Yafei Wang
A little about me: I am currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at the University of Alberta. Prior to joining the University of Alberta in 2023, I was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Alberta (Nov 2019 - Oct 2022) supervised by Dr. Linglong Kong and Dr. Bei Jiang, and worked as a Lecturer at the University of Essex (Nov 2022 - Jun 2023). I completed my Ph.D. at the College of Applied Sciences at the Beijing University of Technology in 2019 under the supervision of Dr. Zhongzhan Zhang.
Contact info: Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, T6G 2G1
Email: yafei2@ualberta.ca Link: Google Scholar
Research Interest
My research interests focus mainly on complex and structured massive data analysis, especially the development of methods for robust estimation, optimal design, and hypothesis testing for functional data analysis and its application in brain imaging data analysis, and stochastic optimization with a primal focus on the algorithmic and theoretical foundations for solving data-driven decision-making problems with convex objectives. I am also interested in the investigation of the statistical inference of reinforcement learning while opening up the "black box" for understanding and interpretability.
Professional Experience
2023.07-present: Assistant Professor, Mathematical & Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada
2022.11-2023.06: Lecturer, Dept. of Mathematical Sciences, University of Essex, UK
2019.11-2022.10: Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Math. and Statistical Science, University of Alberta, CA
2017.10 - 2018.10: Visiting Ph.D. Student, Dept. of Math. and Statistical Science, University of Alberta, CA
Fundings and Grants
2024 - 2030: Robust Statistical Modeling under Uncertainty, NSERC-RGPIN, $95,000 (PI)
2024 - 2030: Robust Statistical Modeling under Uncertainty, NSERC-DGECR, $12,500 (PI)
2024 - 2025: Exploring the Application of Large Language Models in Medical Image Analysis: Integrating Statistics to Ensure Fairness and Privacy Protection, Networking Grants, £18,620 (Co-PI: Peng Liu - U Kent)
2023 - 2025: Start-up Funds, University of Alberta, $70,000 (PI)
Teaching
Winter 2024: STAT 562, Discrete Data Analysis, UofA
Winter 2024: STAT 432/532, Survival Analysis, UofA
Spring 2023: MA331, Programming and Text Analytics with R, University of Essex
Winter 2022: STAT 151, Introduction to Applied Statistics, University of Alberta
Fall 2020: STAT 580, Stochastic Processes, University of Alberta