Medical College of Wisconsin
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CURRICULUM VITAE

Kai Yang PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Data Science Institute
Division of Biostatistics

OFFICE ADDRESS:
Medical Education Building
8701 Watertown Plank Rd
Milwaukee, WI 53226
Email: kayang@mcw.edu

EDUCATION:
08/2012 - 06/2016 BS, Department of Mathematics, Nanjing University, China
08/2016 - 08/2019 MS, Department of Biostatistics, University of Florida, FL
08/2016 - 08/2021 PhD, Department of Biostatistics, University of Florida, FL

FACULTY APPOINTMENTS:
08/2021 - Present Assistant Professor, Data Science Institute, Division of Biostatistics, The Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI

AWARDS AND HONORS:
05/2014 Jingchu Scholarship, Nanjing University
05/2015 First Prize of the People's Scholarship, Nanjing University
03/2018 Student Travel Award, Department of Biostatistics, University of Florida
05/2018 Outstanding Dissertation Research Award, University of Florida
05/2018 Best Student Paper Award, International Indian Statistical Association
08/2018 Young Investigator Award, American Statistical Association
05/2019 Student Travel Award, IMS/ASA Spring Research Conference
05/2019 Student Travel Award, Midwest Biopharmaceutical Statistics Workshop
07/2020 Outstanding Dissertation Research Award, University of Florida
10/2022 PHHP Outstanding Young Alumni Award, University of Florida

MEMBERSHIPS IN HONORARY AND PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES:
06/2017 - Present American Statistical Association
06/2017 - Present International Biometric Society
03/2018 - Present International Chinese Statistical Association
08/2018 - Present American Association for the Advancement of Science
03/2019 - Present Institute of Mathematical Statistics
03/2019 - Present Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences

EDITORSHIPS/EDITORIAL BOARDS/JOURNAL REVIEWS:
Journal Review
02/2019 - Present IEEE Access
03/2020 - Present International Journal of Production Research
11/2020 - Present Statistics in Medicine
05/2021 - Present BioData Mining
08/2021 - Present Global Epidemiology
01/2022 - Present BMJ Open
07/2022 - Present Journal of Applied Statistics
11/2023 - Present Statistical Papers
01/2024 - Present Quality Technology and Quantitative Management
03/2024 - Present IISE Transactions
04/2024 - Present Quality and Reliability Engineering International
07/2024 - Present Journal of Quality Technology
02/2025 - Present Journal of Alzheimer's Disease

LOCAL/REGIONAL APPOINTED LEADERSHIP AND COMMITTEE POSITIONS:
07/2022 - 06/2023 Vice President, Wisconsin Chapter, American Statistical Association
07/2023 - 06/2024 President, Wisconsin Chapter, American Statistical Association
01/2024 - 05/2024 Member, AHW Grant Review Panel, Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin

NATIONAL ELECTED/APPOINTED LEADERSHIP AND COMMITTEE POSITIONS:
03/2022 - Present Member, ICSA Student Paper Competition Committee, International Chinese Statistical Association
09/2023 - Present Member, Radiation Oncology In-Training Exam Committee, American College of Radiologists
01/2024 - Present Member, ICSA Award Committee, International Chinese Statistical Association
03/2024 - Present Member, IISE QCRE Paper Award Committee, Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers

RESEARCH GRANTS/AWARDS/CONTRACTS/PROJECTS:
Active
Peer Review
Title:
Endothelial Rap1 in the Control of Heart Function
Source:
NIH Heart Lung and Blood Institute
Role & Effort:
Biostatistician
PI:
Dr. David X. Zhang
Dates:
09/01/2021 - 08/31/2026
  
Title:
Leveraging a Public School District and Schoolyard Spaces to Confront Climate Health Inequities in A Low Income, Urban Community of Color
Source:
Environmental Protection Agency
Role & Effort:
Co-Investigator
PI:
Dr. Kirsten Beyer
Dates:
09/2022 - 08/2025
  
Prior
Peer Review
Title:
A Multipotential Mitigation Agent for Gastrointestinal Syndrome
Source:
NIH
Role & Effort:
Consultant
PI:
Dr. Paul Okunieff
Dates:
08/2018 - 07/2019
  
Title:
Online Spatio-Temporal Disease Surveillance Using Exponentially Weighted Spatial LASSO
Source:
CTSI BERD Pilot Methodological Innovation Award
Role & Effort:
Principal Investigator
PI:
Dr. Kai Yang
Dates:
05/2022 - 04/2023
  

INVITED LECTURES/WORKSHOPS/PRESENTATIONS:
International
Kai Yang, Peihua Qiu, Online Sequential Monitoring of Spatio-Temporal Disease Incidence Rates, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China, 11/02/2020
Kai Yang, Peihua Qiu, Design Variable-Sampling Control Charts Using Covariate Information, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China, 06/29/2021
Peihua Qiu, Kai Yang, Effective Disease Surveillance by Using Covariate Information, IISA Conference on Statistics, Bangalore, India, 12/26/2022 - 12/30/2022
 
National
Kai Yang, Peihua Qiu, Online Sequential Monitoring of Spatio-Temporal Disease Incidence Rates, IISA Conference on Statistics, Gainesville, FL, 05/17/2018 - 05/20/2018
Kai Yang, Peihua Qiu, Online Sequential Monitoring of Spatio-Temporal Disease Incidence Rates, INFORMS Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, 10/20/2019 - 10/23/2019
Peihua Qiu, Kai Yang, Spatio-Temporal Disease Surveillance by Using Covariate Information, INFORMS Annual Meeting, Virtual, 11/08/2020 - 11/11/2020
Peihua Qiu, Kai Yang, Spatio-Temporal Disease Surveillance by Using Covariate Information, WNAR Annual Meeting, Virtual, 06/13/2021 - 06/16/2021
Kai Yang, Peihua Qiu, Design Variable Sampling Control Charts Using Covariate Information, INFORMS Annual Meeting, Anaheim, CA, 10/24/2021 - 10/27/2021
Kai Yang, Peihua Qiu, Adaptive Process Monitoring Using Covariate Information, ICSA Applied Statistics Symposium, Gainesville, FL, 06/19/2022 - 06/22/2022
Peihua Qiu, Kai Yang, Spatio-Temporal Process Monitoring Using Exponentially Weighted Spatial LASSO, INFORMS Annual Meeting, Indianapolis, IN, 10/16/2022 - 10/19/2022
Kai Yang, Design Variable Sampling Control Charts Using Covariate Information, INFORMS Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, 10/15/2023 - 10/18/2023
Kai Yang, Reduced-Rank Cox Models for High-Dimensional Multi-Response Survival Data with Hidden Confounders, INFORMS Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, 10/20/2024 - 10/23/2024
Kai Yang, Multiscale spatio-temporal data monitoring using forward elimination and scale information criterion, IEEE CASE 2025, Los Angeles, CA, 08/17/2025 - 08/21/2025
 

PEER REVIEWED WORKSHOPS/PRESENTATIONS:
International
Kai Yang, Peihua Qiu, Online Sequential Monitoring of Spatio-Temporal Disease Incidence Rates, Joint Statistical Meeting, Vancouver, Canada, 07/28/2018 - 08/02/2018
 
National
Kai Yang, Peihua Qiu, Online Sequential Monitoring of Spatio-Temporal Disease Incidence Rates, ENAR Spring Meeting, Atlanta, GA, 03/25/2018 - 03/28/2018
Kai Yang, Peihua Qiu, Online Sequential Monitoring of Spatio-Temporal Disease Incidence Rates, Midwest Biopharmaceutical Statistics Workshop, Indianapolis, IN, 05/20/2019 - 05/22/2019
Kai Yang, Peihua Qiu, Online Sequential Monitoring of Spatio-Temporal Disease Incidence Rates, IMS/ASA Spring Research Conference, Blacksburg, VA, 05/22/2019 - 05/24/2019
Kai Yang, Peihua Qiu, Adaptive Process Monitoring Using Covariate Information, Joint Statistical Meeting, Washington, DC, 08/06/2022 - 08/11/2022
 
Regional
Kai Yang, Peihua Qiu, Effective Statistical Process Control by Using Covariate Information, ASA Florida Chapter Meeting, Orlando, FL, 02/08/2019 - 02/09/2019
 
Local
Kai Yang, Peihua Qiu, Spatio-Temporal Incidence Rate Data Analysis by Using Nonparametric Regression, UF Biostatistics Workshop, Gainesville, FL, 04/07/2017 - 04/08/2017
Kai Yang, Peihua Qiu, Online Sequential Monitoring of Spatio-Temporal Disease Incidence Rates, UF Statistics Winter Workshop, Gainesville, FL, 01/19/2018 - 01/20/2018
Kai Yang, Peihua Qiu, Nonparametric Modeling of Spatio-Temporal Disease Incidence Rate Data, UF Emerging Pathogens Institute Research Day, Gainesville, FL, 02/12/2019
 

COMMITTEE SERVICE:
Medical College of Wisconsin
09/2021 - 06/2023 Member, Computer Committee, Division of Biostatistics, Institute for Health and Equity, Medical College of Wisconsin
09/2021 - 06/2023 Member, Website Committee, Division of Biostatistics, Institute for Health and Equity, Medical College of Wisconsin
01/2022 - Present Member, Student Admission Committee, Division of Biostatistics, Data Science Institute, Medical College of Wisconsin
03/2022 - Present Member, Faculty Recruitment Committee, Division of Biostatistics, Data Science Institute, Medical College of Wisconsin
06/2022 - Present Member, PhD Preliminary Exam Committee, Division of Biostatistics, Data Science Institute, Medical College of Wisconsin
07/2023 - Present Member, Seminar Committee, Division of Biostatistics, Data Science Institute, Medical College of Wisconsin
07/01/2025 - Present Member, Graduate Studies Course Evaluation Committee, Medical College of Wisconsin
 

MCW TEACHING ACTIVITIES:
Graduate Student Education
01/2022 - 05/2022 BIOS 04232 Statistical Models and Methods II
05/2022 - Present BIOS 04295 Reading and Research
01/2023 - 05/2023 Linear Models I
01/2024 - 05/2024 BIOS 04232 Statistical Models and Methods II
08/2024 - 12/2024 BIOS 04231 Statistical Models and Methods I
 

EXTRAMURAL STUDENTS, FACULTY, RESIDENTS, AND CLINICAL/RESEARCH FELLOWS MENTORED:
Graduate Students
PhD Committees
05/2022 - Present Chima Anyanwu, Public and Community Health Program, Medical College of Wisconsin
01/2024 - Present Shana Terai Lara, Medical Scientist Training Program, Medical College of Wisconsin
04/2024 - Present Kersten Hammond Reich, Public Health Program, Medical College of Wisconsin
PhD Students Advised
01/2023 - Present Haoran Teng, Biostatistics Program, Medical College of Wisconsin
 


BIBLIOGRAPHY
Refereed Journal Publications/Original Papers
1. Yang K, Qiu P. Spatiotemporal incidence rate data analysis by nonparametric regression. Stat Med. 2018 Jun 15;37(13):2094-2107.
2. Iqbal A, Khan A, George TJ, Tan S, Qiu P, Yang K, Trevino J, Hughes S. Objective Preoperative Parameters Predict Difficult Pelvic Dissections and Clinical Outcomes. J Surg Res. 2018 Dec;232:15-25.
3. Yang K, Qiu P. Nonparametric estimation of the spatio-temporal covariance structure. Stat Med. 2019 Oct 15;38(23):4555-4565.
4. Kirkpatrick AF, Saghafi A, Yang K, Qiu P, Alexander J, Bavry E, Schwartzman R. Optimizing the Treatment of CRPS with Ketamine. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 2020; 36: 516-523. 
5. Riner AN, Underwood PW, Yang K, Herremans KM, Cameron ME, Chamala S, Qiu P, George TJ, Permuth JB, Merchant NB, Trevino JG. Disparities in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma-The Significance of Hispanic Ethnicity, Subgroup Analysis, and Treatment Facility on Clinical Outcomes. Cancer Med. 2020 Jun;9(12):4069-4082. PMCID: PMC7300394
6. B Allen, R Christenson, S Cohen, R Nowak, G Wilkerson, B Mumma, T Madsen, J McCord, M Huis In'T Veld, M Massoomi, J Stopyra, C Montero, M Weaver, K Yang, S Mahler. Evaluation of European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 0/1-hour algorithm in the diagnosis of 90-day major adverse cardiovascular events: a multicenter United States cohort study. European Heart Journal. 2020; 41: ehaa946.1671.
7. Yang K, Qiu P. Online sequential monitoring of spatio-temporal disease incidence rates. IISE Transactions. 1 November 2020;52(11):1218-1233.
8. Allen BR, Christenson RH, Cohen SA, Nowak R, Wilkerson RG, Mumma B, Madsen T, McCord J, Huis In't Veld M, Massoomi M, Stopyra JP, Montero C, Weaver MT, Yang K, Mahler SA. Diagnostic Performance of High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin T Strategies and Clinical Variables in a Multisite US Cohort. Circulation. 2021 Apr 27;143(17):1659-1672.
9. Yang K, Qiu P. Adaptive Process Monitoring Using Covariate Information. Technometrics. 2021;63(3):313-328.
10. Qiu P, Yang K. Effective disease surveillance by using covariate information. Stat Med. 2021 Nov 20;40(26):5725-5745.
11. Yang K, Qiu P. A three-step local smoothing approach for estimating the mean and covariance functions of spatio-temporal Data. Annals of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics. February 2022;74(1):49-68.
12. Wynne N, Cava JA, Gaffney M, Heitkotter H, Scheidt A, Reiniger JL, Grieshop J, Yang K, Harmening WM, Cooper RF, Carroll J. Intergrader agreement of foveal cone topography measured using adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopy. Biomed Opt Express. 2022 Aug 01;13(8):4445-4454. PMCID: PMC9408252
13. Yang GS, Yang K, Weaver MT, Lynch Kelly D, Dorsey SG, Jackson-Cook CK, Lyon DE. Exploring the relationship between DNA methylation age measures and psychoneurological symptoms in women with early-stage breast cancer. Support Care Cancer. 2022 Dec 20;31(1):65.
14. Yang K, Qiu P. Design variable-sampling control charts using covariate information. IISE Transactions. 2022;54(5):505-519.
15. Qiu P, Yang K. Spatio-temporal process monitoring using exponentially weighted spatial LASSO. Journal of Quality Technology. 2023;55(2):163-180.
16. Yang K, Qiu P. SpTe2M: An R package for nonparametric modeling and monitoring of spatiotemporal data Journal of Quality Technology. 2024;56(2):140-156.
17. Patel M, Liu XC, Tassone C, Escott B, Yang K, Thometz J. Correlation of transverse rotation of the spine using surface topography and 3D reconstructive radiography in children with idiopathic scoliosis. Spine Deform. 2024 Jul;12(4):1001-1008.
18. Patel M, Liu XC, Yang K, Tassone C, Escott B, Thometz J. 3D Back Contour Metrics in Predicting Idiopathic Scoliosis Progression: Retrospective Cohort Analysis, Case Series Report and Proof of Concept. Children (Basel). 2024 Jan 26;11(2). PMCID: PMC10886742
19. Roge SA, Valiquette AM, Teng BQ, Yang K, Grindel SI. Revision rotator cuff repair versus primary repair: an assessment of longitudinal outcomes in revision rotator cuff repair. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2025 Mar;34(3):860-868.
20. Kosuru R, Romito O, Sharma GP, Ferraresso F, Ghadrdoost Nakhchi B, Yang K, Mammoto T, Mammoto A, Kastrup CJ, Zhang DX, Goldspink PH, Trebak M, Chrzanowska M. Rap1A Modulates Store-Operated Calcium Entry in the Lung Endothelium: A Novel Mechanism Controlling NFAT-Mediated Vascular Inflammation and Permeability. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2024 Nov;44(11):2271-2287. PMCID: PMC11495542
21. Adams AJ, Dyer M, Kugler NW, Yang K, Hieb RA, Rossi P. Safety of plug-mediated vascular closure for prosthetic arterial graft puncture. Journal of Vascular Surgery. 2024; 79: e303.
22. Yang K. Statistical methods for dynamic disease screening and spatio-temporal disease surveillance. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A. 2025.
23. Nerenz RD, Hooshmand SI, Jackowiak E, Shirilla D, Yang Y, Yang K, Obeidat AZ. Clinical decision support improves autoimmune/paraneoplastic antibody panel utilization. Am J Clin Pathol. 2025 Jan 28;163(1):109-120.
24. Konop KA, Fritz JM, Graf A, Celin MR, Kruger KM, Radmanovic K, Krzak J, Yang K, Teng BQ, Smith P, Harris GF. Ankle push-off metrics and electromyography during gait in children with mild to moderate osteogenesis imperfecta. Biomedical Sciences Instrumentation. April 2024;60(1):41-56.
25. Schmidt N, Thiessen A, Selthafner M, Yang K, Liu XC. Surface topography based RCS. Eur Spine J. 2025 Jun 05.
26. White CJK, Kodra JD, Bollepalli H, Yang K, Van Valin SE, Liu XC. The seasonal incidence of slipped capital femoral epiphysis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Children. 2025; 12: 729.
27. Nakhchi BG, Kosuru R, Zheng S, Yang K, Zhang D, Goldspink P, Trebak M, Chrzanowska M. RasGRP3: a central nexus for Ca²⁺ entry and distinct Rap1 and H-Ras signaling pathways in endothelial cells. Journal of Cell Science. 2025.
 
Books, Chapters, and Reviews
1. Qiu P, Yang K, You L. Discussion of ‘Post selection shrinkage estimation for high-dimensional data analysis’. Applied Stochastic Models in Business and Industry. 1 March 2017;33(2):123-125.
2. Yang K, Qiu P. BCEWMA: a new and effective biosurveillance system for disease outbreak detection. In Statistical Methods for Global Health and Epidemiology (edited by Xinguang Chen and Ding-Geng Chen). 2020; 335-352, Springer.
 
Editorials, Letters To Editor, Other
1. Allen BR, Christenson RH, Cohen SA, Weaver MT, Yang K, Mahler SA. Response by Allen et al to Letter Regarding Article, "Diagnostic Performance of High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin T Strategies and Clinical Variables in a Multisite US Cohort". Circulation. 2021 Nov 09;144(19):e285-e286.