Dynamic Human Systems

Monitoring human dynamics is critical for providing public services. The traditional “top-down” population mapping methods tend to appropriately allocate population numbers at some upper level of spatial scale to fine grid squares, while the recently emerging “bottom-up” approaches estimate up-to-date gridded population in countries without a complete and recent census, based on limited household surveys in randomly selected areas (also known as “microcensus”) and several geospatial covariates available nationwide. Utilising a hierarchical Bayesian model enables those estimates to be accompanied by estimates of uncertainty, based on their posterior marginal distributions.

I am interested in developing novel statistical methods to map population and socio-demographic characteristics (e.g., gender and age) at high spatial and temporal resolutions. Assessing human exposure to health risk (e.g., infectious dieases) at lower costs and environmental risk (e.g., air pollution) in a changing globe are also of interest. My interdisciplineary research combines traditional analytical approaches in human demography with brand new geospatial data ranging from household survey data to satellite-based data.

Manuscript in preparation under the supervison of Prof Thomas Neyens.

Dynamic Non-Human Systems and the Interactions

We are in a fast changing world. Advance in AI-based computer-aided detection (CADe) of colorectal neoplasia effectively increases adenoma detection rates and reduces adenoma miss rates during colonoscopy, but would it increase overdiagnosis and overtreatment of nonneoplastic polyps? When the AI academia and industry embrace technical innovations, would medical practitioners be willing to accept these massive changes? Given a tourist city experiences seasonal changes in residential population numbers, how could it handle climate-change amplified flood risk in monsoon seasons? Anthropogenic influence on the water cycle (e.g., abstraction, pollution, and climate change) is making it more and more challenging to balance human and environmental water demands, while climate-related inequality impedes access to water and exacerbates impacts of droughts and water scarcity, so how could we understand the interactions between dynamic habitation patterns and dynamic earth systems?

I love to solve real-world problems, draw insights into exciting data and hopefully develop useful results. I am also interested in finding a good balance point between human development and integrity of the non-human systems in order to create a virtuous circle is the necessary preparedness for achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Projects under development under the supervison of Prof Thomas YT Lam.