Education

• PhD in Mathematics, University of Illinois at Chicago (In Progress)

• MS in Applied Statistics, California State University, Long Beach

• BS in Economics & BA in Mathematics, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Research Interests

• Variable and Model Selection 

• Time Series and Longitudinal Data

• Biomedical Applications

Projects 

• Expected to begin in late Summer 2026. 

• Joint Interaction Selection in a Partially Linear Semiparametric Model, with Dr. Wang, Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2026-

• Breast Cancer Lymph Node Metastasis Detection via Fluorescence Imaging, collaborated with Dr. Yamada, Department of Surgery, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2025-2026

• Machine Learning-Based Time Series Forecasting and Model Performance Evaluation, advised by Dr. Kim, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, California State University, Long Beach, 2023-2024

• Game Theory: The Interpretation of Colonel Blotto Game in Probability Theory, advised by Dr. Weimerskirch, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Senior Project, 2017

and various projects in economics, applied statistics, and data analysis.

Publications 

1. In preparation

2. Tran, D.B., Goto, M., Coward, L.U., Kong, D., Goman, G.S, Wang, J., Christov, K., Green, A., Das Gupta, T.K., and Yamada, T. (2026). Near-infrared Fluorescence-guided Imaging Intraoperatively Distinguishes Metastatic and Benign Lymph Nodes in Breast Cancer Animal Models. Submitted. 

3. Kim, S. and Kong, D. (2024).  Forecasting Comparison between Dynamic Regression Model and Recurrent Neural Networks with Keras and Analysis of Dropout Regularization Effects. Manuscript. 

4. Kim, S., Krinik, S., and Kong, D. (2026). Cointegration Analysis of Ambient Ozone on Respiratory Disease Prevalence in Southern California. Journal of Applied Statistics: Environmental Statistics and Data Science. Advance online publication.  https://doi.org/10.1080/29984688.2026.2690168

Teaching Experience

• Fall 2026: 

• Summer 2026: MATH 220 - Introduction to Differential Equations (Grader)

• Spring 2026: STAT 101 - Introduction to Statistics (Teaching Assistant)

• Fall 2025: MATH 180 - Calculus 1 (Teaching Assistant)

• Spring 2025: MATH 181 - Calculus 2 (Teaching Assistant)

• Fall 2024: MATH 180 - Calculus 1 (Teaching Assistant)    

Work Experience

• Several unrelated work experiences (as an artillery drill instructor in the Army, product manager, etc.)