Sunan Xu

Hey, I’m Sunan Xu 徐溯男

I am a second-year Ph.D. student in Bioinformatics at UC San Diego, advised by Prof. Pavel Pevzner in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. My research focuses on developing algorithms for de novo sequencing of long, highly charged peptides. I combine two-dimensional mass–mass spectrometry with algorithm design to reconstruct sequences that are difficult to resolve with conventional approaches.

I also completed a research rotation with Prof. Tiffany Amariuta, focusing on statistical genomics. During this rotation, I worked on fine-mapping-based methods to estimate disease heritability without using individual-level patient data.

I earned my B.S. at UC San Diego in June 2025, graduating cum laude from Revelle College with a double major in Data Science through the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute and Bioinformatics through the School of Biological Sciences.

During my undergraduate studies, I worked with Prof. Bing Ren on single-cell gene regulatory networks, integrating multiple omics data types to contribute to an atlas of the mouse brain. I also developed methods for evaluating large language models with Prof. Jingbo Shang. Across these projects, I am interested in combining biological knowledge, statistical reasoning, and machine learning to make predictions more reliable and interpretable.

Alongside research, I enjoy helping students build intuition for algorithms, data science, and biology through teaching.

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