The Department would like to acknowledge Eric Dunipace, Jonathan Larson, and Xihao Li, who will serve as instructors for the Summer Preparatory Program during the month of August for new students. These three instructors were selected based on applications received by the department from upper level students in a new selection process initiated this year recommended by the PhD Student Committee. The instructors will teach a coordinated curriculum newly updated last year, which will cover concepts in probability, statistical methods and computing, and operational math.
Two students were selected to participate in the Peer Tutor Program – Eric Dunipace in the Fall semester and Isabella Nogues in the Spring semester. The Peer Tutors are new positions within the department created by the Director of Graduate Studies in response to a recognized need for additional course support to students in their first year or two of the PhD program. Each Peer Tutor will provide 8-10 hours per week in tutoring services, primarily for G1 students taking the core courses and preparing for the qualifying exam. The tutoring time will consist of scheduled drop in times for any G1 student as well as one-on-one sessions for students with identified needs. Due to the remote learning format for the fall, tutoring sessions will occur remotely through Zoom at least for the Fall semester.
Daniel Li and Christina Howe were recently named the co-directors of the Biostatistics Student Consulting Center (BSCC). The BSCC is a free statistical consulting service provided by doctoral students in the Department that is open to any student in the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health or the Harvard Integrated Life Sciences (HILS) federation for statistical questions that arise outside of coursework. This may include guidance on study design, analysis planning, statistical programming, and more.
Christina Howe was recently selected as an HSPH Pedagogy Fellow, as part of a pilot program designed to help promote excellent pedagogy across the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Pedagogy Fellows will work on a variety of educational efforts such as course design/redesign, development of course materials, helping to support and train TAs across the School, and development of educational opportunities beyond coursework. Their work will span across multiple courses, and some Fellows may have a focus in a single department. Pedagogy Fellows will be supported and guided by the Dean of Education and Office of Education, who will curate evidence-based resources for the cohort, help meet specific professional development needs of Fellows, help to problem-solve, and coordinate their efforts with those of departments, programs, and the School’s instructional designers.
