London-based

Payton Tung On Yau, PhD

Computational Scientist & Open-Source Tool Builder. Medical PhD in GI Disease paired with a BSc in Computer Science. Specialising in production-grade multi-omics pipelines, optimal survival modelling, and biomarker discovery for diagnosis and prognosis—bridging wet-lab reality with scalable dry-lab execution.

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Dry Lab R / Python / NGS

Computational Genomics

Oncology & MOA: Integrated NanoString & RNA-Seq to validate drug MOA & signaling pathways.
GI & Inflammation: Transcriptomic profiling of neutrophil chemotaxis in anti-TNF treatment resistance in IBD.
Long-Read Assembly: De novo Nanopore genome assembly & scalable metagenomic pipelines.
Prognostic Modelling: Multi-threshold survival optimisation (AIC/BIC) & TCGA cohort validation.
Nextflow Epigenomics ML Pipelines Docker

Scientific Leadership

Frontiers AI Topic Editor

Co-leading global research collection: Artificial Intelligence for Precision Gut Microbiome Modulation in Cancer Therapies in Frontiers in Microbiomes.

The Resistance Archives

Technical Writing Series: Decoding the WHO Top 24 Priority Pathogens & AMR Mechanisms.

Bench Science QC / Assays / Culture

Molecular & Wet Lab

Assay Development: Multiplex qPCR design & miRNA screening for CRC diagnostics.
Targeted Platforms: NanoString nCounter profiling & upstream sample QC.
Epigenetics & Oncology: Epigenetic profiling parameters & target validation assays.
Functional & Biofilms: Cell chemotaxis dynamics, culture isolation & biocidal profiling.
Commercial R&D Partnering
De Montfort University

Biofilm Dynamics & Commercial Wash Optimisation

Partnering with the DMU research team to assess microbiome profiles and bacterial kill rates in commercial laundering systems. Integrating computational and experimental data to optimise processes, reducing chemical use and costs while maintaining biocidal efficacy and hygiene standards.

Resource Platform

UK Crop Microbiome CryoBank

Built and maintained the sequencing pipelines and database schemas underpinning this national phytobiome resource.

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Software Engineering & Tooling

CRAN Published
OptSurvCutR [CRAN Release] Official CRAN package automating biomarker threshold optimization for survival criteria using information metrics (AIC/BIC). Installable via install.packages("OptSurvCutR"). Featured at FOSDEM 2026 and undergoing rOpenSci peer review.
Multi-Level Interactomes Reconstructed interactome co-expression pathways (gene–gene / bacteria–bacteria) from single-cell resolution matrices and Nextflow orchestration.

Core Paradigm

The Hybrid Bridge

"Data analysis is only as sound as the chemistry behind it. I directly link bench-side parameters with custom analytical execution pipelines."

Applied Biostatistics Book

Open Educational Resource

Author of "A Little Bit of Everything in Biostatistics". An applied open-access resource for health science students, featuring real-world Framingham Heart Study & Anorexia Clinical Trial datasets to eliminate coding anxiety.

PhD

By Published Works

Medicine (Biological Nature of Diseases)

BSc Computer Science • MSc Biomedical Science

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Research Portfolio

40+ peer-reviewed papers spanning gastrointestinal oncology, host-microbiome interaction, immuno-oncology and computational methods, including work in Gut, Gastroenterology, Journal of Clinical Investigation and PNAS.

Google Scholar Profile ORCID: 0000-0002-6019-3837