I am originally from Nanjing, China. I completed a combined degree in Bachelor of Advanced Computing (Computer Science) and Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) at the University of Sydney in 2025. During my studies, I undertook an Honours project under the supervision of Dr Tongliang Liu in the School of Computer Science, graduating with First Class Honours. My Honours research focused on time series forecasting and was accepted as an oral presentation at AAAI 2026, a top-tier international conference in artificial intelligence.

In 2024, I joined the database project at the James Lab as a research assistant and software developer.

Through this experience, I developed a strong appreciation for the richness and organisation of biological systems, as well as the pressing challenges they present. This work shaped my view of biology both as a domain where AI can have a substantial scientific impact and as a source of foundational principles for rethinking how intelligent systems are built.

Following the completion of my bachelor’s degree, I continued my research in the lab as an MPhil student, co-supervised by Prof. David James and Prof. Jinman Kim, spanning biological and computational perspectives. My research interests lie at the intersection of AI and biology, with a dual focus on applying AI techniques to address fundamental biological problems and drawing inspiration from biological systems to inform the development of more general, robust, and adaptive forms of intelligence.

Contact: dtan3316 (at) uni.sydney.edu.au