Welcome
Selena Wang, PhD
selewang@iu.edu
Department of Biostatistics and Health Data Science
HITS 3071
410 W. 10th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Dr. Wang is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Health Data Science at Indiana University School of Medicine. She has an interdisciplinary background in biostatistics and computational psychology, with expertise in developing statistical and computational methods for complex, high-dimensional biomedical and networked data. Her research advances generative embedding, scalable methods and software for high-dimensional networked data, and Bayesian inference for brain and protein networks, with applications in disease subtyping, brain–behavior linkage, biomarker identification, and disease pathway discovery, particularly in Alzheimer's disease and other psychiatric and psychological conditions. Her work has been published in leading journals, including Nature Methods, Alzheimer's & Dementia, Medical Image Analysis, Psychometrika, Psychological Methods, and Human Brain Mapping. Dr. Wang has been named a William H. Gates Sr. Fellow by Alzheimer's Disease Data Initiative, a Research Career Institute in the Mental Health of Aging (CIMA) Scholar and a Research Education Component (REC) Scholar of the Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. Her methodological research program is supported by the Alzheimer's Disease Data Initiative and the National Institute on Aging.
News:
07/2026 - 12/2026
(December 2026) Luling Altan is invited to present Modulating Impact of Functional Connectomes on AD Pathology at the 20th International Joint Conference on Computational and Financial Econometrics (IJCFE).
(September 2026) Our team has received a $3.5 million NIH/NIA R01 award for Personalized Medicine under the Co-evolution of Connectomes and Pathological Proteins, with Dr. Wang serving as Principal Investigator.
(August 2026) Dr. Jaeyoung Lee has joined our team as a postdoctoral fellow. Welcome.
(August 2026) Luling Altan has joined our team as a PhD student. Welcome.
(August 2026) Congratulations to Yumeng Chen, who has started her PhD at Case Western Reserve University. We wish her all the best in this exciting next chapter.
(August 2026) Congratulations to Huairui Wang, who has started his PhD at Michigan State University. We wish him all the best in this exciting next chapter.
(August 2026) Congratulations to Gertrude Osei, who has started her PhD in Assessment and Measurement at James Madison University. We wish her continued success.
(Summer 2026) Congratulations to Connor Cornelison, who has joined Indiana University as a software developer supporting high-performance computing. We wish him all the best in his next chapter.
(Summer 2026) Congratulations to Theyanesh Jayaprakash, who has joined Plutus as an AI Engineer. We wish him all the best in his next chapter.
(July 2026) Ash Sharma, Connor Cornelison, Luling Altan, Krishnendu Chandra, and Dr. Wang presented the poster Proteomics signature of whole-brain microstructural integrity of white matter using LatentSNA at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference. Congratulations.
(July 2026) Gertrude Osei and Dr. Wang presented the poster A Psychometric Evaluation of the Cognitive Change Index in the Indiana Memory and Aging Cohort at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference. Congratulations.
(July 2026) Our collaborator team Sweet & Lee presented the poster A Multilevel Modeling Approach to Network Diffusion in Alzheimer’s Disease at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference. Congratulations.
01/2026 - 06/2026
(June 2026) Dr. Wang gave an invited presentation, Improve power of brain-behavior studies using LatentSNA, at the Organization for Human Brain Mapping 2026 Annual Meeting.
(June 2026) Luling Altan, Theyanesh Jayaprakash, and Dr. Wang presented Alzheimer’s Disease Subtype Identification from Spatial Tau-PET Heterogeneity Using Self-Supervised Deep Learning at the Statistical Methods in Imaging 2026 Conference. Congratulations.
(March 2026) Dr. Wang was selected as a 2026 Research Career Institute in the Mental Health of Aging (CIMA) Scholar. Congratulations.
(March 2026) Dr. Wang presented Brain Resilience in Aging at the Research Career Institute in the Mental Health of Aging conference.
(March 2026) Luling Altan and Dr. Wang presented the poster Bayesian latent space co-evolution model to explain AD progression at the ENAR 2026 Spring Meeting. Congratulations.
(March 2026) Theyanesh Jayaprakash and Dr. Wang presented the poster Alzheimer’s Disease Subtype Identification from Spatial Tau-PET Heterogeneity Using Self-Supervised Deep Learning at the ENAR 2026 Spring Meeting. Congratulations.
(March 2026) Connor Cornelison, Krishnendu Chandra, Theyanesh Jayaprakash, and Dr. Wang presented the poster Sex differences in structural connectivity-based AD pathology in the Indiana Memory and Aging cohort at the ENAR 2026 Spring Meeting. Congratulations.
(February 2026) Our new paper The co-varying ties between networks and item responses via latent variables was published in Psychometrika.
(February 2026) Dr. Wang gave an invited seminar, Implementing Network Science in Generative Statistical Processes, for the American Statistical Association Statistics and Data Science in Aging Interest Group.
(January 2026) Our new paper Latent space-based network analysis for brain–behavior linking in neuroimaging by Xinzhi Zhang, Yunhe Liu, and Dr. Wang was published in Nature Methods.
(January 2026) Our collaborative paper Advancing global dementia research through equity and inclusion was published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
07/2025 - 12/2025
(December 2025) Dr. Wang gave an invited talk, New developments in implementing network science in connectome research, at the 19th International Joint Conference on Computational and Financial Econometrics (IJCFE).
(December 2025) Dr. Wang gave a seminar, New developments in implementing network science in connectome research, at the IU Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics.
(October 2025) Dr. Wang gave an invited seminar, Neuroimaging connectivity analysis needs network science for brain-behavior linking, at the University of Louisville Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics.
(July 2025) Dr. Wang presented the poster Foundational generative embedding models for neuromolecular networks in Alzheimer's Disease at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference.
(July 2025) Connor Cornelison, Plamena Powla, Theyanesh Jayaprakash, and Dr. Wang presented the poster Sex differences in structural connectivity-based AD pathology in the Indiana Memory and Aging cohort at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference.
(July 2025) Theyanesh Jayaprakash and Dr. Wang presented the poster Deep Learning Framework for Characterizing Tau-PET Heterogeneity in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Self-supervised Approach at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference.
(June 2025) Xinzhi Zhang's first-author manuscript Cost efficiency of fMRI studies using resting-state vs task-based functional connectivity has been published in Human Brain Mapping.
(June 2025) Congratulations to Connor Cornelison, who has been offered the competitive INGEN4DS fellowship.
01/2025 - 06/2025
(May 2025) Huairui Wang, Ash Sharma, and Anastasija Naumoski have joined our team as graduate research interns beginning summer 2025. Welcome.
(May 2025) Congratulations to Xinzhi Zhang, who has accepted an offer from the University of Cambridge to start her PhD.
(April 2025) Theyanesh Jayaprakash has been awarded the 2025 AAIC conference fellowship.
(March 2025) Our network science method review paper, Network science in psychology has been published in Psychological Methods.
(February 2025) Our team has been offered funding from the Alzheimer's Disease Data Initiative to support artificial intelligence technology development for AD.
(February 2025) Dr. Wang was selected as a 2025 William H. Gates Sr. Fellow.
(January 2025) Connor Cornelison, Theyanesh Jayaprakash, and Plamena Powla each submitted a first-author abstract to AAIC 2025.
(January 2025) Visiting student Yumeng Chen has joined our lab. Welcome.
(January 2025) Dr. Wang was selected as a 2025 REC scholar.
(January 2025) We received internal IU funding to support methodology development from the REC scholar program via the IADRC.
(January 2025) Our network science method review paper, Network science in psychology was accepted at Psychological Methods.
07/2024 - 12/2024
(November 2024) Our new paper Sex-specific topological structure associated with dementia via latent space estimation by Yiting Wang and Dr. Wang was published in Alzheimer's & Dementia.
(November 2024) Xinzhi Zhang's first-author preprint is out: Cost efficiency of fMRI studies using resting-state vs task-based functional connectivity.
(October 2024) Plamena Powla presented the poster The Relationship Between Tau Levels in Functionally Connected Cortical Brain Regions and a Region’s Tau Burden at the 2024 IADRC Fall Research Symposium.
(October 2024) A new network science review preprint is out: Network Science in Psychology.
(October 2024) A new social network method preprint is out: The co-varying ties between networks and item responses via latent variables.
(August 2024) Our new paper Establishing group-level brain structural connectivity incorporating anatomical knowledge under latent space modeling by Yiting Wang and Dr. Wang was published in Medical Image Analysis.
(August 2024) Dr. Wang and Yiting Wang presented the poster Sex-specific topological structure associated with dementia identified via latent space network analysis (poster) at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference.