Background
About Me
Location
Houston, TX
Program
MA/PhD Statistics
University
Rice University
Expected Grad
2026
Email
Nhi.Y.Le@rice.edu
Rice Profile ↗
LinkedIn ↗
Who I Am
I'm a PhD candidate in Statistics at Rice University with a focus on building reliable, interpretable, and scalable machine learning systems. My research sits at the intersection of Bayesian inference, high-performance computing, and applied data science, tackling problems in astronomical imaging, trustworthy AI, and national security analytics.
Since 2021, I have been a year-round intern at Sandia National Laboratories, where I develop GPU-accelerated CT reconstruction pipelines and apply statistical modeling to nondestructive inspection data. My work reflects my commitment to mission-critical, high-stakes analytical work.
I also serve as a Graduate Research Mentor in Rice's D2K Lab, guiding student teams through full data science project lifecycles, from data ingestion and feature engineering to model deployment, across healthcare, public safety, and industrial applications.
Education
MA / Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics
Rice University, Houston, TX
August 2021 - Expected 2026 · NSF GRFP Fellow
BS in Data Science - Summa Cum Laude
University of Houston-Downtown
December 2020 · GPA 3.8/4.0 · Minors: Biology, Mathematics &
Statistics
Experience
Year-Round Intern / Nondestructive Inspection Technologist
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM
June 2021 - Present
ML and computational imaging for CT reconstruction; GPU-accelerated pipelines;
statistical modeling and uncertainty quantification for national security research.
Graduate Research Mentor
Data to Knowledge (D2K) Lab, Rice University
January 2023 - Present
Led end-to-end ML system development for applied projects; guided teams in scalable
analytics and cloud solutions (AWS).
Statistician Intern
U.S. Census Bureau, Washington D.C.
January 2021 - June 2021
Analyzed large-scale population datasets using SQL, SAS, and R; developed predictive
analytics tools for survey response behavior modeling.
Research Assistant / CPRIT Undergraduate Research Fellow
UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
June 2019 - December 2020
Computational bioinformatics tools for genomic data analysis; identified mutation
patterns in leukemia and sarcoma; VR molecular visualization backend development.
Research Assistant, Undergraduate Research
University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, TX
April 2018 - December 2020
Biodegradable plastics and microbiology research using wet lab techniques on
environmental samples; developed robotics projects in Python; analyzed antibiotic samples across 200+
weekly tests.
Public Competition Projects
Deep Learning Malaria Scanner
Data Scientist – Team Member
April 2019
Designed and produced a malaria scanner using deep learning image classification to
detect signs of malaria infection from red blood cell images. Earned 1st place in BOLD Ideas Competition
at St. Thomas and 3rd place at TSU HackHouston.
Awards & Recognition
Ken Kennedy Institute HPC & AI Sponsored Graduate Fellowship
Rice University
2023 - 2024
Data to Knowledge (D2K) Research Mentoring Fellowship
Rice University
2023 - Present
Dean's Prize & Department of Statistics Promise Scholar Award
Rice University
2021
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF-GRFP)
NSF
2020
ABRCMS Poster Winner (Cancer Biology) & GMiS Poster Competition (3rd Place)
ABRCMS / GMiS
2020
Publications
Leveraging Afterglow in Scintillation Detectors for Multi-Frame High-Speed
Radiography
Le N, Jimenez E
2024 · IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium (NSS)
Published in NSS/MIC/RTSD Proceedings. DOI: 10.1109/NSS/MIC/RTSD57108.2024.10658599
T-prolymphocytic leukemia: TCL1 or MTCP1 rearrangement is not mandatory to
establish diagnosis
Fang H, Le N, Beird HC, Futreal PA, et al.
2023 · Leukemia
Published in Leukemia Journal. doi: 10.1038/s41375-023-01956-3.
Synovial sarcomas with high YAP1 activity have enriched vasculature and muscle
lineage expression
Beird HC, Le N, Futreal PA, et.al
2020 · Submitted to Journal of Clinical Investigation
Development of a Virtual Reality (VR) Platform for Visualization of Molecular Data
for Biomedical Research and Classroom Learning
Chaudhari R, Le N, Zhang S
2020 · Manuscript in process
Scholarly Presentations
Leveraging Afterglow in Scintillation Detectors for Multi-Frame High-Speed
Radiography
Oral Presentation @ 2024 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium (NSS)
October 2024 · Tampa, FL
Total Variation Denoising with Slack Variable
SIAM Mathematics and Data Sciences / Advances in Statistical and Computational
Methods
2022 - 2023
Presented at San Diego, CA (2022) and Richardson, TX (2023).
Low Levels of Nuclear YAP Staining is Associated with Better Overall Survival in
Patients with Synovial Sarcoma
ABRCMS (Poster Winner), SACNAS, vGHC, GMiS, MD Anderson
2019 - 2020
Development of a Virtual Reality (VR) Platform for Visualization of Molecular Data
32nd GMiS Conference (3rd Place Winner), CPRIT Summer Research Symposium
2020 · Houston, TX
Degradation of Biodegradable Plastics in Soil Environment
UHD Student Research Conference
2020 · Houston, TX
Identifying somatic point mutations in uncharacterized CD4-positive T-cell Leukemia
Genomic Medicine Science Day, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center
October 2019 · Houston, TX
Chemical Analysis of Plastic Samples pre- and post-Freshwater Exposure
UHD Student Research Conference
April 2019 · Houston, TX
Examining Antibiotic Potential in Synthetic Compounds
UHD Student Research Conference
April 2019 · Houston, TX
Community & Service
Rice Graduate Student Ambassador
Rice University
January 2023 - Present
Promoting graduate program values and providing mentorship to prospective students
through active engagement.
Ph.D. Student Class Representative
Department of Statistics, Rice University
2022 - Present
Teaching Assistant
Rice University / UHD
2018 - 2022
Rice University (2021-2022) · UHD University Seminar Course (2018-2020)
Peer Mentor & Leader
University of Houston-Downtown
2018 - 2020
University Seminar Peer Mentor · Peer Leader for SA Learning Service
Project
Scholar Academy Ambassador
University of Houston-Downtown
2018 - 2019
Vice President – The Sciences Club
Houston Community College (HCC)
2018 - 2019
Volunteering Vietnamese Teacher
Volunteer
2015 - 2017