DuBois Bowman Named Cynthia and Robert Citrone-Roslyn and Leslie Goldstein Professorship in Biostatistics

DuBois Bowman, chair of the Department of Biostatistics, was formally installed as the Cynthia and Robert Citrone-Roslyn and Leslie Goldstein Professor on February 21. The department’s first endowed professorship honors his achievements as an educator, researcher, and a trailblazer in the field.  

“Dr. Bowman’s leadership and vision has ensured that the Mailman School and Columbia University are leaders in a rapidly growing field, pioneering new research methods and contributing insights to improve population health,” says Dean Linda P. Fried. “We are thrilled to be able to recognize him with this honor, and very grateful to Roz Goldstein, and Cynthia and Robert Citrone for their generosity.”

Since he joined the Mailman School as chair of Biostatistics in 2013, the Department has built a research program that develops biostatistical methods for brain imaging data, including functional magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion tensor imaging, and positron emission tomography. Bowman introduced a department-wide grant-writing program and, with his support and encouragement, Biostatistics faculty have earned numerous grants to fuel new research. During his tenure, the Department celebrated its milestone 75^th anniversary and brought a number of outstanding new faculty members on board, including Gen Li, Codruta Chiuzan, and Christine Mauro.

“In a word, our department is thriving,” said Bowman at the recent celebration for his endowment. “Our education programs are producing the next generation of individuals with deep analytical skills to work in academia, industry, and the government. Our faculty are developing methods that hold the keys to unlocking information in the mounds of data to enable accurate estimation, testing, and prediction to guide decision-making.”

Bowman’s published research explores a multitude of important topics, including Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, schizophrenia, and cocaine addiction. Prior to joining the Mailman School, he founded and directed the Center for Biomedical Imaging Statistics at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, where he also served as tenured professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics and faculty member in the Neuroscience Program in the Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. Bowman earned a BS in Mathematics at Morehouse College, MS in Biostatistics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and PhD in Biostatistics from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Roslyn Goldstein, a member of the Mailman School Board of Overseers since 2015, is a prominent New York City philanthropist. In addition to serving on the boards of Evelyn Lauder’s Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the American Friends of Israel Museum, she is the national commissioner of the Anti-Defamation League. Goldstein was previously a member of the board of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, where she and her late husband Leslie established the Roslyn and Leslie Goldstein Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.

After being introduced to Bowman by Goldstein at a Mailman School event, Cynthia and Robert Citrone were inspired to make their generous donation in support of the Department and the ever-growing biostatistics field. Mrs. Citrone currently serves on the Breast Cancer Research Foundation Board, and Mr. Citrone is the founder of Discovery Capital Management and a part owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Expressing his admiration and gratitude for Goldstein and the Citrones, Bowman said, “I hope that this marks the beginning of an enduring partnership, one that will promote our work by bringing quantitative solutions to bear to improve the public’s health.”