About us
Dr Stuart McDonald
Associate Professor in Economics. Director of Smart Medicine Laboratory
Dr Stuart McDonald is an Associate Professor of Economics and Deputy Head of the School of Economics at UNNC. As Co-Director of the Smart Medicine Laboratory, he leads the Community-Based Smart Health Initiative, integrating economic modeling and digital health research. His expertise in research funding, technological adoption, and health economics supports the lab’s interdisciplinary mission to advance sustainable healthcare innovation.
Professor Vladimir Brusic
Academician Serbian Academy of Sciences and Engineering. External Expert & Scientific Advisor
Professor Vladimir Brusic is a distinguished academician of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Engineering and is recognized among the top 2% of scientists globally by Stanford University (2023). Formerly the Director of Smart Medicine Laboratory, and Li Dak Sum Chair Professor at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, he now serves as an external expert and scientific advisor to the Smart Medicine Laboratory.
Professor Brusic’s interdisciplinary expertise spans bioinformatics, health informatics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. His pioneering research in predictive analytics and knowledge-based systems has led to patented diagnostic technologies and intelligent software for medical applications. With over 300 publications and 19,000+ citations, he continues to collaborate globally with institutions such as Harvard Medical School, Griffith University, and Kumamoto University.
Dr Yi (Lily) Lin
Research Fellow
Dr Yi Lin (Lily) is a Research Fellow in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at UNNC. Her research expertise spans nutrition, epidemiology, and biostatistics, with a focus on non-communicable diseases, circadian health, and child development. She has led or contributed to numerous national and provincial health projects and collaborates with local hospitals and public health agencies. Dr. Lin also co-leads the Gender and Health Group within the Institute of Asia and Pacific Studies and has authored multiple publications.
Dr Jun Xia
Associate Professor in Public Health, Director UNNC Grade Centre
Dr Jun Xia is an expert in the methodological science of clinical practice guidelines. Her research focuses on leveraging evidence synthesis and meta-analysis to critically appraise the quality of clinical guidelines, inform their development, and ensure that recommendations are grounded in robust evidence. By integrating systematic approaches into evidence-based decision-making, Dr. Xia’s work contributes to improving healthcare standards, clinical efficacy, and patient outcomes across medical disciplines.
Dr Amarpreet Singh Gill
Assistant Professor in Design
Dr Amarpreet Singh Gill is an Assistant Professor in Design at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China and an award-winning designer with extensive experience in both academia and industry. His research focuses on digital pedagogy and the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality (VR) into design and engineering education. He contributes to interdisciplinary projects within the Smart Medicine Laboratory, particularly in design-driven healthcare innovation.
Yinglun Li
Ph.D. Candidate
Yinglun Li’s doctoral research centers on artificial intelligence applications in smart health and home-based medical monitoring. He has developed large-scale reference databases and algorithms for detecting sleep apnea and cardiovascular conditions using wearable sensors. His work bridges the gap between clinical diagnostics and consumer-grade health technologies, contributing to the transformation of healthcare into the home environment.
Tianhong Cai
Ph.D. Candidate
Tianhong Cai’s research integrates data science, blockchain, and digital healthcare to build privacy-preserving digital health ecosystems. His concept of a “human indicator portfolio” applies financial modeling principles to health data, enabling personalized monitoring and secure data transfer - aligning with the lab’s goal of decentralizing healthcare management.
Minjie Lyu
Ph.D. Candidate
Minjie Lyu’s research applies machine learning to single-cell transcriptomics for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. He has developed frameworks for disease classification and treatment prediction, particularly in hematologic and immunologic disorders. His work contributes to AI-based medical diagnostics and precision medicine.
Chong Yue (Joshua) Lai
Ph.D. Candidate
Joshua Lai’s research combines biomedical sensing, signal processing, and robotics to enhance wearable health monitoring technologies. His work on photoplethysmography-based systems for blood pressure and cardiovascular assessment contributes to the development of next-generation wearable technologies and continuous patient monitoring.
Alumni
Dr Xiang Zhang
Research Fellow, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Ningbo Artificial Intelligence Institute. Former Ph.D. Candidate (2018–2024)
Dr Xiang Zhang contributed significantly to the early development of the Smart Medicine project. Her interdisciplinary expertise in system design, hardware prototyping, and human–computer interaction led to the creation of early smart health monitoring systems and wearable-based experimental platforms.
Dr Ying Chen
Postdoctoral Fellow, PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University, Beijing. Former Ph.D. Candidate (2019–2024)
Dr Ying Chen's research focuses on behavioural and experimental economics, social networks, and decision-making. Her work has been published in leading journals such as Games and Economic Behavior, and she has presented at major international conferences including ESA World Congress and AMES. Dr Chen’s research contributes to understanding social behaviour, economic decision processes, and policy design in complex systems.
Dr Zengbao Hu
Former Ph.D. Candidate (2021–2026)
Zengbao Hu's research focuses on environmental economics and health economics, with particular research interests in the economic and behavioural determinants of population health and public policy. He has contributed to multiple studies on healthcare costs, lifestyle behaviours, and public health outcomes. Zengbao has received several academic awards, including the UNNC Postgraduate Prize and conference presentation awards, reflecting his strong research performance and engagement in interdisciplinary health research.
Dr Xin Lin
Former Ph.D. Candidate (2021-2026)
Xin Lin is a Ph.D. researcher specializing in computational biology and artificial intelligence. His work focuses on large-scale single-cell transcriptomics data analysis and machine learning applications in biomedical research. He has developed standardized pipelines, classification frameworks, and open-access APIs for AI-assisted biological data processing, collaborating with international teams on high-impact studies.