Focus on Our Faculty

How Accurate are Medical Diagnoses?

Dr. Liansheng Larry Tang
Assistant Professor of Statistics

Dr. Liansheng Larry Tang came to George Mason University in 2007.  He is a biostatistician, specializing in clinical trials and diagnostic medicine.

Larry received his Ph.D. from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.  After graduation, he started a postdoctoral fellowship to University of Washington at Seattle. There Larry worked under Dr. Andrew Zhou and developed his interest in biostatistics.

Larry worked on problems diagnostic medicine which involves developing statistical methods for receiver operating (ROC) curve characteristics.  This work is important in determining the accuracy of medical diagnostic tests.  He also developed methodology for group sequential designs. Larry also developed parametric and semi-parametric methods for comparing accuracy of diagnostic tests. He also worked on sequential design of diagnostic trials using ROC summary statistics.  His current research area is expanding into spatial statistics.

Larry grew up in urban China. His hometown, Xuzhou City in Jiangsu province, has a very long and rich history. Xuzhou known as Pengcheng in ancient times is the fourth largest prefecture-level city in Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. It is known for its convenient location as a transportation hub in northern Jiangsu, as it has expressways and railway links connecting directly to the provinces of Henan and Shandong, the neighboring city of Lianyungang, as well as the economic hub Shanghai.  Larry’s parents and sister still reside there.

Larry likes to play tennis and use the gym whenever given a chance or at leisure.  Larry likes to travel a lot and especially to national parks. He has already been to more than 12 national parks.