Jian Yang is a New Cornerstone Investigator and Zhen-Xing Endowed Professor of Statistical Genetics at the School of Life Sciences, Westlake University, China. His research focuses on genomic variation and its links to complex traits. He was the 2012 recipient of the Centenary Institute Lawrence Creative Prize, in recognition of his contribution to solving the ‘missing heritability’ paradox. He was awarded the Australian Academy of Science Ruth Stephens Gani Medal for distinguished research in human genetics (2015), and the Prime Minister’s Prize for Sciences - Frank Fenner Prize for Life Scientist of the Year (2017).