Zefeng Xu

Zefeng Xu

PhD Student

University of Manchester

I am a PhD student in Cancer Sciences at the University of Manchester, supervised by Prof. Magnus Rattray and Prof. Samra Turajlic. My research focuses on developing statistical and machine learning methods for the analysis of complex single-cell data, particularly multimodal and longitudinal datasets. I develop deep generative models to integrate heterogeneous single-cell measurements, including flow cytometry and single-cell RNA sequencing, with the goal of learning biologically meaningful representations that capture cellular states and their changes over time. More broadly, I am interested in interpretable computational models that support prediction and mechanistic inference, helping uncover the biological mechanisms underlying cellular behavior, treatment response, and immune-related adverse events.

I obtained a BSc in Statistics and Computer Science from McGill University in Canada and a ScM in Data Science from Brown University in the United States. I currently serve as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Machine Learning and Advanced Data Methods course and expect to continue in this role during my doctoral studies.

Outside of research, I enjoy playing the piano and football, where I usually play as a goalkeeper or centre back. I also enjoy travelling; one of my most memorable trips was visiting thirteen U.S. national parks and many other cities and destinations in a single road trip last Christmas—an exhausting but extremely rewarding experience.

Interests
  • Deep Learning for Multimodal Data Integration
  • Longitudinal Single-Cell Modeling
  • Perturbation Modeling and Experimental Design
  • Gene Regulatory Network Inference
  • Explainable and Mechanistic AI
Education
  • ScM Data Science, 2025

    Brown University, RI, USA

  • BSc Statistics and Computer Science, 2023

    McGill University, Montreal, Canada