David J. H. Shih

Dr. Shih completed his BSc, MSc, and PhD at the University of Toronto, and he undertook postdoctoral training in the Department of Data Science at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, with cross-appointments in the Department of Biostatistics at Harvard T.H. School of Public Health and in the Cancer Program at the Broad Institute. He also did a postdoctoral fellowship in Systems Biology at MD Anderson Cancer Institute. Prior to joining HKU, Dr. Shih was a Research Assistant Professor in the School of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Texas Health Science Center, while serving as Co-Director of the Data Science and Informatics Core for Cancer Research.

In his past research, Dr. Shih characterized the genomics of pediatric brain tumors in order to identify molecular subtypes of cancer, cancer driver genes, aberrant molecular pathways, and prognostic biomarkers. He studied the molecular evolution of brain metastases and developed novel methodologies for comparative DNA copy-number analysis. He also investigated therapeutic strategies to exploit cancer defects in DNA damage repair using pharmacogenomic data. Additionally, he also performed longitudinal studies using electronic health records and sequencing data in order to better understand cancer progression and immune response. Above all, Dr. Shih collaborates extensively with scientists and clinicians around the world.

Research Description:

Dr. Shih’s current research focuses on developing tailored statistical models and computational algorithms in order to derive insights from integrative genomics, high-throughput sequencing, and electronic health record data. He is particularly interested in developing statistical models that are informed by scientific knowledge and accelerated by deep learning algorithms. In this way, this framework can benefit from the rigor and interpretability of statistical models as well as the flexibility and efficiency of machine learning techniques.

Companies

• Assistant Professor The University of Hong Kong (2022)
• Research Assistant Professor The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) (2020 — 2022)
• Postdoctoral Fellow The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (2018 — 2021)
• Research Fellow Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (2016 — 2018)
• Research Fellow Broad Institute (2015 — 2018)
• Research Fellow Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (2015 — 2018)
• PhD Graduate Student The Hospital for Sick Children (2011 — 2015)
• Swim Instructor and Life Guard YMCA of Greater Toronto (2006 — 2015)
• Visiting Researcher Carnegie Mellon University (2014 — 2014)

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) University of Toronto (2011 — 2015)
• Master of Science (M.Sc.) University of Toronto (2008 — 2011)
• Honours Bachelor of Science with High Distinction (B.Sc.) University of Toronto (2004 — 2008)