Summer Program Concludes with a Successful Pipelines Into Biostatistics Symposium

Summer Program in Biostatistics and Computational Biology

The 2021 Summer Program in Biostatistics & Computational Biology concluded last week, after the annual “Pipelines into Biostatistics Symposium” was held virtually on Thursday, July 15th. Research project presentations were given by sixteen students who participated in the six-week virtual program which is designed to increase diversity in the field of Biostatistics by promoting underrepresented minority students.

This year, Amarildo “Lilu” Barbosa, Harvard Chan School Chief Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Officer, and Department Chair John Quackenbush kicked off the symposium with inspiring welcome addresses that emphasized the importance of diversity and equity in the quantitative fields. The keynote speaker was alumna Loni Philip Tabb, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Drexel University. Dr. Tabb spoke about her path and journey into graduate school and what she learned along the way. During a “Journeys in Biostatistics” panel, advisory board members and summer program alumni discussed their experiences in the program, the choices they’ve made in their careers, and what we can do to promote diversity in STEM fields.

These kinds of events require an enormous amount of work and participation from faculty, students and staff. The Summer Program would like to thank the following people:

Principal Investigator
Marcello Pagano, Harvard Chan School

Symposium and Summer Program Coordinator
Priti Thareja, Harvard Chan School

Course Instructors
Jordan Arvayo, Harvard Chan School
Eric Cohn, Harvard Chan School
Kat Cyr, Harvard Chan School
Abigail Derton, Harvard Chan School
Jeff Joseph, Harvard Chan School
Yanran Li, Harvard Chan School
Genevieve Lyons, Harvard Chan School
Heather Mattie, Harvard Chan School
Mukund Poddar, Harvard Chan School
Santiago Romero-Brufau, Harvard Chan School
Ben Shea, Harvard Chan School
Daniel Waranch, Harvard Chan School
Anna Wuest, Harvard Chan School
Jerri Zhang, Harvard Chan School

Research Mentors
Kimberlee Gauvreau, Harvard Chan School
Christina Howe, Harvard Chan School
Rafael Irizarry, Harvard Chan School
Rajarshi Mukherjee, Harvard Chan School
Sean McGrath, Harvard Chan School
Rachel Nethery, Harvard Chan School
Briana Stephenson, Harvard Chan School
Octavious Talbot, Harvard Chan School
Jeanette Varela, Harvard Chan School
Luli Zou, Harvard Chan School

Seminar Series Speakers
Rebecca Betensky, New York University
Sebastien Haneuse, Harvard Chan School
Bethany Hedt-Gauthier, Harvard Chan School
Albert Hofman, Harvard Chan School
Monik Jimenez, Harvard Chan School
Francine Laden, Harvard Chan School
Erin Lake, Harvard Chan School
John Quackenbush, Harvard Chan School
Marcello Pagano, Harvard Chan School
Eric Rubin, Harvard Chan School

Professional Development Workshop Speakers
Jemar Bather, Harvard Chan School
Lilu Barbosa, Harvard Chan Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Beth Beighlie, Harvard Medical School
Charlie Dill, Harvard Chan Admissions Office
Patrick Emedom-Nnamdi, Harvard Chan School
Kamaria Hayden and CBAR Team, Harvard Chan School
Ada Horne, Harvard Chan Office of Financial Aid
Amanda King, Harvard Chan School
Erica Knight, Harvard Chan Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Betty Johnson, Harvard Chan School, Dean’s Office
Nicole Levesque, Harvard Chan School
Ra’Shaun Nalls, Harvard Chan Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Kerri Noonan, Harvard Chan Admissions Office
Carson Peters, Harvard Chan School

Panelists
Melody Goodman
Associate Dean for Research and Associate Professor of Biostatistics, New York University
DeJuran Richardson
Professor and Chair of Mathematics and Computer Science, Lake Forest College
Ula Widocki
Summer Program Alumni ’17 & PhD student in Network Science at Northeastern University

Administrative, Financial and Promotional Support
Shaina Andelman, Harvard Chan School
Sherley Brice, Harvard Chan School
Kathleen Hong, Harvard Chan School
Amanda King, Harvard Chan School
Nicole Levesque, Harvard Chan School
Susan Luvisi, Harvard Chan School
Glo Nova, Harvard Chan School
Elizabeth Solinga, Harvard Chan School
Nicole Trotman, Harvard Chan School

Funding & Administrative Support
Harvard Chan Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Harvard Chan Department of Biostatistics