I am a Postdoctoral Scholar in Genetics at Stanford University, advised by Prof. Jonathan Pritchard. Previously, I completed my Ph.D. in Biostatistics at Yale University, advised by Prof. Hongyu Zhao.
The central theme of my research is to develop novel statistical and AI methods that integrate genetics, single-cell, and electronic health records data to understand the biological mechanisms and clinical pathways underlying complex traits and diseases. By bridging these complementary data sources, I aim to enable new scientific discoveries and to enhance disease prediction, risk stratification, and personalized healthcare.
💼 Employment
- Postdoctoral Scholar in Genetics, Stanford University (July 2026 – December 2026).
📖 Education
- Ph.D. in Biostatistics, Yale University (September 2021 – May 2026), dissertation awarded with distinction.
- B.S. in Statistics, Fudan University (September 2017 – June 2021).
📝 Selected Publications
(∗ indicates co-first authorship; † indicates co-corresponding authorship)
2026
- Xu, L., Dong, Y., Zeng, X., Bian, Z., Zhou, G., Guan, L., Zhao, H. (2026)
MIXPRS enables multi-population and multi-method polygenic risk scores using summary statistics.
Nature Genetics [paper] [software] [analysis] - Lin, C., Lin, Y., Li, W., Xu, L., Zhang, X., Zhao, H. (2026)
Leveraging cell-type specificity and similarity improves single-cell eQTL fine-mapping.
Nature Communications [paper] [software]
2025
- Xu, L., Zheng, W., Hu, J., Lin, Y., Zhao, J., Wang, G., Liu, T., Zhao, H. (2025)
Improving polygenic risk prediction performance through integrating electronic health records by phenotype embedding.
The American Journal of Human Genetics [paper] [software] [analysis] - Rivier, C.†, Xu, L., Clocchiatti-Tuozzo, S., Zhao, H., Ohno-Machado, L., Hafler, D., Falcone, G.†, Longbrake, E.† (2025)
Differential results of genetic risk scoring for multiple sclerosis in European and African-American populations.
Multiple Sclerosis Journal [paper] - Xu, L., Zhou, G., Jiang, W., Zhang, H., Dong, Y., Guan, L.†, Zhao, H.† (2025)
JointPRS: A data-adaptive framework for multi-population genetic risk prediction incorporating genetic correlation.
Nature Communications [paper] [software] [analysis]
2024
- Jiang, J., Xu, L., Zhang, Y., Zhao, H. (2024)
The method of limits and its application to the analysis of count data in genome-wide association studies.
Statistica Sinica [paper] [analysis] - Gygi, J.P.∗, Maguire, C.∗, Patel, R.K.∗, Shinde, P., Konstorum, A., Shannon, C.P., Xu, L., …, Guan, L. (2024)
Integrated longitudinal multiomics study identifies immune programs associated with acute COVID-19 severity and mortality.
The Journal of Clinical Investigation [paper]