Dr. Ming-Ying Leung

Professor, Mathematical Sciences

Director, Bioinformatics and Computational Science Programs

Director, BBRC Bioinformatics Core

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, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board NHARP, and USDA. Dr. Leung is committed to promote student involvement in research collaboration and scientific publication. Please visit her webpage about student supports for details. To encourage undergraduate research training for bioinformatics and computational bioscience in agricultural science and biomedical research, Dr. Leung is maintaining 3 major funded projects: Bioinformatics Education for Agricultural Science (BEAS), Bioinformatics Computing Laboratories (BCL), and Undergraduate Participation in Bioinformatics Training (UPBiT).