Wenpin Hou

Research Interests

As an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at Duke University School of Medicine, Dr. Wenpin Hou is dedicated to developing AI and statistical methods to decode gene regulatory programs from single-cell and spatial multiomics data, with the goal of characterizing developmental processes, pinpointing regulatory alterations in complex human diseases, and identifying external intervention strategies for targeted therapy. Her group focuses on developing:

Statistical models for studying temporal and spatial patterns in single-cell and spatial omics data
Computational methods to infer DNA methylation and its spatial landscape
Foundation models for gene regulatory activities
Application of Generative Pre-trained Transformer models in biomedical research (e.g. image classification, genomics Q&A)

Dr. Hou was an assistant professor (tenure-track) at Department of Biostatistics and an affiliated member of the Data Science Institute at Columbia University before joining Duke.

Awards and Recognition

Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) for Early Stage Investigators (R35) from NIH/NIGMS in September 2023.
NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) from NIH/NHGRI in March 2021.

Collaborations

Dr. Hou collaborates across diverse fields, including cancer, immunology, infectious diseases, and more. She is part of the ENCODE4 consortium and is contributing to single-cell analysis.

Education and Training

Dr. Hou earned her Ph.D. in Mathematics from The University of Hong Kong, where she was a recipient of University Postgraduate Fellowships and Postgraduate Scholarship. Before joining Columbia, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University in the Department of Biostatistics, mentored by Drs. Stephanie Hicks, Hongkai Ji, Andy Feinberg, focusing on developing computational methods for inferring single-cell DNA methylation and its spatial landscape, and Department of Computer Science mentored by Drs. Suchi Saria and Aravinda Chakravarti.

For Prospective Students

She is currently seeking PhD students eager to contribute to innovative research projects on genomics. If you are interested, please directly apply and list her name as your preferred mentor. All applications will be reviewed. You will be invited for an interview if the committee thinks you could be a good fit for the department’s program.

If you are interested in a research position (e.g. research assistant, visiting student, practicum), please send her your CV and research interest.

Columbia News about Wenpin

Wenpin was Awarded 2025 Mentor of the Year