Dongshen “Dan” Peng is junior double-majoring in computer science and statistics within the UNC College of Arts and Sciences. He develops algorithms for precision diagnostics and medicine to uncover cures for Crohn’s disease, cancer, and other genetic diseases.

Q: How did you discover your specific field of study?

A: During the summer before entering UNC, I worked in the maternal and child health department at BGI Genomics, a prominent biotechnology company playing a pivotal role in the Human Genome Project. This allowed me to see how the wet lab and dry lab work together to find feasible solutions for genetic diseases in the real world. That’s when I stumbled upon the fields of precision medicine and epigenetics, where I can decode biological secrets with computational techniques and algorithms.

Q: Academics are problem-solvers. Describe a research challenge you’ve faced and how you overcame it.

A: To better understand Crohn’s disease — a long-term inflammatory bowel disease affecting the digestive tract — using computational methods. I was tasked with preprocessing a massive ATAC-seq dataset, which maps out regions of open chromatin in the genome. It seemed straightforward, but I was met with an error that I couldn’t decode. No matter what I did, the pipeline would crash halfway through. I felt like I was chasing a ghost: Something hidden in the data was causing the whole thing to fail, and I had no clue what it was.

My advisor suggested I run the pipeline step by step and interpret the meaning of each step. Still, no luck. Days went by, and I could feel my frustration building. But then, in a late-night caffeine-fueled session, I read the input data carefully and found some missing metadata parameters — tiny, almost invisible — but significant to the whole process. When I fixed the missing pieces, the entire pipeline finally ran smoothly. It was such a small detail but taught me that research isn’t just about big breakthroughs. Sometimes, the smallest details make all the difference.

Q: Describe your research in five words.

A: Keys to hidden epigenetic doors.

Q: Who or what inspires you? Why?

A: My parents. Instead of following a predefined path, they gave me the freedom to explore my own interests and passions, even if it diverged from their experiences. They inspired me to study abroad and pursue a field of study that I’m deeply passionate about.

Q: If you could pursue any other career, what would it be and why?

A: A professional tennis player. Tennis is an amazing and elegant sport. My favorite player, Daniil Medvedev, always impressed me with his humor and perseverance. Despite facing harsh criticism and discrimination because of his origins, he always overcame it and beat his opponents with remarkable mental strength and skill. He motivated me to play amateur USTA team tennis this summer, and we made it to the semifinals of the 2024 North Carolina State Championships.