Shibiao Wan

Dr. Shibiao Wan serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy at University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), with a courtesy appointment in Biostatistics. He is Co-Director for the Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (BISB) PhD Program and Assistant Director for the Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Core. With over 14 years of experience in machine learning and bioinformatics, Dr. Wan leads an active research program developing computational methods for biomedical data analysis.

Dr. Wan's research spans computational biology and biomedical informatics with focus on single-cell analysis, multi-omics integration, spatial transcriptomics, and cancer research. His laboratory develops AI and machine learning approaches to analyze genomics, transcriptomics, epigenetics, proteomics, metabolomics, and medical imaging data. Key contributions include methods for protein subcellular localization prediction, cancer subtyping, and multi-omics integration for precision medicine applications.

His recent publications show a strong trend toward multi-modal data integration for disease diagnosis and subtyping, particularly in cancer (medulloblastoma, leukemia, lung cancer) and neurodegenerative disorders (Alzheimer's disease). His laboratory has developed numerous bioinformatics tools including SHARP for single-cell RNA-seq analysis, RaMBat for medulloblastoma classification, RanBALL for leukemia subtyping, and WIMOAD for Alzheimer's diagnosis.

Dr. Wan has received significant recognition including the Springer Nature Editor of Distinction Award (2025), UNMC New Investigator Award (2024), FIRST Award from Nebraska EPSCoR (2023), and the Outstanding Young Alumni Award from HK PolyU (2022). He was named among the top 1% reviewers globally by Clarivate in both 'Cross-Field' and 'Biology and Biochemistry' categories (2019).

As Co-Director of the BISB PhD Program, Dr. Wan actively mentors graduate students in bioinformatics and computational biology. His laboratory comprises a multidisciplinary team working at the intersection of computer science, statistics, and biomedical research. Dr. Wan serves as Editor-in-Chief for Current Proteomics and holds editorial positions with numerous high-impact journals including Briefings in Functional Genomics, BMC Bioinformatics, and Frontiers journals.

The Wan Lab at UNMC focuses on machine learning and bioinformatics (MLAB), developing computational methods to unravel molecular biological systems using heterogeneous biomedical data. The lab collaborates extensively with scientists in cancer biology, metabolism, immunology, pathology, and developmental biology to translate computational findings into biological insights and potential clinical applications.