Research

Publications and preprints

† Corresponding author. * Equal contribution.

Published

1. Michael A. Kouritzin, Ian Zhang†, Jyoti Bhadana, Seoyeon Park. Markov processes for enhanced deepfake generation and detection. AIMS Mathematics, 2026, 11(4), 11731–11759. doi:10.3934/math.2026483

Under review

1. Aditya Khan, Ian Zhang. Parametric Hotspot Analysis with the Getis-Ord Statistic. 2026.

In progress

1. Ian Zhang†, Thibault Randrianarisoa. Likelihood Tempering to Mitigate Prior Dominance in Variational Posteriors for Bayesian Neural Networks. 2026.
2. Ian Zhang*†, Hanlong Chen*, …, Howard Chertkow, …, Malcolm Binns. Redundancy-Aware Model Assessment for Component and Cluster Selection in Clinical Subtype Discovery. 2026.
3. Hanlong Chen*, Ian Zhang*, …, Malcolm Binns. Continuous Cognitive Heterogeneity in Dementia: A Severity Factor and an Age-Related Amnestic Axis Without Reproducible Subtypes. 2026.
4. Ian Zhang†, Finn Tran, Meredith Franklin. Spatial Dependence Regularization for Improved Generalization in Climate Downscaling Models. 2026.
5. Gabriel Liu*, Ian Zhang*†, …, Daniel Alessi. LiBRE: Statistical Learning for Representative Brine Design and Lithium Enrichment Analysis. 2026.

Research experience

Doctoral Student, Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Toronto — 2026–Present

Graduate Research Assistant, Baycrest Institute/University of Toronto — 2025–Present
Supervisor: Malcolm Binns

Summer Research Trainee, McGill University — 2025
Supervisor: Jianguo (Jeff) Xia

Research Assistant, University of Alberta — 2023–2024
Supervisor: Mike Kouritzin

Presentations

Conference talks

• Likelihood Tempering to Mitigate Prior Dominance in Variational Posteriors for Bayesian Neural Networks. 2026 SSC Annual Meeting, Hamilton, ON. New Frontiers in Bayesian Analysis session.
• Markov Processes for Enhanced Deepfake Generation and Detection. 2025 SSC Annual Meeting, Saskatoon, SK. Probability session.
• Markov Processes for Enhanced Deepfake Generation and Detection. Third Joint SIAM/CAIMS Annual Meetings, 2025. Machine Learning and Stochastic Processes session.

Posters

• Comparing Exact and Approximate Inference for Spatial Autocorrelation Tests: A Power Analysis. Thirteenth Annual Canadian Statistics Student Conference, 2025.