Huilin Tai

Hello! I am an incoming PhD student in Computer Science at Rice University, where I will be advised by Prof. Andrew H. Song.

I recently completed a thesis-based M.S. in Computer Science at Columbia University, working with Prof. Mohammed AlQuraishi on long-context transformer models for genomic sequence analysis. I received my B.Sc. in Statistics and Computer Science from McGill University, where I worked with Prof. Jun Ding, Prof. Anmar Khadra, and Prof. Hamed Hatami.

My research focuses on efficient and reliable foundation models, particularly scalable inference and robust model systems.

  • Long-context inference for foundation models
  • Reliable, scalable, and explainable model systems
  • Multimodal AI for scientific and biomedical data

I am always happy to discuss research ideas or collaborations. Feel free to reach out! Outside of research, I enjoy squash, sketching, and crafting.

Email / Google Scholar / GitHub / LinkedIn / CV
Huilin Tai

Publications

thesis teaser
Cross-Species Antimicrobial Resistance Prediction from Genomic Foundation Models

Huilin Tai

Master’s Thesis, Columbia University, 2026

paper / pdf

CellSexID teaser
CellSexID: Sex-Based Computational Tracking of Cellular Origins in Chimeric Models

Huilin Tai, Qian Li, Jingtao Wang, Jiahui Tan, Ryann Lang, Basil J. Petrof, Jun Ding

Cell Reports Methods, 2025

paper / code

Spec-LLaVA teaser
Spec-LLaVA: Accelerating Vision-Language Models with Dynamic Tree-Based Speculative Decoding

Mingxiao Huo, Jiayi Zhang, Hewei Wang, Jinfeng Xu, Zheyu Chen, Huilin Tai, Ian Yijun Chen

ICML TTODLer Workshop, 2025

paper

T2VBench teaser
T2VBench: Benchmarking Temporal Dynamics for Text-to-Video Generation

Pengliang Ji, Chuyang Xiao, Huilin Tai, Mingxiao Huo

CVPR Workshop, 2024

paper

Ependymal teaser
Ependymal Cells Undergo an Astrocyte-Like Gliosis in Response to Chronic and Acute Neuroinflammation

Adam M.R. Groh et al., Huilin Tai

Journal of Neurochemistry, 2024

paper

SPARC teaser
SPARC is a Novel Prognostic Biomarker for Ovarian Cancer

Xiaorong Guo, Huilin Tai, Xiaoqing Li, Peng Liu, Jin Liu, Shan Yu

Clinical and Experimental Obstetrics & Gynecology, 2024

paper

UCK2 teaser
Targeting Uridine-Cytidine Kinase 2 Improves Immune Response of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Dehai Wu et al., Huilin Tai

Cellular & Molecular Biology Letters, 2022

paper

Contact

Email: ht62@rice.edu