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Dr. Shuying Sun

  • Professor - Mathematics
Portrait of Dr. Shuying Sun

Biography and expertise

Dr. Sun received her Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Toronto in Canada. She is currently a professor in the Department of Mathematics, Texas State University. She has interests in statistical genetics and bioinformatics and has published > 30 peer-reviewed research articles in high-impact journals. Dr. Sun and her students have been addressing challenging genetic and epigenetic questions using statistical and computational tools with a focus on cancer methylation data analysis. She has also been developing statistical methodologies and software packages for bioinformatic problems using Bayesian methods, hidden Markov models, Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms, and linear models.

Education

Doctorate Degree

PhD in Statistics

University of Toronto, 2007

Master's Degree

MS in Statistics

McMaster University, 2002

Master's Degree

MS in Algebraic Topology and Differential Topology

Hebei Normal University, 2000

Bachelor's Degree

BS in Mathematics

Hebei Normal University, 1997

Teaching Interests

Research Interests

  • Yang, Yong (Principal), Keller, Thomas M (Co-Principal), Sun, Shuying (Supporting), Dochtermann, Anton (Supporting), Oh, Suho (Supporting), Shen, Xiaoxi (Supporting), Xiao, Jun (Supporting). NSF REU Site: Algebra, Combinatorics, and Statistics (#: 2447229), NSF, Federal, $271568. (Submitted: August 2024, Funded: April 1, 2025 - March 28, 2028). Grant.
  • Yang, Yong (Principal), Keller, Thomas M (Co-Principal), Sun, Shuying (Supporting), Zhao, Qiang (Supporting), Dochtermann, Anton (Supporting), Oh, Suho (Supporting). NSF REU Site: Algebra, Combinatorics, and Statistics (#: 2150205), NSF, Federal, $305417. (Submitted: August 2021, Funded: March 1, 2022 - February 28, 2026). Grant.
  • Sun, Shuying (Supporting), Whitten, Steven T (Principal), Lewis, Karen A (Principal), Libich, David S (Co-Principal), Oyojobi, Babatunde O (Co-Principal). NIH T32 training grant (T32GM154636) - Texas Doctoral Bridge Program., NIH, Federal, $2836154. (Submitted: September 26, 2023, Funded: August 1, 2024 - July 31, 2029). Grant.
  • Sun, Shuying (Principal). Texas State University Research Enhancement Program (REP) Award (2023), Texas State University, $8000. (Submitted: October 2022, Funded: January 1, 2023 - May 31, 2024). Grant.
  • Sun, Shuying (Supporting), Hunter, Stacy (Principal). NIH-R21 Yoga & Hypertension: Effects of Practice Temperature on Mechanistic Outcomes, Federal, $408493. (Funded: December 1, 2021 - November 30, 2023). Grant.
View all grants
  • Sun, S., Pritchard, A., McFall, E., & Tian, C. (2025). Statistical analysis of DNA methylation patterns of tumor suppressor genes in breast cancer. Epigenetics Insights, 18(1).
  • Sun, S., & Zamora, R. (2024, December). Mcperturb (software package): https://github.com/ss355/mcperturb.
  • Sun, S., & Zamora, R. (2024). Mcperturb: A New 5‑step Multicollinearity Diagnostic Method Developed Based on Existing Methods. Statistics in Biosciences.
  • Sun, S., Cheng, F., Han, D., Wei, S., Zhong, A., Massoudian, S., & Johnson, A. B. (2023). Pairwise comparative analysis of six haplotype assembly methods based on users’ experience. BMC Genomic Data, 24(35).
  • Sun, S., Dammann, J., Lai, P., & Tian, C. (2022). Thorough statistical analyses of breast cancer co-methylation patterns. BMC Genomics Data, 23(1), Page 1-23.
View all scholarly/creative works
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Research Excellence Award, Department of Mathematics, Texas State University, Texas State University. December 6, 2019
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Presidential Distinction Award for Excellence in Teaching, Texas State University. August 2017
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Named/recognized by 3 undergraduate students as a person at Texas State University who made a contribution to their academic career (in 2015, 2016, and 2019). 2015 - Present
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Research Enhancement Program Award (2014, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2023), Texas State University. January 1, 2014 - May 31, 2024
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Service Excellence Award, Department of Mathematics, Texas State University (12/2022), Texas State University. December 2, 2022
View all awards
  1. University Mentor

    Served as a mentor for the following tenure-track faculty: Xiaoxi Shen

  2. Member

    The scheduling oversight committee

  3. Member

    Served in the math department Ph.D and Graduate Committee, 08/2018 – 05/2019, 09/2020 – 05/2021, and 09/2025- present.

  4. University Mentor

    Served as a teaching mentor for the following graduate students: Ashraf Demian (09/2017 – 05/2018), Robert Zhan (09/2020 – 05/2021), Emet Bethany (09/2021 – 12/2021), and Holly Tidwell (01/2023 -07/2025).

  5. Graduate Advisor

    Led the statistics program by serving as a graduate advisor for the Math MS Statistics Concentration since Mar 2017

  6. Other

    Provided statistical and bioinformatic consultation to other colleagues

  7. View all activities