data science principles to address scientific problems: he identified a challenge in a scientific project, annotated data by himself and then developed an accurate predictive model, and produced user-friendly software.”
Yang credits the support of his research community for helping him grow as a researcher by providing him with invaluable guidance, resources and opportunities to explore his research interests outside of the classroom.
“The research experience at UCI helped me clarify my academic and career goals, inspiring me to pursue a path in biostatistics and bioinformatics. Receiving this Honorable Mention further motivates me to continue this journey and strive for growth in these fields,” says Yang.
— Karen Phan