She received a B.S. in Physics from Zhongnan University of Technology (China) in 1996, a M.S. and a Ph.D. in Medical Physics from McMaster University in 2001 and 2005. She did her postdoctoral training in Nuclear Instrumentation, Exposure Assessment, and Epidemiology at Harvard University from 2005 to 2009. She teaches courses in Radiation Instrumentation, Health Physics, and Radiation Emergency Management. She and her husband, Baozeng Zhang, have three children.