Guggenheim Fellowship awarded to UCLA Fielding School's Dr. Jingyi Jessica Li

The UCLA Fielding School of Public Health's Dr. Jingyi Jessica Li, professor in the Department of Biostatistics, is among a distinguished group of 198 scholars, scientists and creative professionals from the U.S. and Canada - including five UCLA faculty - selected to receive 2025 Guggenheim Fellowships, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announced.

An interdisciplinary expert in statistics and genomics, Li focuses on developing statistical and computational tools to answer biological and biomedical questions, including reducing false positives in the analysis of large RNA sequencing data sets. Her research aims to provide more reliable information about genetics and cell biology, with significant potential positive impacts in the prevention and treatment of disease. Li is also a faculty member in the interdepartmental doctoral program in bioinformatics.

The prestigious awards, now in their 100th year, recognize scholars in 53 disciplines across the creative arts, social sciences, natural sciences and humanities who have demonstrated exceptional achievement in their fields and show great promise for future endeavors. The new fellows were chosen from a pool of more than 3,500 applicants.

This year’s fellows from UCLA — professors Mona Jarrahi, Suk-Young Kim, Li, Carolina Lithgow-Bertelloni and Park Williams — are engaged in transformative scholarship in areas ranging from Earth science, data science and climate studies to engineering and theater arts and performance studies. Each will receive a no-strings-attached monetary stipend to independently pursue work and research of their choice. 

“At a time when intellectual life is under attack, the Guggenheim Fellowship celebrates a century of support for the lives and work of visionary scientists, scholars, writers and artists,” said Edward Hirsch, president of the Guggenheim Foundation and an award-winning poet. “We believe that these creative thinkers can take on the challenges we all face today and guide our society towards a better and more hopeful future.”

Learn more about UCLA’s new Guggenheim Fellows: