Alumni Spotlight: Bohao Tang, PhD ’23
Bohao Tang, PhD ’23, is a Quantitative Researcher at Two Sigma, a financial sciences company.
Bohao Tang, PhD ’23, is a Quantitative Researcher at Two Sigma. His PhD thesis, under the direction of advisor Brian Caffo, was titled “Distribution Regression: Theory and Application.”
Describe your current position and responsibilities in a way that will inform current and prospective students about career opportunities in biostatistics.
It remains a highly research-focused position. We often begin with an observed phenomenon or a given dataset, using statistics and related skills to analyze what is happening and what will happen in future. We develop theories or models for these purposes, test them on real-world datasets, and document our findings in internal papers to provide insights and inform decision-making. Except for the final "making decision" part, these are all highly similar to a PhD job. We are just dealing with finance data and writing shorter and more compact papers.
Can you describe your day-to-day work life?
On average it is about 20% of the time doing math derivations for the theoretical part of the work, 50% time coding, implementing and testing ideas, or building tools for colleagues, and 30% time discussing with others or writing papers to deliver research results. Day-to-day can be versatile and not necessarily have a rigid time-line, similarly to a PhD.
What has been your most satisfying job experience using your biostatistics background?
Using the knowledge learned from the program to develop clean theories in a very different field and also being able to apply it and make real impacts in products.
How did your degree in Biostatistics prepare you for your career? What aspects of the Hopkins program did you find most useful?
It enhanced my statistical ability and improved my ability to do good research which is highly related to my current role. This program offers the opportunity to study a wide range of practical questions and datasets, helping you not only develop strong research for publication but also transition more easily into industrial research or data-related roles.
What advice would you give to prospective students?
If you have a clear career goal, it's best to start preparing for it as early as possible. If you're still uncertain, focus on strengthening your profile by pursuing high-impact opportunities, such as publishing influential papers or securing competitive internships.
What are your favorite memories of your time at Johns Hopkins Biostatistics?
It's where I met my wife! Amid all the data, models, and late-night research sessions, I found the most important variable in my life.
What was your favorite thing about living in Baltimore?
It is a place with a lot of history. Also the city has a great food scene, especially if you love crabs and oysters.