Statistical SciencePhD students Ezinne Nwankwo and Brian Kundinger gave presentations on their research at the 2nd Annual Research Summit of the Duke University Center for Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM). The UCEM is funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Brian and Ezinne are both Sloan Scholars. You can see Ezinne's research presentation and Brian's research presentation on the conference website. Ezinne Nwankwo Brian Kundinger read more about PhD students Ezinne Nwankwo and Brian Kundinger present in Sloan UCEM Research Conference »
Assistant Professor Yuansi Chen was recently highlighted by Quanta Magazine for solving a decades old, important problem in high dimensional geometry. Read the story in Quanta Magazine. read more about Yuansi Chen solves decades old geometry problem »
Arts & Sciences Professor David Dunson was unanimously selected as the 2021 recipient of the prestigious George W. Snedecor Award. This award honors an individual who has been instrumental in the development of statistical theory in biometry. The awardee is recognized for the quality and impact of their research, and for a noteworthy publication. David’s publication was a 2019 paper with former postdoc Jeffrey Miller that appeared in the Journal of the American Statistical Association titled, “Robust Bayesian… read more about David Dunson wins George W. Snedecor Award »
Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel receives Robert V. Hogg Award for Excellence in Teaching Introductory Statistics (The following is a slightly edited version of a story about the award that will appear in the Mathematical Association of America Focus news magazine.) Dr. Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel is the 2021 recipient of the Robert V. Hogg Award for Excellence in Teaching Introductory Statistics. The Robert V. Hogg award for Excellence in Teaching Introductory Statistics is named in honor of Robert V. Hogg, who was a… read more about Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel receives Robert V. Hogg Award for Excellence in Teaching Introductory Statistics »
Anna Yanchenko wins SBSS Competition PhD student Anna Yanchenko won one of the ASA SBSS Student Paper Awards for 2021 with her paper titled Hierarchical Dynamic Modeling for Individualized Bayesian Forecasting. Raphaël Morsomme selected for Young Investigator Award Ph.D. student Raphaël Morsomme was selected for a Young Investigator Award by the American Statistical Association Section on Statistics in Epidemiology for his work on data augmented MCMC for stochastic epidemic models. The award includes $… read more about Two Ph.D. Students win Awards »
Ph.D. student Raphaël Morsomme was selected for a Young Investigator Award by the American Statistical Association Section on Statistics in Epidemiology for his work on data augmented MCMC for stochastic epidemic models. The award includes $800 for travel support and a certificate. Raphael will present his paper at the Joint Statistical Meetings. Raphael's work was advised by Professor Jason Xu. Congratulations Raphael! read more about Raphaël Morsomme selected for Young Investigator Award »
In December 2020, Nicole Scott was named a Certified Research Administrator (CRA) by the Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC). By passing the certification exam, she demonstrated proficiency in the council’s body of knowledge, which includes project development & administration, legal requirements & sponsor interface, financial management, and general management. Nicole joined the department in 1998 and became business manager in 2007. read more about Nikki Scott named Certified Research Administrator »
PhD student Anna Yanchenko won one of the ASA SBSS Student Paper Awards for 2021 with her paper titled Hierarchical Dynamic Modeling for Individualized Bayesian Forecasting. Congratulations Anna! read more about Anna Yanchenko wins SBSS Competition »
Professor Amy Herring has been named to the Executive Board of the International Biometrics Society (IBS) for 2021. From the IBS website, "the Executive Board receives input and direction from the Representative Council, committees and the general membership, and uses this information to govern and lead the Society." read more about Amy Herring named to Executive Board of International Biometrics Society »
Assistant Professor of the Practice Maria Tackett and PhD alumnus Lorin Crawford were 2020 honorees for Black History Month by Mathematically Gifted and Black. Links to their interviews for the honor can be found at the links below. Maria Tackett Interview Lorin Crawford Interview read more about Maria Tackett and Lorin Crawford honored by Mathematically Gifted and Black »
DURHAM, N.C. -- The artificial intelligence behind self-driving cars, medical image analysis and other computer vision applications relies on what’s called deep neural networks. Loosely modeled on the brain, these consist of layers of interconnected “neurons” -- mathematical functions that send and receive information -- that “fire” in response to features of the input data. The first layer processes a raw data input -- such as pixels in an image -- and passes that information to the next layer above, triggering some of… read more about Accurate Neural Network Computer Vision Without The ‘Black Box’ »
Jacob Smith, an assistant research professor in Statistical Science, published this article in the Washington Post. Congratulations, Jacob! read more about Assistant Research Professor Jacob Smith published in Washington Post »
After several years of senior leadership at LinkedIn, Liang Zhang (PhD 2008) has taken a leadership position as Head of Pinterest Home Engineering, based in San Jose, CA. Congratulations Liang! read more about New Role for Liang Zhang, (Alum 2008) »
Six members of the Duke faculty have been named have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as a AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. They are among 489 new fellows elected this year. The tradition of AAAS Fellows began in 1874. A virtual induction ceremony for the new fellows in the organization’s 24 sections will be held on Feb. 13, 2021. Engineering L. Catherine Brinson, Sharon C. and Harold L. Yoh III… read more about Six from Duke Named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) »
The Department of Statistical Science at Duke University invites applications for a postdoctoral associate to conduct research on causal inference. The position will be jointly supervised by Drs. Fan Li and Laine Thomas (Duke Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics) with focus on methods at the interface between causal inference and machine learning with applications to subgroup analysis, clustered randomized trials, electronic health records data, although other areas of causal inference are also of interest.… read more about Postdoctoral Associate Position »
A conference organized by the junior section (j-ISBA) of the International Society for Bayesian Analysis (ISBA), to be held online on November 17-18, 2020. Come see current Duke PhD students (Becky Tang, Graham Tierney, Fan Bu, Heather Mathews, and Vittorio Orlandi) and many other great junior statisticians present. Conference zoom linkShort scheduleFull schedule read more about Bayesian Young Statisticians Meeting: Online meeting »
Professors David Banks, Karen Kafadar, David Kaye and Maria Tackett have edited a new book on forensic statistics. The book grew out of the SAMSI program on Forensic Science that was held in 2015/16. That program laid bare a number of statistical concerns regarding the methodology and testimony of forensic scientists, and motivated the editors to collaborate to create the definitive exposition of best statistical practices in the field. All chapters have been peer reviewed, a requirement of the Daubert standard for… read more about Statistical Science Faculty Collaborate on new book »
Duke alumnus Lorin Crawford SS’17 has been named a 2020 Packard Fellow, a prestigious fellowship awarded to the nation’s most promising early-career scientists and engineers. Crawford, who is currently the RGSS Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at Brown University and a senior researcher at Microsoft Research New England, is part of a group of 20 scientists who will each receive $875,000 over five years to pursue their research. Crawford said that his interdisciplinary experiences at Duke helped pave the way for his… read more about Duke Alum Lorin Crawford Named 2020 Packard Fellow »
Congratulations to Alum Jouchi Nakajima (PhD 2012) who has received the Ogawa Research Encouragement Award from the Japan Statistical Society. Jouchi is recognized for his "outstanding achievements that contribute significantly to the development of statistics ". More on the award here. read more about Jouchi Nakajima (PhD 2012) receives the Ogawa Research Encouragement Award »
On Friday, October 23rd, MSS students gathered to hear from program Alumni for their Annual Alumni Event, organized by the Graduate Consultative Committee (GCC). The goal of the event is to provide an opportunity for current MSS students in the Department of Statistical Science to gain insight from MSS Program Alumni into the practice of statistics and data science in industry and research. Participants had a chance to hear from Alumni representing a broad range of industries, including Tech, Sports Analytics, Consulting,… read more about Duke MSS Alumni Day 2020 »
Simone Gray (PhD 2010) was elected president of the Eastern North American Region of the International Biometric Society also known as ENAR. The International Biometric Society is an international society for the advancement of biological science through the development of quantitative theories and the application, development and dissemination of effective mathematical and statistical techniques. A link to the announcement is here. read more about Ph.D. alumnus Simone Gray elected ENAR president »
Lorin Crawford (PhD 17 ) has been awarded a Packard Fellowship, a highly prestigious award given to innovative early-career scientists. From the award summary, "As sequencing and imaging technologies continue to improve, there is a growing need for novel statistical tools to better analyze the biological data that they produce. The Crawford group develops scalable machine learning algorithms that uncover how genomic features affect the architecture of complex traits and contribute to disease etiology." Lorin is an… read more about PhD Alum Lorin Crawford awarded Packard Fellowship »
We would like to congratulate three of our outstanding MSS students for winning the Dean’s Research Award. The Dean’s Research Award provides funding for the purchase of materials and supplies to support research relevant to a Master’s student’s degree completion. Congratulations Yizi, Daniel, and Christine! Below is a brief summary of each of their research projects. Daniel Deng Daniel’s research focuses on Bayesian dynamic modeling and decision analysis, advised by Dr. Mike West. Christine Shen Christine’s research… read more about Three MSS Students Win Dean's Research Award »
The Department of Statistical Science is excited that Dr. Funda Gunes has joined the department as the new Master's Program Director. Previously, she worked at SAS Research and Development as a Principal Machine Learning Developer. At SAS, she built end-to-end predictive modeling pipelines for SAS Visual Data Mining and Machine Learning Software by researching and implementing new machine learning techniques and data science best practices. In addition, Funda was involved in many exciting projects with computer scientists… read more about Statistical Science Welcomes New Master's Program Director, Funda Gunes »
DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke students will soon emerge more prepared to use data to create new knowledge in a host of disciplines thanks to the newly launched Center for Computational Thinking (CCT). The new center is a response to the growing demands for more computational skills among new college graduates. It will infuse data literacy across the academic experience while simultaneously preparing students to consider the ethical, legal, and social impacts of technology. “The CCT will provide training in a co-curricular seminar-… read more about Duke Launches Center to Bring Computational Thinking to All Students »
The annual American Statistical Association DataFest held at Duke each spring gives hundreds of students a glimpse of statistics and data science in practice, bringing real challenges to life in a collegial, competitive setting. Due to COVID, this year’s virtual version took place over several weeks – rather than a couple days – and focused on emerging data sets related to the pandemic and its effects. Two of those projects caught the attention of another organization whose members were impressed by what Statistical… read more about COVID-Inspired Statistics Projects Earn Accolades in Global Competition »
If hanging upside down from a crane while escaping a straitjacket seems like suitable training for today’s topsy-turvy campus environment, then statistician Eric Laber is primed for success. That daring escape is just one of many tricks Laber performed during a 12-year-career as a professional magician. But now he’s distinguished professor at NC State who will be joining the Duke faculty in the departments of statistical sciences and biostatistics and bioinformatics in January. Laber likes using data to solve real-world… read more about Eric Laber: From Awe-Inspiring Magic to Problem-Solving Statistics »