Before Xue Yang (PhD ‘26) and Jinhong Li (PhD ‘25) started their doctoral journeys within the Department of Biostatistics and Health Data Science at Pitt Public Health, they were total strangers.
By May 2026, their lives looked much different. The couple crossed the commencement stage together to celebrate their new futures in biostatistics—this time with their one-year-old son, Jason, cheering them on from the audience.
“Pitt brought us together,” said Yang. “We had never met before, but we were in the same cohort. We got to know each other, and my joke is—and my advisor tells other students this too—'You should come to the department frequently, so you will have a chance to meet your peers.'"
When Jason was born in December 2024, it was the beginning of Yang’s fifth year, close to the end of her PhD studies. She said due to the winter holiday and the near conclusion of her research, the timing couldn’t have been better.
“We both passed our proposals before I delivered the baby, and I had almost finished the biggest part of my research,” she said. “At that moment, because the baby was here, I didn't have as much pressure on other things.”
A big part of balancing research and family, Yang said, is learning the baby’s cycle. Yang and Li planned their research work around it.
“Before you have a baby, your time is your time—you can arrange when you want to work and when you want to do other stuff,” said Yang. “But after that, we had to find time between his cycles and ours. Babies have cycles; every several hours they wake up to be fed and have their diapers changed."
Following Li’s dissertation defense in late 2025, Yang and Li moved their family to Indianapolis, Ind., where they are now working in the field.
Li works as a PhD-level statistician at Eli Lilly and Company, focusing on evaluating the efficacy and safety of drugs. His career goal is to continue as an experienced statistician within the biopharmaceutical industry.
Yang is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University. Her research focuses on "SMART" designs and analysis— enhancing the practical implementation of adaptive trials, improving patient outcomes, and advancing personalized treatment strategies for chronic diseases. In the future, she hopes to further advance her academia research.
The couple enjoyed coming back to Pittsburgh for commencement. They said the Public Health staff and faculty were extremely helpful and supportive when they asked about bringing Jason.
“The school arranged seating for us closer to the exit, so if the baby got fussy or cried, we could easily take him out without interrupting the ceremony,” said Li. “It was very considerate of them to make those arrangements so that everyone could enjoy the moment."
Throughout her PhD journey, Yang reflected on the quote, “Days are long, but years are short.”
“When you have a young baby, you feel like every day is full of his cycle—his diapers, his sleep, feeding, and lots of new stuff. You also have your own research and graduation pressures,” she said. “But when I look back, I think what really matters is that you enjoy every single moment because this time will never come back."
"All the challenges just make the rewarding parts more rewarding,” said Li. “Time really flies fast. Only the good memories stay."
-Ava Dzurenda