Portrait of Yan Li

Yan Li is an associate professor in the Center for Information Systems & Technology at Claremont Graduate University (CGU). Li’s research philosophy is grounded in design science and quantitative methods with a strong emphasis on relevance to the domain of interest. Her research focuses on data management and advanced analytics including machine learning, natural language processing, data warehousing, and health analytics. Her other research stream focuses on developing information and communication technology solutions for underserved populations, as well as improving social inclusion in healthcare.

Li received both an MS and PhD from Virginia Commonwealth University. Prior to joining CGU, Li was a data scientist in industry, giving her vast experience in advanced analytics, machine learning, and big data platforms. She is the co-founder and board member of Techies Without Borders (TWB), a non-profit organization that harnesses information technology for education, healthcare, and human rights worldwide in resource-scarce communities.

Li received two $50,000 Microsoft Azure Research Awards. The first is for designing a data pipeline framework for social media analysis. The second is for the Continuing Medical Education on a Stick (CMES) project for developing countries. She has negotiated numerous research contracts with non-profit and for-profit companies and government agencies. These contracts not only provide graduate assistantships for CISAT students to conduct data science research, but also enable her to conduct research with non-academic entities to address real-world problems. She has published numerous journal articles and book chapters, and she has delivered many conference presentations in the fields of advanced analytics and other forms of data science research. She stays abreast of modern technology advancements for the following: machine learning, natural language processing, deep learning, computer vision, advanced data management tools and techniques, business intelligence and visual analytics, and multiple-criteria decision analysis.

Driven by her intellectual curiosity for data and emergent information technologies and by her passion for designing and building things, Li has oriented her career in a direction that integrates research, teaching, and practice in the realm of information science. Attracted by CISAT’s distinctive design- and practice-based approaches to solve important social and business problems, Li continues to conduct research, teaching, and practice that contributes to impactful scholarship to advance scientific knowledge and make the world a better place.

Co-authored with A. S. Albarrak. “Improving Healthcare Access for Vulnerable Populations – A Vulnerable Population Healthcare Access Framework (VPHAF).” Journal of Biomedical Informatics, (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2022.104196

Co-authored with M. A. Thomas, V. Sistenich, K. N. Diango, and D. Kabongo. “A multi-stakeholder engagement framework for knowledge management in ICT4D.” Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 1–17, (2022). https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24703

Co-authored with M. R. Roosan, et al. “Artificial Intelligent Context-Aware Machine-Learning Tool to Detect Adverse Drug Events from Social Media Platforms.” Journal of Medical Toxicology, (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13181-022-00906-2

Co-authored with M. A. Thomas and A. S. Lee. “Generalizing the Information Systems Artifact.Information Systems Research 0, (2022).

Co-authored with B. Jung and T. Bechor. “A Context-Aware Vulnerability Prioritization Model.” Computers & Security 116, (2022).

Co-authored with H. Zhang and W. McConnell. “Predicting Potential Palliative Care Beneficiaries for Health Plans: A Generalized Machine Learning Pipeline.” Journal of Biomedical Informatics, (2021).

Co-authored with E. Kim, et al. “Scoping review: the empowerment of Alzheimer’s Disease caregivers with mHealth applications.” npj Digital Medicine 4, no. 131 (2021).

Co-authored with M. Thomas and Dapeng Liu. “From semantics to pragmatics: where IS can lead in Natural Language Processing (NLP) research.” European Journal of Information Systems, (2020).

Co-authored with M. Thomas, et al. “Citizen-Centric Capacity Development for ICT4D: The Case of Continuing Medical Education on a Stick.” Information Technology for Development, (2020).

Co-authored with K. Williams and L. Olfman. “DRT: A Novel Tool for Data Archiving.” IEEE Software, (2020).

Co-authored with D. Roosan, et al. “Improving Medication Information Presentation Through Interactive Visualization in Mobile Apps: Human Factors Design.” Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) Mhealth Uhealth 7, no. 11 (2019).

Co-authored with A. Vo, et al. “Designing utilization-based spatial healthcare accessibility decision support systems: A case of a regional health plan.” Decision Support Systems 99, (2017): 51-63.

Co-authored with M. Thomas and T. Oliveira. “Nuances of Development Contexts for ICT4D Research in Least Developed Countries: An Empirical Investigation in Haiti.” Telematics and Informatics 34, no. 7 (2017).

Co-authored with M.A. Thomas and K.M. Osei-Bryson. “A Snail Shell Process Model for Knowledge Discovery via Data Analytics.” Decision Support Systems 91, (2016): 1-12.

Co-authored with M.A. Thomas and K.M. Osei-Bryson. “Ontology-based data mining model management for self-service knowledge discovery.” Information Systems Frontiers, (2016): 1–19.

Co-authored with M.A Thomas and K.M. Osei-Bryson. “Using association rules mining to facilitate qualitative data analysis in theory building.” In Advances in research methods for information systems research, edited by Kweku-Muata Osei-Bryson and Ojelanki Ngwenyama, 79-92. New York: Springer, 2014.

Databases & Big Data
Knowledge Discovery & Data Mining
Data Science Practicum
Natural Language Processing
Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence
Leading Through Data
Managing Data at Scale