Letter From the Chair
Dear Biostatistics Community,
As we celebrate the first 100 years of excellence at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, it is a pleasure to welcome you to the Fall 2021 edition of Significant Moments. Our change to a fully digital newsletter highlights the importance of this issue, which is released as we return to campus after more than a year of remote activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a new Department Chair who went into lockdown soon after arriving at Columbia Mailman in early 2020, I have taken great pleasure in seeing our campus coming back to full life and vibrancy. I am very proud to say that throughout the challenging period of the pandemic, the Biostatistics Department has thrived, working with a high level of productivity and maintaining its excellent sense of community. This issue spotlights several, but not all, of the achievements of the Department’s faculty and students, and the excellent contributions of its dedicated staff members.
On the research front, our Department has continued to produce high-quality peer-reviewed publications in innovative new methodologic approaches and state-of-the-art collaborative interdisciplinary research, supported by a large funding portfolio. Its reach covers every corner of Columbia University Irving Medical Center’s research enterprise and beyond. The Department has been taking significant, bold steps toward asserting leadership in public health data science at Columbia University and beyond through strategic partnerships and an invigorated Research Advisory Committee which is charting new directions for interdisciplinary team science.
On the educational side, the Department has expanded its operations on several fronts; namely, it launched its new MS track in Public Health Data Science with an inaugural cohort this fall; the MPH certificate has been renamed as the Advanced Certificate in Applied Biostatistics and Public Health Data Science; and our newest faculty member, Daniel Malinsky, has strengthened our data science offerings via his new course on Graphical Models for Complex Health Data. We have also taken data science education to the global level and have been awarded a new, highly competitive training grant, via the National Institutes of Health’s Data Science Initiative, for “Advancing Public Health Research in Eastern Africa Through Data Science Training (APHREA-DST).” Our Biostatistics Epidemiology Summer Training, or BEST, Diversity Program for undergraduate students from underrepresented groups has continued its pioneering tradition by hosting 25 talented students from across the nation using a completely virtual platform—a first of its kind for the program, and a resounding success.
Throughout this special centennial celebration issue, you will find profiles of our outstanding staff (including, notably, Anthony Guerrero, who won the 2021 Staff Award in Excellence from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health); trailblazing faculty (including promotions, awards, and new additions); and award-winning, talented students and distinguished alumni who are making significant contributions to biomedical research and education through their quantitative skills. We hope that the articles in this issue, collectively, will give you a good sense of how the Department is preparing itself for the next century of public health advances through innovative quantitative contributions. To continue our tradition of excellence, and to take the Department to even greater heights fit for the new era of big data, we are adding several new faculty hires, making forward-looking strategic plans, and continuously enhancing educational offerings with a view to producing future quantitative leaders who will advance public health research and education in many new directions.
I feel very proud and honored to lead such a world-class Department, supported by a great school, that strives to offer a cultivating, nurturing, and inviting environment for all its members—not only in its core academic mission, but also in its dedication to creating a truly antiracist work and learning environment and to being on the leading edge of working toward a world that is healthy and ready for the post-pandemic era. I am also very grateful to the many devoted and passionate supporters of our mission – including the Sanford Bolton Estate, the family of Roslyn and Leslie Goldstein as well as the family of Cynthia and Robert Citron. Finally, as always, I close by inviting all of you to stay engaged with the Department. We hope to have the privilege of hosting you as visitors to share your knowledge and wisdom and, hopefully, as potential collaborators, new colleagues, or future trainees at all levels.
Warm regards,
Kiros Berhane