Ming-Ying Leung

Professor, Mathematical Sciences

Director, Bioinformatics Program

B.Sc., 1980, Mathematics, University of Hong Kong

M.Phil., 1983, Mathematics, University of Hong Kong
M.S., 1988, Computer Science, Stanford University
Ph.D., 1989, Mathematics, Stanford University

Dr. Leung's research centers on probabilistic modeling and statistical bioinformatics, focusing on the applications of Markov models, Poisson approximations, and the scan statistics to DNA sequence analysis. She applied the 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.

With a research theme in applied probability and statistical bioinformatics, several ongoing projects are funded by NIH, NSF, and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board ARP. Dr. Leung is interested in supporting research projects for  undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows in the following areas:

• Data collection and software tools (undergraduates, all disciplines)

• Genomics and sequence analysis (master's in bioinformatics)

• Applied probability and biostatistics (master's in statistics or mathematics)

• Probability and computational biology (Ph.D. in Computational Science)

• Health data analysis (Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering)

• Prediction algorithms (postdoctoral in science and engineering)

For further details about the degrees, please visit their websites or contact her at mleung@utep.edu or (915)747-6836. By browsing through them, you will also find many exciting projects in other areas at UTEP. In addition, Dr. Leung is also a member of the Statistical Consulting Lab (SCL) and Bioinformatics Computing Lab (BCL); you may want to visit these two websites as well.