Research Staff Spotlight: Xiangming Ding, PhD
From next-generation sequencing to imaging mass cytometry, the Spatial Biology and Genomics Core at CHLA produces immense amounts of biological data. Making sense of that data, however, can be challenging.
That’s where Xiangming Ding, PhD, comes in. “Biological data can be very noisy,” explains Dr. Ding, a Bioinformatics Specialist with the Core. “My job is to clean up the data, find patterns and make meaningful interpretations of that data to help investigators with their projects.”
Dr. Ding joined the Core in 2019, after working for 10 years as a research scientist in genomics at UCLA. “CHLA has very cutting-edge technology that allows us to look at things at the single-cell level,” he explains. “It’s exciting and challenging, too. Every year, the technology changes, and we need to learn how to interpret that new data.”
He adds that he especially enjoys being part of the Spatial Biology and Genomics Core team. “Everyone has a unique skill set, and we all help each other and learn from each other,” Dr. Ding says. “It’s a good environment.”
On the weekends, you’ll find him in the kitchen, cooking up some delicious Chinese cuisine, or on the tennis court with his wife and two kids, ages 6 and 8. “The kids are just learning, and I am not very good at it!” he says with a laugh. “But we have fun.”
