Hui Luan

Hui Luan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health at the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, UT Southwestern Medical Center. He joined UT Southwestern in 2024 after serving as an Associate Professor (tenured) at the University of Oregon (2018–2024). His research focuses on spatial epidemiology, Bayesian spatiotemporal statistics, and GIS applications to address health disparities and environmental determinants of disease.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Planning, University of Waterloo, 2017
• M.S. in Cartography and GIS, Wuhan University, 2011
• B.S. in GIS, Wuhan University, 2009

Research Interests: Dr. Luan investigates spatial and temporal variations in health outcomes, particularly HIV incidence, and the role of social, physical, and built environments. He develops Bayesian models and spatial analytics to inform geographically tailored interventions. Current projects include optimizing PrEP accessibility, analyzing food environment equity, and leveraging spatial data science for public health policy.

Key Achievements:

• Lead investigator of an NIH-funded R01 project on reducing HIV incidence via spatial data science
• Editorial board member of Spatial and Spatiotemporal Epidemiology
• Recipient of the Vu Fellowship (2021–22)

Teaching: Teaches courses on GIS in Public Health, Spatial Analysis, and Big Data applications in geography. Recent courses include GIS and Public Health and Spatial and Spatiotemporal Analysis at the University of Oregon.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Spatial Data Science Lab focused on advancing Bayesian methods for health data analysis and promoting GIS applications in public health practice.