Congratulations to Yifan Lin and Gabriella Vasconcelos, graduate students in the University of Washington Department of Biostatistics who have been awarded 2026 School of Public Health Excellence Awards.
This year’s recipients have demonstrated high academic achievement and have been inspirational among their peers, faculty mentors, and staff.
Yifan Lin
Gilbert S. Omenn Award for Academic Excellence: Master’s Student
Yifan Lin has been awarded the Gilbert S. Omenn Award for Academic Excellence. The Omenn Award is the most prestigious, School-wide recognition for students. Each year, the School honors two standout graduate students — one doctoral and one master's — for their academic excellence and commitment to public health.
Lin is a Biostatistics MS thesis student whose innovative research has advanced high-dimensional genomics data. She developed an artificial intelligence (AI) framework to address the impact of unmeasured confounding, one of the toughest problems in observational public health research. By combining generative AI with traditional methods, she developed sensGAN, a framework that improves interpretation of complex genomic data. She has presented her work at multiple conferences, has a published preprint, and is preparing for publication before beginning her PhD program. Beyond research, Yifan was an active leader, co-leading DEI initiatives and contributing to many community-building efforts within the department.
“Yifan's rapid mastery of the entire research workflow from ideation and implementation to the presentation of such complex biomedical questions has been truly inspirational,” said Kevin Lin, assistant professor of biostatistics and Lin’s advisor.
“She embodies the spirit of public health biostatistics, developing bold ideas at the forefront of computational research to address the pressing challenges we face in Alzheimer's research. Additionally, she is equally dedicated to her community, co-leading our department's mental health initiatives. I am honored to have been her advisor. Her journey is a masterclass for future students, proving that a unique, non-traditional perspective is an immense scientific asset.”
Read more about Yifan Lin's work combining generative AI with traditional methods to develop sensGAN
Gabriela Vasconcelos
Outstanding Doctoral Student, Biostatistics
Gabriela Vasconcelos is the recipient of the Outstanding Doctoral Student award. Vasconcelos is a PhD graduate from UW whose research sits at the intersection of statistical innovation and applied genomics. Advised by Dr. Ali Shojaie, she developed methods for spatial transcriptomics with a persistent focus on usability and interpretability, building tools that are not only theoretically grounded but also accessible to a broad scientific audience. She is now a postdoctoral researcher at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, continuing to advance statistical methodology for spatial and single-cell genomics.
“Gabby is an outstanding scholar with a bright future," said Ali Shojaie, interim department chair and professor of biostatistics, and Vasconcelos' advisor.
"She thinks deeply about data analysis with a maturity that is exceptional for people at her stage. She is also a true scholar and an amazing communicator, who genuinely cares about making impactful contributions and demonstrates incredible curiosity about the scientific context of the problems she engages in. Gabby is also very independent, yet collegial and a fantastic collaborator,” said Shojaie.
Earlier this year, Vasconcelos was recognized nationally by colleagues within the biostatistics community for her work on spatial transcriptomics, earning a Best Student Paper Award from the ASA Statistical Genetics and Genomics Section. Her paper “Accounting for Spatial Correlation in Network Analysis of Spatial Transcriptomics Data” proposes a general framework that accounts for spatial structure and technical variability, helping distinguish biologically meaningful gene relationships from correlations driven by shared location.
She will be delivering a Topic Contributed Talk at the 2026 Joint Statistical Meetings on her winning paper.
Congratulations again to both students for their achievements!
