Dr. Leung's research interests are mostly in probabilistic modeling and statistical bioinformatics with a focus on applications of Markov models, Poisson approximations, and scan statistics for DNA sequence analysis. She uses scan statistics to identify unusual clusters of palindromes in the DNA genomes of herpesviruses. An algorithm for predicting viral replication origins based on palindrome clusters and other sequence patterns is currently being developed.

Several funded research projects are ongoing in Dr. Leung's Structural Bioinformatics Laboratory to develop and implement mathematical models in bioinformatics computational tools for genomics studies. She is committed to promote student involvement in research collaboration and scientific publication. Please visit her webpage about student supports for details.

To encourage both undergraduate and graduate research training for bioinformatics and computational bioscience in agricultural science and biomedical research, Dr. Leung maintains three major funded projects: Bioinformatics Education for Agricultural Science (BEAS), Bioinformatics Computing Laboratory (BCL) for biomedical research, and Undergraduate Participation in Bioinformatics Training (UPBiT).