Department of Biostatistics and Data Science Newsletter |
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See the latest news going on at the Department of Biostatistics and Data Science |
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The Department of Biostatistics and Data Science has put together a dashboard tracking COVID-19 cases (texaspandemic.org). The dashboard includes hot spots based on test positive rate (TPR), new cases per day and mobility data per county, using mobile phone data.
Click the link to learn more.
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WELCOME
We would like to welcome Dr. Tru Cao and Dr. Sedory as the newest faculty members at the Department of Biostatistics and Data Science.
Dr. Tru Cao joins us as an Associate Professor from Eastern Washington University, and will primarily work within the area of Data Science. Dr. Cao earned his PhD at the University of Queensland in Australia. He has worked in various countries including Vietnam, Japan, and England.
Welcome the department Dr. Cao.
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Faculty Spotlight - Abigail Sedory |
We would like to welcome Dr. Abigail Sedory to the Department of Biostatistics and Data Science. Dr. Sedory is a former student from our department. After earning both her Masters and PhD in Biostatistics at UTHealth, she was hired on as an Assistant Professor. She joins us after graduating in Spring 2020.
Dr. Sedory feels the position aligns perfectly with her career goals. As to why she was drawn to the position, “[Assistant Professor] fits everything I am interested in. I have a strong education background having taught both high school math, and St. Thomas University undergrad statistics courses. In addition to teaching, I was also a tutor.”
Starting her position during the COVID-19 pandemic has had its challenges. During her last as a student semester, she was required to work from home. She is also working form home to start off her professional career. “It’s like I never left. COVID has been difficult. Not being able to be at the office and not being able to ask questions right away can be difficult.”
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Despite the challenges, Dr. Sedory feels her education within the Department of Biostatistics and Data Science did a good job of preparing her for her current role. What she learned inside the classroom wasn’t the only component in her education. Many of her roles outside the classroom helped prepare her for becoming an Assistant Professor. “Being a Teacher Assistant for 1690 really helped. The professors gave me a lot of trust. When I was a Teacher Assistant for Dr. Yamal … he had me teach his class. While being a Teacher Assistant for Dr. Perez, I became very familiar with Canvas. I understand what it’s like to take classes and being a Teacher Assistant at the same time. It helps me understand my current Teacher Assistants better. Being a Teacher Assistant, being a former student, and being a faculty has given me a very good understanding.”
In additional to being a Teacher Assistant, Dr. Sedory was very active with the Biostatistics Student Association and the Academic Council. “I was the BADS socialization chair. I received first-hand knowledge of the inside working of the school. There is this whole procedure you have to do to go through in regards to revising curriculum.”
So now that she has successfully complete her PhD, and has continued with the department as an assistant professor, she has some words of wisdom for those stud interested in following a similar career path. “Take advantage of being a Teacher Assistant, especially if you would like to get into academia. It allowed me to learn to back end with canvas and helped with working on homework solutions. It is beneficial to have some type of teaching experience. If you can teach it, then you know it. Teaching helps you communicate and understand the material. Being able to communicate through writing allowed me to try different things in regards to explaining statistics.”
Thank you for joining our team Dr. Sedory. We are lucky to have you.
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-Congratulations Gen Zhu! |
Gen Zhu has the highest score on this years' preliminary exam. He earned the highest score both in the theory and application section.
Congratulations on all your success Gen, you have earned it.
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Student Spotlight - Gen Zhu |
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Gen Zhu is a third-year PhD students within the Department of Biostatistics and Data Science. He has done some outstanding work both within and outside the classroom.
Originally from China, Gen Zhu decided the United States would give him the best opportunity to pursue his education. “The field of statistics in the United States has the most advanced programs around the world. The research environment is very stimulating.”
Assimilating to another culture is not easy, and it presents all sorts of challenges. “China has a different education system. In China, there is little classroom discussion, and student just mainly watch the professor lecture. Here in the U.S., engagement in class rooms and community is strongly encourage. Discussion with the professor in class is strongly recommended. Also networking with people by joining various events is prevalent. For me, I have to go out of my comfort zone to engage with the environment.”
Despite the challenges, Gen Zhu has become one of the most active students both within the department, and within the various student organization. When is not excelling in his academics, he is the acting president of the Biostatistics Student Association. How does Gen Zhu balance all these activities? “I am using various software including Onenote to prioritizes the tasks I have, and to organize my schedule. The program helps me make sure I finish all academic tasks on time. Once my academic task are organized, I spend efforts and energy on organizing and participating in extra-curricular events. I feel self-improvement in communication is important, and extra-curricular events have been helpful in my self-improvement.”
Thank you for everything you do Gen Zhu, we are proud you are part of our department.
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Biostatistics Student Association |
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Hello friends,
We hope your Fall semester is going well during these unprecedented times! We have the pleasure to inform you that the BADS student association has launched a new peer mentoring program. The goal of this program is to help new students to connect with currents students in order to smooth their academic journey in our department and beyond. We know how difficult it can be for new students to adjust during their first semester, especially if they do not have anybody who can properly assist them. The peer mentoring program also gives an opportunity to current students to serve as mentors and leaders towards incoming students. The first edition of this program took place at the beginning of the Fall 2020 semester. We asked new students to register as mentees and current students in their final year to register as mentors. The participation rate was great and we were able to match 26 mentees to 21 mentors, some mentors having more than one mentee. To launch this program, we held a virtual event via the Webex platform on Friday September, 11th 2020. During the event, mentors/mentees were able to put a face on each other since we asked students who were connected to introduce themselves with their camera on! We would like to thank all of you who have registered for this program. We hope that mentees will develop a solid and durable relationship with their mentors. For those of you who would like to be part of this unique experience, watch out for the next edition! You can follow us on our social media pages @uthealth_bads to be informed of our next events. Good luck with the rest of your semester!
Best regards,
BADS student association
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Center for Biostatistics Collaboration and Data Services (CBCDS) |
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Looking for Support Services with Data Analysis?
The Center for Biostatistics Collaboration and Data Services, with faculty members or primary investigators in the Department of Biostatistics and Data Science of the School of Public Health at UTHealth who are qualified professionals in biostatistics, informatics, computational, and quantitative data sciences, provides collaborative support and services to investigators for clinical, biomedical, and populational health science research at UTHealth and within the Texas Medical Center (TMC). The center was established by Hulin Wu, PhD, Betty Wheless Trotter Professor and chair of the Department of Biostatistics and Data Science at UTHealth School of Public Health.
The center’s mission is to drive scientific excellence in research through engaged collaboration.
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