Tianxi Cai, Sc.D. Closed Now

Dr. Tianxi Cai, Sc.D., is a leading biostatistician and health data scientist whose research bridges statistical methodology, biomedical informatics, and clinical data science. She is a frequent collaborator of Isaac (Zak) Kohane, M.D., Ph.D., at Harvard Medical School, where they work on applying large-scale health data to improve disease prediction, patient outcomes, and precision medicine.

Dr. Cai is the John Rock Professor of Population and Translational Data Sciences in the Department of Biostatistics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and she also holds appointments at Harvard Medical School. Her expertise lies in developing novel statistical and machine learning methods for analyzing complex biomedical data, including electronic health records (EHRs), genomics, and population health datasets.

One of her major contributions has been the creation of methods for risk prediction and disease phenotyping using high-dimensional clinical data. These models have been applied in diverse areas, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, oncology, and mental health research. Working alongside Zak Kohane and other leaders in the field, Dr. Cai has advanced the use of computational phenotyping and algorithmic prediction models to stratify patients and personalize treatment strategies.

Dr. Cai has published extensively in leading journals, including Nature Medicine, Biostatistics, and the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA). She has also played a significant role in training the next generation of biostatisticians and informaticians, mentoring doctoral students and junior faculty in data science and computational medicine.

Her interdisciplinary approach—combining rigorous statistical methodology with clinical informatics—makes her one of the most influential figures in modern health data science.