Some people have a natural affinity for mathematics--its precision, its symmetry, the way it provides balance and order to the world around us. Stephen Lagakos, the new chair of the Department of Biostatistics, is one of this rare breed. "I've been interested in math from day one," he reflects. "It has always been my love." It was this devotion that ultimately drew him into biostatistics, a field that applies sophisticated techniques in mathematics to solve problems in the medical and biological sciences. For Lagakos, the relevance of biostatistics to pressing real-world issues like cancer and aids has made this area of study a perfect blend of form and function. "Public health is such an important field and if you're involved in anything relevant--and biostatistics is very relevant to public health--you gain great satisfaction knowing that you're having some impact on making the world a better place," he notes. "It doesn't matter if you're faculty, student, or staff, most of the people we attract here come to get involved."

Getting people involved has hardly been a problem for the Department of Biostatistics, which is thriving with a faculty of more than 50 and one of the highest biostatistics enrollments in the country. Lagakos credits most of its success to his predecessors, Marvin Zelen and Nan Laird, whose combined efforts have increased the number of departmental faculty almost tenfold since he joined the School. In 1978 Zelen, professor of statistical science, came to Harvard from SUNY-Buffalo with Lagakos and nine other statisicians in tow to focus on cancer clinical trials; Zelen became chair in 1980. Professor Nan Laird took over the position in 1990 and ran the department until last year, deftly ushering it into the age of statistical genetics and bioinformatics. "So it's not as if we're starting with nothing and building up," asserts Lagakos. "We already have an outstanding department."

This is not to say that Lagakos plans to rest on their laurels. "I'm very pleased so far. But you're never quite happy--you can always think of additional things that we can do." One of his priorities is to further improve the diversity of the department. Firmly believing that the working environment for both faculty and students will be enriched by a diverse student body, he is trying to increase the presence of underrepresented minority groups from the United States and to expand international enrollment. The major impediment to this endeavor is finances; while the department has been the beneficiary of a number of nih grants, international students do not qualify for this kind of funding, which is already spread quite thin among U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Noting that the dean has already been very supportive in this regard, Lagakos has also enlisted the expertise of Louise Ryan, professor of biostatistics, and others to provide more options. "Louise has just been fantastic at convincing us of the importance of diversity and has almost single-handedly begun a number of programs," comments Lagakos. "And now a lot more of the faculty have become engaged."

But funding is really only a small part of what Lagakos and Ryan hope to achieve with their diversity efforts; they propose to bring about a fundamental change in the study of biostatistics. Their belief is that a more diverse student body will ultimately broaden the kinds of quantitative questions biostatistics is used to answer, particularly in community health research--areas like health disparities, health care access to the underserved, and public health interventions. "I think that each chair wants to make a mark on the department in their own way," observes Ryan. "Marvin Zelen, he made an indelible contribution with clinical trials in cancer--that was his thing. Nan Laird moved the department into genetics, a phenomenally important area in biostatistics right now. And Steve, he has the potential to show the practical relevance of biostatistics by emphasizing community-based research."

In the same vein, another of Lagakos's goals is to improve "protected time" for junior faculty--time where they are free to pursue self-initiated research or explore new areas of study. "Junior faculty are often under tremendous amounts of pressure and much is expected of them," notes Zelen. "Both Steve and Nan have been terrific at backing initiatives to give junior faculty more independent research time." Lagakos hopes to further improve senior-to-junior faculty mentoring and other support systems for making the path to full professor just a little bit easier.

Bringing such goals to fruition is one of the primary responsibilities of a departmental chair. "It involves trying to take what I'd like to do conceptually, in terms of say diversity and mentoring and more protected time for junior faculty, and learning how to actually implement these things," says Lagakos. Implementation is often challenging because it involves understanding and dealing with the bureaucratic systems at work at the School--finances and budgets, reappointments and approvals. But despite these complexities, Lagakos is quick to add that, being committed to the success of the department, it was an appropriate time in his life to take on this kind of role. "Steve has brought a great deal of energy and enthusiasm to the position," says Laird, "and I am personally very pleased to see that much of it has gone to strengthening several programs that I feel are very important to the department's future. He has expanded our partnership program to include one with a foreign university, increased unrestricted funding for junior faculty, and increased diversity in new faculty hires. All of these activities are bound to be a positive force on the future of the department."

Lagakos's only regret is that some of the administrative tasks as chair tear him away from his own research, which has since the mid-1980s centered around issues in AIDS. Working primarily in the area of cancer clinical trials when he joined the School, Lagakos quickly became intrigued with quantitative problems in AIDS. Of late, he is focused on assessing HIV eradication by antiretroviral therapies and the timing of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in utero or through breastfeeding, both of which have enormous implications for tackling AIDS treatment and prevention. "I am extremely lucky to be involved in something in which I have an interest and can be put to use for the greater good," Lagakos remarks. "The study of HIV has been very rewarding. It's been very stressful because it's such a devastating disease, especially in the early days, and it's very difficult emotionally. But to see the advances, be a part of the advances....that's everything."

Alexandra Benis