YODA 2026 Mentees

Kara Miller

Bio:  I am an Associate Director of Biostatistics working at AstraZeneca for the past 6 years in late-stage hematology oncology trials in South San Francisco. Prior, I was at a boutique CRO in Boston supporting drug trials in various indications. My educational background is an MS in biostatistics from Harvard and have a BS in mathematics from University of Maryland. I enjoy the applied work that comes with being a biostatistician in the industry - specifically, working cross-functionally to problem-solve and execute trials to bring new treatments to patients. As I look toward the future, I would like to continue to work in this industry and explore ways to expand my experience and leadership, as well as gain helpful insights or be challenged on my current ways of working and thinking.

What motivates you to participate in the YODA program?

Mentorship would be helpful to discuss ways to expand my experience and leadership opportunities as I look toward the future. It would also be helpful to gain insight in a safe space from someone more experienced who can challenge and/or validate my perspectives on my current ways of working and thinking.

Topics of interests:  Career development - Career options, Career development - Career advancement (skills needed to be successful), Communication to influence - Managing up (e.g., ask for a raise, promotion), Communication to influence - Managing sideways/Influencing peers, People management - Dealing with conflicts, Time management and working smart

Andy Shen

Bio: I am currently finishing my PhD in Statistics at UC Berkeley. In April, I will join Genentech as a statistician. As an early career statistician in biotech, I am looking to grow my network and learn more about how to succeed in the industry.

What motivates you to participate in the YODA program? As a newcomer to the industry, there are many people and things I do not know in general. Having a mentor to help support my growth as I navigate my first real position will give me the opportunity to grow as a person and statistician. I am eager and open-minded, and I just want to learn as much as possible from a mentor. I have heard of many positive mentor-mentee relationships that have emerged from project YODA, and I am excited to see what I can gain from the program.

Topics of interests: Career development - Career options, Career development - Career advancement (skills needed to be successful), Communication to influence - Presentation skills, Communication to influence - Managing up (e.g., ask for a raise, promotion), People management - Inspiring teams, People management - Dealing with conflicts, Leadership characteristics and elements, Time management and working smart

Jeni Zhou

Bio: I am a statistician at BeOne Medicines, currently supporting the solid tumor portfolio. Prior to BeOne, I worked on inflammation programs at Amgen and Gilead. I have been actively involved in the BBSW community for several years.
My academic training includes a PhD and a Master’s degree in Biostatistics from the University of Minnesota, and a bachelor’s degree in Preventive Medicine. With my core focus on clinical trial statistics, I also maintain strong interest in methodology, knowledge sharing, and continuous learning beyond day-to-day trial execution. I am highly motivated by opportunities to grow through mentorship and to contribute back to the professional community that has supported my development.

What motivates you to participate in the YODA program?

I participated in the YODA program last year and was fortunate to be matched with Ruixiao as my mentor. The experience was tremendously impactful. She provided not only encouragement and support, but also practical, actionable guidance on career development and navigating the profession more strategically.
Through this mentorship, I learned the importance of asking for help and the willingness of senior people to support more junior statisticians. I also benefited from a broader career perspective, exposure to working groups, and connections to people who have since continued to support my growth. I view YODA as a major positive force in my career development. While I have gained a great deal from the program, I am also motivated to continue participating and growing so that I can give back to the BBSW community in the future.

Topics of interests: Career development - Career options, Communication to influence - Managing up (e.g., ask for a raise, promotion), Leadership characteristics and elements, Time management and working smart

Joanne Beer

Bio: I was pre-med major in undergrad at Portland State University in Portland, OR. Then while prepping for med school I discovered biostatistics and decided to pursue graduate school in that instead. I graduated from Oregon Health and Science University master of science degree in biostatistics in 2013.

Then I enrolled in the PhD program in biostatistics at University of Pittsburgh from 2013-2018. During my PhD I worked in a dementia epidemiology lab, and I developed methods for predicting clinical variables using MRI brain imaging.

After graduation, I did a 3 year postdoc in the PENNSIVE lab at University of Pennsylvania. I worked to extend ComBat style harmonization to linear mixed effects models and demonstrated the method by applying this to an ADNI Alzheimer's neuroimaging dataset.

For the past 4+ years now I have worked as biostatistician at Alamar Biosciences, a high-plex proteomics assay platform biotech startup company. I started as Scientist II and now am Senior Scientist II. I work on data normalization, verification and validation study analysis pipelines, algorithms for absolute quantification of proteins, bioinformatics software tools, collaborative customer data projects, among other things. I have been enjoying the position very much and not actively looking to change jobs at this time.

What motivates you to participate in the YODA program?

Even though I have spent 4 years at a biotech startup, the culture of (Bay Area) biotech industry still feels new to me. I am hoping to learn from someone more experienced in industry and gain better understanding of where I would like to be in 5 or 10 years.

Topics of interests: Career development - Career options, Career development - Career advancement (skills needed to be successful), Communication to influence - Presentation skills, Communication to influence - Managing up (e.g., ask for a raise, promotion), Communication to influence - Managing sideways/Influencing peers, People management - Inspiring teams, People management - Dealing with conflicts, Leadership characteristics and elements, Time management and working smart

Bo Ci

Bio: I received my PhD from UT Southwestern Medical Center, where my research focused on cancer biomarker identification in lung cancer and germ cell tumor patients. I completed an internship at Genentech in 2017 and joined the company full-time in 2019 as a biostatistician. I have primarily supported late-stage oncology trials, with experience spanning study design, protocol development, trial monitoring, database lock, primary analysis, and regulatory interactions with health authorities. Working across different stages of a trial has allowed me to better understand both the scientific and operational complexities of drug development.

Alongside my trial work, I have been interested in improving efficiency through internal tool development. I contributed to projects such as NPHARM, an R Shiny application for oncology trial design under non-proportional hazard assumptions; autoSlideR, an R package for slide automation; and NExpert, an LLM-based assistant to support ADaM and TLF generation. These efforts stem from a desire to reduce repetitive work and allow biostatisticians and programmers to focus more on high-value tasks.

Looking ahead, I am particularly interested in exploring how AI and large language models can thoughtfully and responsibly support clinical trial data analysis workflows. I recognize that there is still much for me to learn, especially in terms of leadership, strategic thinking, and broader industry perspective. Through this mentorship opportunity, I hope to gain guidance, challenge my assumptions, and better understand how I can grow within the field while contributing meaningfully to its future.

What motivates you to participate in the YODA program?

I am motivated to participate in the YODA program because I am intentionally exploring a path that sits at the intersection of biostatistics, clinical programming, and AI product development. My current interest is in building an end-to-end pipeline to automate clinical trial data analysis, from raw data to TLF, using large language models and related technologies. While this work is grounded in traditional statistical rigor, it extends into areas where there is limited precedent and no clearly defined career trajectory.

Because of this, I would greatly value mentorship from senior leaders who have deep industry perspective and experience navigating strategic inflection points. I am particularly interested in receiving candid feedback on the AI tools I will develop, understanding how such innovation can responsibly integrate into regulated workflows, and learning how to balance technical ambition with long-term professional growth.

I also hope to engage in thoughtful discussions around career decisions, leadership development, and the evolving role of biostatisticians in a rapidly changing technological landscape. In addition, I look forward to building meaningful connections within the YODA community and learning from peers and mentors who are shaping the future of our field.

I see this program as an opportunity not only to seek guidance, but also to contribute actively to conversations about how biostatisticians can adapt and evolve in the era of AI.

Topics of interests: Career development - Career options, Career development - Career change (alternative career choices), Communication to influence - Managing up (e.g., ask for a raise, promotion), Communication to influence - Managing sideways/Influencing peers, People management - Inspiring teams, Leadership characteristics and elements, Time management and working smart

Chenqi Fu

Bio: I am a biostatistician and data scientist in oncology drug development at Genentech/Roche, supporting clinical trials across multiple phases. I received my PhD in Statistics from Pennsylvania State University, where my research centered on Bayesian decision-theoretic frameworks, dose-finding designs, and hierarchical meta-analysis, with applications in oncology. Beyond my technical work, I value mentorship, community engagement, and knowledge sharing.

What motivates you to participate in the YODA program? I hope to learn from experience drug developers about the industry and develop leadership.

Topics of interests: Career development - Career options, Career development - Career advancement (skills needed to be successful), Career development - Career change (alternative career choices), Communication to influence - Presentation skills, Communication to influence - Managing up (e.g., ask for a raise, promotion), Communication to influence - Managing sideways/Influencing peers, People management - Inspiring teams, People management - Dealing with conflicts, Leadership characteristics and elements, Time management and working smart