Junior Researchers Receive Blackwell-Rosenbluth Award

Mak, Guha and Nishimura
Left to Right, Simon Mak, Sharmistha Guha, and Aki Nishimura

Three researchers with ties to Duke's Department of Statistics have received the newly-established Blackwell-Rosenbluth Award. The award recognizes outstanding junior Bayesian researchers based on their overall contribution to the field and to the community.

This year's winners include: Duke Assistant Professor of Statistical Science Simon Mak, John Hopkins Assistant Professor of Biostatistics and Duke doctoral alumni Aki Nishimura, and Texas A&M Assistant Professor of Statistics and former Duke post-doc Sharmistha Guha.

The Blackwell-Rosenbluth Award is presented by the junior section of the International Society for Bayesian Analysis (j-ISBA) – a group focused on students and early-career researchers within 5 years of having completed their degree. The award is named after David H. Blackwell and Arianna W. Rosenbluth for their groundbreaking works that lie at the foundation of modern Bayesian statistical theory and computation. They represent important role models for new researchers in Bayesian statistics.

The three winners will present their work on Tuesday, Nov. 29, during the Junior Bayes Beyond the Borders (JB^3) webinar series:

  • Cost-efficient Bayesian inference with expensive scientific experiments (Simon Mak)
  • “Large n & large p” Bayesian sparse regression for analyzing a network of observational health databases (Akihiko Bishimura)
  • A Bayesian Approach for Network Classificatione (Sharmistha Guha)

More information about the awards, the winners' presentations, and a link to view their talks, can be found on the j-ISBA website.