People
Principal Investigator
Bio
Xin Tang is an Assistant Professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories and the Department of Computer Science at
the University of British Columbia, where he holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Computational Cell
Biology. He received his PhD in Engineering Sciences from Harvard University and the Broad Institute of MIT
and Harvard.
He studies AI for Biology and Biology of AI to uncover the computational principles of life and intelligence across biological and artificial systems. In AI for Biology, his lab develops AI methods to understand how molecular programs give rise to cell states and functions, tissue organization, neural dynamics, and behavior, with the long-term goal of building virtual cells and autonomous systems for scientific discovery. In Biology of AI, the lab investigates how representations and circuits emerge through learning in brains and neural networks and how they give rise to intelligence, with the broader goal of building a mechanistic science of how intelligent systems learn, develop, and adapt.
He studies AI for Biology and Biology of AI to uncover the computational principles of life and intelligence across biological and artificial systems. In AI for Biology, his lab develops AI methods to understand how molecular programs give rise to cell states and functions, tissue organization, neural dynamics, and behavior, with the long-term goal of building virtual cells and autonomous systems for scientific discovery. In Biology of AI, the lab investigates how representations and circuits emerge through learning in brains and neural networks and how they give rise to intelligence, with the broader goal of building a mechanistic science of how intelligent systems learn, develop, and adapt.
Email
Note
Our lab is actively recruiting researchers at all levels! Consider joining us.
Postdoc Fellows
Postdoc Fellow, Computational Vision, UBC
Research interest
Data-efficient Learning (semi-/weakly-supervised learning) and Data Generation (synthetic/generative data, mixing multi-modal data), computer vision, AI for science
Personal interest
Board games, Photography, Karaoke/singing, and Basketball
Previously
PhD in Computer Science from the University of Hong Kong
Postdoc Fellow, Computational Neuroscience, UBC
Research interest
Brain-Machine Interfaces, Neural Encoding, Computer Vision, Applied Machine Learning
Personal interest
Gaming, Models and 3D-printing, Carpentry and Architecture, Agri-tech, Urban Planning
Previously
PhD in Neuroscience from Centre for Brain Health, UBC
Postdoc Fellow, Computational Vision, UBC
Research interest
Multimodal Large Language Models, Agentic AI, Embodied AI, AI for Science
Personal interest
Running and Hiking
Previously
PhD in School of Computer Science and Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
Postdoc Fellow, UBC, co-supervised with Drs. Leonard Foster and Cheryl Wellington
Research interest
AI for Biology, Interpretable Machine Learning, Single-cell Omics, Multimodal Omics Integration, and Neurodegenerative Diseases
Personal interest
Piano, violin, singing, chess, and table tennis
Previously
PhD in Biology (Bioinformatics) from Hong Kong Baptist University; Postdoctoral Fellow at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Graduate Students
PhD Student, Computer Science, UBC
Research interest
Continual Learning, Long-Term Adaptation, Machine Learning
Personal interest
Video Games, Badminton, Piano
Previously
M.S. in Computer Science, UCLA; B.S.E. in Computer Science, University of Michigan
PhD Student, Bioinformatics, UBC
Research interest
Spatial and Single-Cell Genomics, Multi-Omics, Neurodegeneration
Personal interest
Basketball, Snowboarding, Cooking, Hiking with Dogs
Previously
M.Sc. in Computational Biology, Harvard University; B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Statistics, University of Toronto
PhD Student, Bioinformatics, UBC
Research interest
AI for Biology and Neuroscience, LLMs, Foundation Models
Personal interest
Sleeping, Basketball
Previously
M.Sc. in Computer Science from Tongji University
PhD Student, Bioinformatics, UBC
Research interest
AI for Biomedicine, Multimodal Data Integration, Knowledge Inference
Personal interest
Snowboarding, Running, Hiking
Previously
Dual master’s degrees in Computer Science and Electronics Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the Technical University of Berlin
MSc Student, Computer Science, UBC
Research interest
AI/ML for Biology, Deep Learning
Personal interest
Reading, Sightseeing, History
Previously
B.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Toronto
MSc Student, Computer Science, UBC
Research interest
Explainable/Interpretable AI, Multimodal Learning, Computational Neuroscience
Personal interest
Reading, Bicycling
Previously
B.Sc. in Computer Science from UBC
MSc Student, Computer Science, UBC
Research interest
Explainable and Interpretable AI, AI for Healthcare, Deep Learning
Personal interest
Traveling, Swimming, Food
Previously
B.B.A. in Information Management, National Taiwan University; Minor in Computer Science
PhD Student, Computer Science, UBC, co-supervised with Dr. Margo Seltzer
Research interest
Neurodegenerative Diseases, Machine Learning
Personal interest
Singing, Playing the Guitar, Songwriting, Writing Fiction
Previously
M.Sc. in Computer Science from UBC
PhD Student, Computer Science, UBC
Research interest
Interpretability, Causality, Learning Theory
Personal interest
Basketball, Fitness
Previously
M.Sc. from SUSTech; B.Sc. from Northeastern University
Undergraduate Students
Undergraduate Student, Computer Science, UBC
Research interest
Machine Learning, Bioinformatics, Artificial Intelligence, Healthcare
Personal interest
Basketball, Gaming, Traveling, Reading
Computer Science Undergraduate Research Intern, UBC
Research interest
Brain-Computer Interface, Computational Neuroscience, Explainable/Interpretable AI
Personal interest
playing ping-pong, watching soccer games
Undergraduate reading MEng in Engineering Science, University of Oxford
Research interest
AI for Biology
Personal interest
Chess, Cycling
Undergraduate Student, Computer Science, UBC
Research interest
Machine Learning, Computational Neuroscience, Computational Biology
Personal interest
Running, Tennis, Cooking, Gaming
Combined Major in CS and Neuroscience, Undergraduate Research Intern, UBC
Research interest
Computational/Theoretical neuroscience, Explainable/Interpretable AI.
Personal interest
Music, Cooking, Ultimate Frisbee
ISCI (Computer Science and Neuroimmunology) Undergraduate Research Intern, UBC
Research interest
Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI), Translational Neuroscience, Multimodal Learning
Personal interest
Running, Reading, Chess
Undergraduate in Pharmaceutical Science, UBC
Research interest
AI-driven Drug Discovery, Aging Biology, Antimicrobial Resistance
Personal interest
Tennis, snowboarding, Clash Royale
Computer Science Undergraduate Research Intern, UBC
Research interest
Machine Learning, Computational Biology
Personal interest
Go (game)
ISCI Undergraduate Research Intern, UBC
Research interest
Gut Microbiota, Vaccine Production, implementation of AI in biological research
Personal interest
Basketball, Music (violin), reading, running, hiking, cliff diving
Remote Research Intern
Research Intern, UBC
Research interest
Brain-Computer Interface, Physiological signals
Personal interest
Daydreaming
Previously
Bachelor of Engineering from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and MPhil from the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Current Non-Human Members
Ruifei He’s dog
Lyu Tang’s cat
Alumni
