Yujia Ma

Welcome to my space!

I am a first-year Ph.D. student in Computer Science at the University of Toronto, where I am incredibly fortunate to be co-supervised by Prof. Chris Maddison and Prof. Rahul Krishnan.

My research lies at the intersection of Machine Learning, Generative Models, and Drug Discovery. Fundamentally, I am driven to push the boundaries of how computational models understand the underlying mechanisms of biology and protein dynamics.

Prior to my Ph.D., I built a strong mathematical and computational foundation during my undergraduate studies at the University of British Columbia. I am deeply grateful for the early guidance of Prof. Alexandre Bouchard-Côté and Prof. Trevor Campbell, who introduced me to MCMC methods and their biological applications. Furthermore, my exploration of optimal transport for lineage trajectory inference was profoundly shaped by the invaluable mentorship of Prof. Geoffrey Schiebinger.

I am always open to discussions and collaborations. Feel free to reach out to me at mayujia@cs.toronto.edu.

Publications

Heitz, M., Ma, Y., Kubal, S., & Schiebinger, G. (2024). Spatial Transcriptomics Brings New Challenges and Opportunities for Trajectory Inference. Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology, November 14, 2024. DOI: 10.1146/annurev-biodatasci-040324-030052.