We are extremely pleased to announce that Dr. Stephanie Hicks, Associate Professor of Biostatistics at Johns Hopkins University, will be the recipient of the 2023 Myrto Lefkopoulou Distinguished Lectureship!Dr. Stephanie Hicks is scheduled to give an in-person lecture at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on Thursday, September 21.More details to follow.
Dr. Stephanie Hicks has established herself as a globally recognized statistician working at the intersection of genomics and biomedical data science, with a strong personal commitment to collaboration and an unparalleled dedication to excellence. Her research addresses statistical and computational challenges in single-cell genomics, epigenomics, and spatial transcriptomics leading to an improved understanding of human health and disease. Dr. Hicks is currently an Associate Professor of Biostatistics at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a faculty member in the Johns Hopkins Data Science Lab, as well as an affiliated faculty with the School’s Bloomberg American Health Initiative and elected associate of the Malone Center for Engineering in Healthcare. She received her BS in Mathematics from LSU and her MA and PhD from the Department of Statistics at Rice University under the direction of Marek Kimmel and Sharon Plon. She completed her postdoctoral training with Rafael Irizarry in the Department of Data Science at Dana- Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health. Through her research, innovative educational practices, and professional service, Dr. Hicks has made exceptional achievements in the fields of statistics and data science. She is a leading expert in methods for statistical genomics, developing fast and scalable computational methods and open-source software for biomedical data analysis. Dr. Hicks has also been an outstanding citizen for the professional community at large, acting as a firm advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Her passion and creativity for data science education are demonstrated in a number of diverse venues from the classroom to her work as a podcast host, a member of the Editorial Board for Genome Biology, an Associate Editor for Reproducibility at the Journal of the American Statistical Association, and a co-founder of R-Ladies Baltimore.The value and originality of Dr. Hicks’ work have been recognized through her papers in prominent journals in the field, and through a variety of professional awards including the Teaching in the Health Sciences Young Investigator Award from the American Statistical Association (ASA), a COPSS Emerging Leader Award in 2021 (COPSS=Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies), a Bloomberg American Health Initiative High Impact Project Award, and a highly competitive Pathway to Independence Award from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) at the NIH.Dr. Stephanie Hicks truly represents the essence of this award which honors the legacy of Dr. Myrto Lefkopoulou. We look forward to honoring her and continuing to follow her outstanding career.
