Announcements
Announcements
Sandra (Sandy) LaMonaca brings experience and dedication to her role as Associate Director of Academic Operations in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics (DBEI). A Philadelphia native, Sandy returned in 2014 after a career spanning both government and corporate sectors in New Jersey and Connecticut, since 1997.
At Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine, Sandy served the Office of the Chair for the Department of Clinical Sciences and Advanced Medicine (CSAM), where she managed all faculty activities for over 70 clinical faculty in a 24/7 level-one small animal hospital trauma center. Her span included the streamlining of numerous operational processes and steadfast support for faculty and staff alike.
With a formal education in Business Administration and BAAS in Leadership & Communication, Sandy's career has been marked by resilience and multifaceted skill sets. Her journey includes a 14-year tenure as a volunteer firefighter in New Jersey, achieving certifications in Firefighter I & II, EMT, CPR, Instructor as well as leadership and incident command training. These experiences have uniquely equipped Sandy with the ability to thrive in high-pressure environments and excel in problem-solving, project management, and service to others — skills she seamlessly translates into her academic operations role.
Outside of work, Sandy shares her home in West Deptford, NJ with her husband Jim, who works for Penn Vet, their children, and their four dogs. Nestled on a wooded property, they find joy in the company of nature and animals, enjoying their shared passion for cooking, travel, entertaining friends, and simply being together as a family.
Sandy LaMonaca's journey is a testament to the power of diverse experiences and a deep-rooted commitment to excellence, both professionally and personally. Her ability to blend leadership, compassion, and strategic acumen enriches the academic community at Penn, inducing her drive and passion for every endeavor she undertakes.
Aug. 1, 2024. Please join us in welcoming new primary faculty members, Angela Aherrera, DrPH, MPH and Brielin Brown, PhD to the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics!
Dr. Aherrera joins the department as an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology. She is an environmental epidemiologist, whose research focuses on environmental hazards and understanding their role in the development and prevention of adverse respiratory health outcomes. As a NIEHS-FDA K99/R00 grantee, she is currently investigating the exposure and toxicity of metal and aldehydes, as well as the pulmonary health effects, including inflammation, of using new and emerging electronic cigarette devices among young adults. She is also interested in airborne microplastics and was awarded NIOSH pilot funding to assess occupational exposures to microfibers—a common type of microplastic—among garment industry workers.
As a NIEHS-FDA K99/R00 grantee, Dr. Aherrera is investigating the exposure and toxicity of metal and aldehydes, as well as the pulmonary health effects, including inflammation, of using electronic cigarettes among young adults. She is also interested in airborne microplastics and was awarded NIOSH funding to assess occupational exposure to microfibers—a common type of microplastic—among garment industry workers. Ultimately, Dr. Aherrera’s goals are to contribute to reducing environmental health inequities in vulnerable and disproportionately exposed populations.
She received a DrPH (2019) and MPH (2015) from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health before assuming the role of a postdoctoral fellow in the school's Department of Environmental Health and Engineering.
Dr. Brown joins the department as an Assistant Professor of Informatics and Genetics and is broadly interested in the development and application of statistical and computational methods in bioinformatics and genetics with a focus on complex traits. He is particularly interested in large-scale exploratory data analysis, causal inference, omics data integration, and cross-ancestry analysis. Dr. Brown and his research group employ techniques to analyze medically linked genetic and multi-omic studies, single-cell sequencing, and CRISPR-based screen data with the goal of understanding the mechanism of complex and common diseases. The long-term goal of his research group is to build large-scale, causally grounded, multifactorial disease models that can be used to predict intervention effects, identify key pathways, and enable precision medicine.
He received a PhD from the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley (2016) before working as a computational biologist at Verily Life Sciences. In 2019, he returned to academia as a Data Science Institute fellow at Columbia University and a postdoctoral fellow at the New York Genome Center.
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July 1, 2024. The department is pleased to announce that Qi Long, PhD, Professor of Biostatistics, has been appointed as the new Vice Chair of Faculty Professional Development in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics (DBEI), effective July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2027.
In this essential role, Dr. Long will support the academic and professional growth of DBEI faculty members at all stages of their careers. His new responsibilities will include enhancing mentorship opportunities for junior faculty members; providing guidance on career advancement and tenure processes; identifying and allocating University resources to support professional development; and cultivating a collaborative research environment where every DBEI faculty member is empowered to reach their fullest potential.
Dr. Long will also partner with other DBEI leaders to foster diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within the department through responsive recruitment and retention initiatives and paying particular attention to the career development of and unique challenges faced by faculty members from underrepresented groups.
The department would also like to thank Rebecca Hubbard, PhD, Dr. Long’s predecessor in this role, for her dedicated leadership and invaluable work during her appointment. Dr. Long assumes his new role as DBEI’s Vice Chair of Faculty Professional Development at an exciting time in the development of the department. Please join the department in congratulating him.
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July 1, 2024. Please join us in welcoming Jiayin Zheng, PhD as an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics to the department, effective July 1, 2024. Dr. Zheng earned a BS in Statistics from the Department of Mathematics at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China (2009) and a PhD in Statistics from the Department of Probability and Statistics at Peking University in Beijing, China (2015). He worked as a postdoctoral associate with Dr. Shein-Chung Chow at Duke University (2016-2017), and then as a postdoctoral research fellow with Dr. Li Hsu at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (2017-2019) before being appointed at a Staff Scientist in the Biostatistics Program in the Public Health Sciences Division there.
Dr. Zheng’s methodological research spans several innovative research areas including methods for data integration leveraging external summary information with internal individual data, bioequivalence and biosimilarity, risk prediction models, and survival analysis. He has published 26 peer-reviewed publications papers on statistical methodology and collaborative research (with nine as a first author or first co-author) in top tier journals including JASA, Biometrics, and Statistics in Medicine. He also served as a key biostatistician responsible for the statistical analysis of an original investigation published in JAMA.
Within the DBEI, Dr. Zheng will collaborate with investigators in the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Perelman School of Medicine in areas such as neurology, cancer, infectious disease, and CHOP Clinical Futures, focusing on comparative effectiveness among other priorities. Dr. Zheng will also continue to develop statistical methods to address design and to analyze issues arising from these experimental and non-experimental study settings, particularly in the field of data integration. Additionally, he will contribute to the department’s education programs—instructing and advising students in the Biostatistics MS and PhD programs, and mentoring trainees and junior investigators.
![Photo of LauraEllen Ashcraft](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Ashcraft_2024.png?itok=P3aRfjrt)
Jan. 2, 2024. Please join us in welcoming LauraEllen Ashcraft, PhD, MSW to the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics as an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology. Dr. Ashcraft completed a PhD in Social Work (2021) with a focus on implementation science in chronic pain management in primary care settings, and a Master of Social Work with concentrations in community organizing and social administration (2013), from the University of Pittsburgh. Her interest and expertise in implementation science began during her time at the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Critical Care Medicine, where she observed the need for better dissemination and implementation of research findings into practice. During her doctoral program, she established an implementation science training program, which resulted in the publication of two highly cited systemic reviews – on parent empowerment in pediatric healthcare settings and effective dissemination strategies to U.S. policymakers – and her co-founding of the Pittsburgh Dissemination and Implementation Science Collaborative (Pitt DISC) in 2019, which is currently comprised of more than 150 researchers in Pittsburgh and beyond.
In 2021, Dr. Ashcraft joined the University of Pennsylvania as a Senior Research Investigator in the Division of General Internal Medicine. Her current research is funded primarily through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, where she leads implementation science efforts and methodological innovations in two large-scale implementation trials: “Implementing the Age-friendly Health System in VHA: Using Evidence-based Practice to Improve Outcomes in Older Adults” (SAGE QUERI) and “Handoffs and Transitions in Critical Care: Understanding Scalability” (HATRICC-US). Dr. Ashcraft is a co-Investigator and the implementation science methodologist on the recently funded AMETHIST@Penn Implementation Science Hub. She has published a number of impactful peer-reviewed articles (16 manuscripts with 4 as the first author) in high-impact journals, including Implementation Science, Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, and Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
In her new faculty position, Dr. Ashcraft plans to establish an independent, federally-funded implementation science research program and support the development of implementation science infrastructure within the department to ensure the success of current and future research, education, and mentorship initiatives. Her expertise in implementation science and her collaborative research experience in clinical settings, including the University of Pennsylvania Health System and the Veterans Affairs, will be integral to numerous research programs at Penn that involve clinical or community-based epidemiology.
Dec. 4, 2023. The Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics (DBEI) at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and the Master of Public Health (MPH) Program at the University of Pennsylvania have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a new Epidemiology track within the MPH Program. The expansion of the program addresses the need for experts who can approach complex health issues from an epidemiological perspective.
“As we continue to face global public health challenges, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, and the opioid epidemic – to name a few timely examples – it is more important than ever to produce public health professionals who possess a deep understanding of the patterns, causes, and effects of health-related issues within populations," said Enrique Schisterman, PhD, the Chair of the DBEI and the Perelman Professor in Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics. Learn more about this exciting new partnership and how to apply to the highly competitive Epidemiology track.
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Kevin B. Johnson, MD, MS was awarded the NIH Director's Pioneer Award under the "High-Risk, High-Reward Research" program funded by the National Institutes of Health Common Fund. Established in 2004, the NIH Director's Pioneer Award challenges investigators at all career levels to pursue new research directions and develop groundbreaking, high-impact approaches to a broad area of biomedical, behavioral, or social science.
Dr. Johnson is the David L. Cohen University Professor of Pediatrics and a Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor who holds appointments in the Department of Computer and Information Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics in the Perelman School of Medicine. He is widely known for his work with e-prescribing and computer-based documentation and, more recently, work communicating science to lay audiences, which includes a documentary about health-information exchange. He has authored more than 200 publications and was elected to the American College of Medical Informatics, Academic Pediatric Society, National Academy of Medicine, International Association of Health Science Informatics, and American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
Dr. Johnson will apply the NIH grant to a research project titled Helping Doctors Doctor: Using AI to Automate Documentation and "De-Autonomate" Health Care.
Learn more about this award and Dr. Johnson's work on Penn Today.
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A new research initiative – the Center for AI-Driven Translational Informatics (CATI) – supported by the Penn Institute for Biomedical Informatics (IBI), the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics (DBEI), and the Penn Institute for Immunology and Immune Health (I3H) will be led by Dokyoon Kim, PhD, Associate Professor of Informatics.
The mission of the newly launched center is to bridge the “bench-to-bedside” gap between theoretical frameworks and proof-of-concept methodologies to widespread clinical applications. To achieve this, the CATI plans to focus on demonstrating the reliability and safety of artificial intelligence (AI) methods within the medical sphere. As the role of AI continues to evolve and expand, AI-based recommendations within the field of medicine cannot realize their full potential unless they are accepted and trusted by healthcare providers and patients alike – this means that researchers developing algorithms must also invest in building transparency and accountability around their research.
That’s where the new center aims to make an impact. Dr. Kim and the CATI team envision the development of additional resources and infrastructure for translational research via this initiative as a powerful catalyst for individual labs and interdisciplinary collaborations at the University of Pennsylvania and beyond. Read the full story on the DBEI's LinkedIn.
Yong Chen, PhD, FASA, FAMIA, Professor of Biostatistics, and the Founding Director of the Computer, Inference, and Learning Lab at the University of Pennsylvania (PENNCIL) and the Center for Health Analytics and Synthesis of Evidence (CHASE) will be inducted, along with twenty-two other new Fellows, into the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI) on November 12 at a ceremonial dinner during the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) 2023 Annual Symposium. New Fellows are elected annually to the College by the 473-member body of Fellows.
According to the ACMI biography on Dr. Chen: “Dr. Yong Chen has made profound contributions to biomedical sciences and public health, pioneering research in clinical evidence generation, evidence synthesis, data integration, and federated learning for multi-institutional collaborations.His exceptional quantitative skills, engineering expertise, and outstanding leadership exemplify all we hope for in an ACMI Fellow.”
“This year we welcome a large and diverse cohort of highly acclaimed ACMI Fellows to the College," said ACMI President Kevin B. Johnson, MD, MS, FACMI, FAMIA, FIAHSI, David L. Cohen University Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Computer and Information Science, Pediatrics, and Science Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. "The FACMI designation is one of distinction and pride. They represent excellence from academia, government and industry and are the best and brightest stars in our field demonstrating thought leadership, stellar experience and established scholarship. Together their important contributions to biomedicine and healthcare inform, educate and inspire the informatics community to improve human health."
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Russell "Taki" Shinohara, PhD was selected as the 2023 Mortimer Spiegelman Award recipient by the Applied Public Health Statistics Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA). Each year, the APHA presents the award to honor a statistician under the age of 40 who has made outstanding contributions to health statistics, especially public health statistics. Dr. Shinohara was selected from a robust pool of nominees representing the diversity and talent of the biostatistics field nationally and internationally. The award recognizes his important contributions to biostatistics and imaging, as well as his proven track record of leadership and mentorship. In addition to being a Professor of Biostatistics in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics at the Perelman School of Medicine, Dr. Shinohara is also the founder and director of the Penn Statistics in Imaging and Visualization Endeavor (PennSIVE) center.
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Professor of Biostatistics, Wensheng Guo, PhD, has been named a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS). Dr. Guo received the award for his contributions to statistical theory and methodology in the analysis of high dimensional correlated data such as those occurring in longitudinal studies, funtional modeling, and time series. The designation of IMS Fellow has been a significant honor for over 85 years. Each Fellow is assessed by a committee of their peers and has demonstrated distincition in research or leadership that has profoundly influenced the field. Read the complete list of 2023 IMS Fellows.
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Earlier this year, John Farrar, MD, PhD and Enrique Schisterman, PhD were named to National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine ad-hoc committees.
Farrar serves on “Evaluating the Effects of Opioids and Benzodiazepines on All-Cause Mortality in Veterans." Due to the effects of active duty and combat-related injuries, among other potential predisposing factors, the Veterans Administration population has higher rates of chronic pain, traumatic brain injury, posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, substance use disorder, and accompanying mental health problems than civilians. Those often co-occurring conditions increase the risk for suicidal ideation and suicide. Veterans may be prescribed opioids (for pain) and benzodiazepines (for anxiety or insomnia). The committee will conduct a study to evaluate the effects of opioids and benzodiazepines on all-cause mortality of veterans, including suicide.
Schisterman serves on “Developing a Framework to Address Legal, Ethical, Regulatory, and Policy Issues for Research Specific to Pregnant and Lactating Persons." Approximately 4 million pregnant people in the United States give birth annually, and 70 percent of these individuals take at least one prescription medication during their pregnancy. Yet, pregnant and lactating persons are often excluded from clinical trials, and often have to make treatment decisions without an adequate understanding of the benefits and risks to themselves and their developing fetus or newborn baby. The committee will develop a framework for addressing medicolegal and liability issues when planning or conducting research specific to pregnant and lactating persons.
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In April 2023, the American Statistical Association (ASA) bestowed its prestigious distinction of Fellow on Phyllis Gimotty, PhD, Alisa Stephens-Shields, PhD, and 45 other ASA members for their professional contributions, leadership, and commitment to the field of statistical science. View the list of 2023 ASA Fellows.
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Vincent Lo Re III, MD, MSCE, has two new and one pending appointment to national efforts. Dr. Lo Re is Co-Chair of the Infectious Diseases Society of America Hepatitis C Guidance Panel, Scientific Co-Chair of the 2023 American Conference for the Treatment of HIV, and will soon become Chair of the FDA’s Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee.
![Knashawn Morales and Wei-Ting Hwang](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Wei%20Ting%20%2B%20Knashawn%20ASA-WEB.png?itok=OUwXUXfA)
Knashawn Morales, ScD, and Wei-Ting Hwang, PhD, have been named as new Fellows of the American Statistical Association. The world’s largest community of statisticians, the ASA is known as the “Big Tent for Statistics.” Read more about Dr. Morales. Read more about Dr. Hwang.
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US News & World Report has issued its first-ever ranking of doctoral programs in biostatistics — and the one taught by our faculty is #6, up from #12! “A field where career opportunities are expected to grow.” See those rankings here.
![Photo of Julia Szymczak](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Szymczak-HeadShot-CROP.jpg?itok=VEq3Up6K)
Julia E. Szymczak, PhD, has been nominated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to serve as a voting member of the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (PACCARB). Read more about the PACCARB.
![Photo of Mingyao Li, PhD](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Mingyao_Li-brightened.jpg?itok=QLWyK30q)
Congratulations to Mingyao Li, PhD, newly elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science! She joins a distinguished group who “represent the kind of forward thinking the scientific enterprise needs.” Read more about the 2021 Fellows.
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Kevin Johnson, MD, MS, FAAP, FAMIA, FACMI, has been named the David L. Cohen University Professor. Dr. Johnson says that like Cohen, he believes in uniting various sectors to achieve change. Read more.
![Photo of George Demiris, PhD, FACMI](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/George_Demiris-CROP.jpg?itok=vqRLgSHO)
George Demiris, PhD, FACMI, has been named the Mary Alice Bennett University Professor. He cites Dr. Bennett’s pioneering policy of respectful care for patients as a great inspiration. Read more.
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We are saddened to share with you the news that Marshall Joffe, MD, MPH, PhD, passed away on October 5. Dr. Joffe's inflential work and kind nature are remembered by many in our community, nationally and internationally. Read more.
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Yong Chen, PhD, has won the 2021 Titan Award for Methodological Research from Observational Health Data Sciences & Informatics. OHDSI is an international, interdisciplinary collaborative whose network spans more than 600 million patients and more than 2700 researchers. Read more about the 2021 Titan awards.
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The Perelman School of Medicine invites applications and nominations for the position of Director, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Find more information and apply here.
![Department of Biostatistics Epidemiology & Informatics](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/DBEI_logo_2c_10.jpg?itok=cNAetMTu)
The DBEI seeks candidates for the position of Director, Division of Epidemiology.
Find more information and apply here.
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Aimin Chen, MD, PhD, will serve the Environmental Protection Agency in a dual appointment: as a charter member of its Scientific Advisory Board and its Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee. Read more about the influential group Dr. Chen has joined.
![Michael Harhay](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Michael_Harhay-PAIR-crop.jpg?itok=S4Y0dABl)
Congratulations to Michael Harhay, PhD, MPH, selected by the Assembly on Critical Care (CC) to receive the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Assembly on CC Early Career Achievement Award! Read more about Dr. Harhay.
![Taki Shinohara](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Taki_Shinohara_591B-CROP.jpg?itok=XOelsECP)
Congratulations to Russell (Taki) Shinohara, PhD, a new Fellow of the American Statistical Association, the world's largest community of statisticians! Read more about Dr. Shinohara.
![Kevin Johnson](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Kevin_Johnson-CROP.jpg?itok=kmdaXjqu)
Kevin Johnson, MD, MS, FAAP, FAMIA, FACMI, has been named as Penn's 27th Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) University Professor. A pioneer of medical information technologies to improve patient safety, Dr. Johnson will hold joint appointments in the DBEI and the Department of Computer and Information Science in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Read more.
![Alisa Stephens-Shields](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Stephens-Shields_Alisa_2018-web.jpg?itok=sCaZ0Qrb)
Alisa Stephens-Shields, PhD, has been selected as an inaugural member of the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies (COPSS) Leadership Academy! Membership in the Academy is one of the highest honors given to early-career statistical scientists.
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We are pleased to announce that Enrique Fabian Schisterman, PhD, is the new Chair of the DBEI, effective February 1. Learn more about his vision for the Department. Read about Dr. Schisterman's appointment.
![Arielle Marks](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Arielle_Marks.jpg?itok=ZwxdNZjX)
Arielle Anglin, pictured, was the first of three biostatistics PhD students whose papers won 2021 American Statistical Association prizes. Congrats to her, to Jian Hu and to Sarah Weinstein! Read more.
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Registration is now open for our March 24 virtual Research Day! We will feature trainee flash talks and high-impact faculty research, plus a keynote by Sue Curry, PhD, recognized internationally for her expertise in behavioral science and in translation of research findings into health policy. Join us for this informative, interactive event!
![Qi Long](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Qi%20Long-SQ_0.jpg?itok=4uoO4HY5)
Qi Long, PhD, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Read more about this news. Read more about Dr. Long.
![Qi Long](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Qi%20Long_0.jpg?itok=DW3jB4Xr)
The DBEI, Abramson Cancer Center and Institute for Biomedical Informatics are pleased to jointly announce the establishment of the Center for Cancer Data Science, under the leadership of Qi Long, PhD. Read more.
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We invite all those interested in biostatistics doctoral training to join us on Oct. 15 at 7 pm. for a virtual panel hosted by the Graduate Group in Epidemiology and Biostatistics! To attend "Doctoral Training in Biostatistics: Harnessing Math and Data to Create Knowledge in Medicine and Public Health," register here You will then receive the BlueJeans link for the event.
![Graciela Gonzalez Hernandez](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Graciela_GH-square_0.jpeg?itok=nm4tHpll)
Graciela Gonzalez Hernandez, MS, PhD, has been invited to join the National Library of Medicine board that reviews the work of Intramural Research Scientist principal investigators and research programs. Her first meeting will be in the spring of 2021. Read more about the NLM advisory committees.
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Robert T. Krafty, PhD, an alumnas of our biostatistics program, will assume the role of Chair and Rollins Professor of the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University. Dr. Krafty is a nationally recognized biostatistician and was selected following a large national search. Read more.
![Rebecca Hubbard](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Rebecca%20Hubbard-New-2019-SQ-CROP.jpg?itok=rDpCZ28D)
Rebecca Hubbard, PhD, has been appointed to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics, which advises stakeholders in government, academia, industry and nonprofit organizations on statistics and data science. Read more.
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Elizabeth Stuart, PhD, a statistician who develops and uses methodology to better analyze the causal effects of public health and educational interventions, is the first recipient of the DBEI-sponsored Marshall Joffe Epidemiologic Methods Research Award. Read more and hear her remarks.
![Nandita Mitra](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Mitra_Nandita_2018-CROP2_0.jpg?itok=pCr2_8eS)
Saluting our rising experts, virtually: Nandita Mitra, PhD, Chair of the Graduate Group in Epidemiology and Biostatistics (GGEB), presented the 2020 class as part of the recent Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS) ceremony. Read more.
![Yong Chen](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Chen_Yong_2018-web.jpg?itok=WUoedImN)
Yong Chen, PhD (pictured) and Pamela Shaw, PhD, have been named Fellows of the American Statistical Association (ASA), the field’s largest and most prestigious professional organization in the United States. Read more.
![Hongzhe Li](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Hongzhe_Li_362B-CROP.jpg?itok=k8Kl7DR_)
The Philadelphia Chapter of the American Statistical Association—the world’s largest community of statisticians—has honored Hongzhe Li, PhD, with its Award for Reseach Excellence. Read more about Dr. Li.
![Rebecca Hubbard](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Rebecca%20Hubbard-New-2019-CROP.jpg?itok=x6dMU9le)
The Health Policy Statistics Section of the American Statistical Association has selected Rebecca Hubbard, PhD, as a winner of its 2020 Mid-Career Award. The award recognizes leaders in health care policy and health services research for their excellence at the frontier of statistical practice. Read more about Dr. Hubbard.
![Mary Boland](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Boland_Mary_2018-web.jpg?itok=GNIKJpoS)
Mary Regina Boland, PhD, has been awarded the designation of Fellow of AMIA, the American Medical Informatics Association. This achievement signals that the designee is an expert in evidence-based informatics practice and is engaged with a community of lifelong learners who apply the latest advances in informatics to improve health and health care. Read more.
![Jason Moore](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Jason%20Moore%20Headshot.recent_1.jpg?itok=Gs1Q5oGS)
Jason Moore, PhD, FACMI, cohosts a new podcast, the first to focus on hot topics in biomedical informatics. The debut episode introduces the series and opens a discussion on deep phenotyping. Listen now.
![Department of Biostatistics Epidemiology & Informatics](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/DBEI_logo_2c_7.jpg?itok=gE65YSn6)
Congratulations to our biostatistics students who have received honors recently from the International Conference on Health Policy Statistics and from the American Society for Human Genetics! Read more.
![George Demiris](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Demiris_George_2018-reduced.jpg?itok=2DU0NT5b)
For his “groundbreaking research that has advanced our understanding and application of health informatics to improve the health of vulnerable populations and influence health policy,” George Demiris, PhD, has been elected as a new member of the National Academy of Medicine. Read more.
![J. Richard Landis](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Dick_Landis.recent-reduced-w.border.jpg?itok=AQ7l6rXu)
J. Richard Landis, PhD, has been selected as the 2019 David L. DeMets Lecturer in the Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The Lecturer exemplifies rigorous development and application of quantitative methodological principals, married with deep engagement in an area of biomedical investigation. Read more.
![Susan Ellenberg](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Ellenberg_Susan-size-reduced-CROP.jpg?itok=NpBLwKw9)
Susan S. Ellenberg, PhD, will serve as interim chair of the DBEI. Dr. Ellenberg will assume the role on October 1. Read more.
![Jeffrey Morris](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/jeffrey_morris.jpg.resize.405.575.high_.jpg?itok=K2HGHTfJ)
Jeffrey S. Morris, PhD, will assume the role of Director of our Division of Biostatistics, effective Sept. 1. Dr. Morris is a leader in developing quantitative methods to extract knowledge from biomedical big data. Read more.
![Department of Biostatistics Epidemiology & Informatics](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/DBEI_logo_2c_4.jpg?itok=ou4VtZaY)
Congratulations to all of our biostatistics and epidemiology grads! View our photo of those who walked in the ceremony, with biostatistics faculty and Perelman School of Medicine leadership.
![Nandita Mitra](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Mitra_Nandita_2018-CROP2.jpg?itok=lBdOtiBz)
Three faculty members in the Biostatistics Division have been named fellows of the American Statistical Association (ASA). the field’s largest and most prestigious professional organization in the United States. Nandita Mitra, PhD (pictured), Rebecca Hubbard, PhD and Jinbo Chen, PhD, kicked off a banner season that also has seen four of our biostatisticians elected as ASA officers. Read more about the new ASA fellows.
![Ellenberg Susan](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Ellenberg_Susan.recent-smaller.jpg?itok=HHdDuh_B)
Susan Ellenberg, PhD, has been honored with the 2019 Florence Nightingale David Award. Sponsored jointly by the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies and the Caucus for Women in Statistics, the award is granted biennially to a female statistician who serves as a role model to other women via her contributions to the profession. Read more.
![Harv Tommy](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Harv_Tommy_L_0.jpg?itok=tQeOWs6o)
More than one in seven in the US have chronic kidney disease, and as the nation’s largest clinical CKD lab, the multi-decade Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort heads the battle against this population-health threat. The DBEI’s Harold I. Feldman, MD, MSCE (pictured) and J. Richard Landis, PhD, lead work funded with a new $17.5M from NIH. Read more.
![Danielle Mowery](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Danielle_Mowery_inked.png?itok=sx-k5xkF)
New informatics faculty member Danielle Mowery, PhD, is also Penn Medicine's first Chief Research Information Officer. Read more.
![Susan Ellenberg](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Susan_Ellenberg-New.crop_.jpg?itok=V4xbwCnS)
Susan S. Ellenberg, PhD, has received the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s 17th Annual Janet L. Norwood Award, which recognizes outstanding career achievement by a woman in the statistical sciences. Read more.
![Mingyao Li and Sharon Xie](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Sharon%20and%20Mingao%20JSM%202018-SQ_0.jpg?itok=cWYc4tc5)
Biostatisticians Mingyao Li, PhD (right), and Sharon Xiangwen Xie, PhD, were announced as fellows of the American Statistical Association, the largest professional organization for statisticians in the U.S., at the 2018 Joint Statistical Meetings. Read about this honor.
![Stephen Kimmel](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Steve.Kimmel_Tommy_headshot.jpg?itok=mKaKDW1g)
Stephen Kimmel, MD, MSCE, has been elected as a new member of the American Epidemiological Society. The AES is a scientific forum for senior epidemiologists to hone professional expertise through the lively interchange of ideas with peers.
![Department of Biostatistics Epidemiology & Informatics](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/DBEI_logo_2c_2.jpg?itok=OKsr2K3I)
Congratulations to our biostatistics and epidemiology grads! View our photo of those who walked the graduation walk this week, with biostatistics faculty and Perelman School of Medicine leadership.
![Sharon Xie](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Xie_Sharon_Leonardi-reduced.jpg?itok=MQoDWl2_)
Biostatisticians Mingyao Li, PhD, and Sharon Xiangwen Xie, PhD (pictured), have been elected fellows of the American Statistical Association, the largest professional organization for statisticians in the United States. Read more.
![Danish Saleheen](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Danish_Saleheen.jpg?itok=gXjWBf5W)
Danish Saleheen, PhD, has garnered a Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Award from the Clinical Research Forum for his leadership of a project that examines loss-of-function genetic mutations—which can yield valuable information about basic biology and possible therapeutics for major medical disorders. Read more.
![Department of Biostatistics Epidemiology & Informatics](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/DBEI_logo_2c_1.jpg?itok=qoEUAdQQ)
Two biostatistics PhD students—Rui Duan and Jiarui Lu–have won prestigious Distinguished Paper awards from ENAR, the Eastern North American Region of the International Biometric Society. Read more.
![Hongzhe Li](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Hongzhe_li.new_crop.jpg?itok=e4mnfyz6)
For his “distinguished contributions to statistical genetics methodology, promotion of statistical reasoning in society, and modeling of high dimensional genomic and metagenomic data," Hongzhe Li, PhD, has been selected as a new fellow of The American Association for the Advancement of Science. Read more.
![Qi Long](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Qi%20Long.jpg?itok=S9kJY09F)
Qi Long, PhD, has been selected to participate in a winter faculty fellowship in Israel. The program is an opportunity to interact with counterparts in major Israeli institutions and to learn more about Israel's people, society and diverse culture. Read more.
George Demiris, PhD, FACMI, a leader in new technologies for e-health and home-based health care, will hold joint faculty appointments in the DBEI and in the Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences of the School of Nursing. Read more.
![John Holmes](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/John_Holmes.jpg?itok=VsrrDwMy)
John Holmes, PhD, FACE, FACMI, is among the first class elected to the International Medical Informatics Association's International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics. The Academy is an honor society that recognizes expertise in biomedical and health informatics internationally. Read more.
![Jason Moore](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Jason%20Moore%20Headshot.recent_0.jpg?itok=J0VRiNVu)
Dr. Moore has been elected a fellow of the American Statistical Association, the primary professional organization for statisticians and related professionals in the United States. His research focuses on developing and applying artificial intelligence and machine-learning methods for uncovering complex patterns in biomedical big data. Read more.
![Edward Kennedy,](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Edward_Kennedy.PhD_.16.jpg?itok=06jaYCks)
Edward Kennedy, PhD in Biostatistics, ’16, has won the David P. Byar Young Investigator Award from the Biometrics Section of the American Statistical Association. Dr. Kennedy earned the award for his paper "Robust Estimation and Inference for the Local Instrumental Variable Curve.” Read more.
![Jason Roy](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Jason_Roy_headshot.jpg?itok=tCP7K3cd)
Correlation doesn’t equal causality—but contemporary statistical methods give us ways to estimate what does. Dr. Roy’s new Coursera “Crash Course in Causality: Inferring Causal Effects from Observational Data,” the first-ever open course taught by a member of our primary faculty, begins in June. Registration is now open. Read more.
![Chyke Doubeni](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Chyke_Doubeni.cropped.jpg?itok=veQQyP-8)
Dr. Doubeni has been appointed to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. This independent, volunteer group of experts works to improve the nation’s health by providing recommendations on clinical preventive services. Read more.
![Karen Glanz](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Glanz.recent.jpg?itok=BGPMEwAf)
The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Sylvia Burwell, has appointed Dr. Glanz to the advisory council for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The appointment carries a four-year term. Read more.
![Jason Moore](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Jason%20Moore%20Headshot.recent.jpg?itok=NsUuu9cN)
Dr. Moore heads one of six teams devoted to the Human Pancreas Analysis Program. The program was established with $12 million in support from the National Institutes of Health. Read more.
![Vincent Lo Re](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Vincent%20Lo%20Re.jpg?itok=K-ph9SLM)
Dr. Lo Re received the 2016 HIV Medicine Association Research Award, which recognized that he has inspired the field to more broadly treat chronic HIV patients for the hepatitis C virus. HIV researchers throughout North America use his methods to identify liver-related outcomes. Read more.
![Harold I. Feldman](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/Harv_Tommy_L.jpg?itok=ONI0w6CU)
Dr. Feldman established and leads a new international group devoted to studies on Chronic Kidney Disease. The network will validate findings and pursue new insights across geographical boundaries. Read more.
![Rebecca Hubbard](http://dbei.nmsdev3.com/sites/default/files/uploads/styles/announcement_image_2/public/news-images/announcement_2.jpg?itok=ZhUxZZ8v)
The award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute enables Rebecca Hubbard (pictured) and colleagues Yong Chen and Jinbo Chen, all CCEB senior scholars, to sketch a patient’s true profile. New statistical methods will combine all available information to estimate a patient's full disease profile, or "latent phenotype"—a picture that electronic health records may only hint at. Read more.
About Us
To understand health and disease today, we need new thinking and novel science —the kind we create when multiple disciplines work together from the ground up. That is why this department has put forward a bold vision in population-health science: a single academic home for biostatistics, epidemiology and informatics.
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