We are extremely pleased to announce that alumnus Dr. Lu Tian, Professor of Biomedical Data Science in the School of Medicine, will be the recipient of the 2024 Lagakos Distinguished Alumni Award!

Dr. Lu Tian is scheduled to give an in-person lecture at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on Thursday, October 17th at 4:00 PM in Kresge G2 with a reception to follow in the Kresge Cafeteria.

Adaptive Prediction Strategy with Individualized Variable Selection

Today, physicians have access to a wide range of tests for diagnosing and predicting medical conditions. Ideally, they would apply a high-quality prediction model that utilizes all relevant features as input to guide treatment selection or assess risk appropriately. However, not all features used in these models are readily available to patients and physicians without some cost. In practice, predictors are usually gathered sequentially, with the physician dynamically assessing the information as it becomes available. This process continues until enough data is collected, allowing the physician to make an informed decision. Importantly, the additional information to be collected can vary from patient to patient, depending on the predictors already known. In this talk, we propose a novel dynamic prediction rule designed to determine the optimal sequence for acquiring predictive features when forecasting an outcome in making a clinical decision. The goal is to maximize the utility of the decision, while minimizing the cost of obtaining features for individual patients. We achieve this by employing reinforcement learning, where the agent decides at each step whether to make a clinical decision based on the available information or to gather more predictors based on the current state of knowledge. Theoretical property of the method has been studied. To assess the effectiveness of our dynamic prediction strategy, we conduct extensive simulation studies and provide real-world examples to demonstrate the practical application of our method.

About the Award

The annual Lagakos Distinguished Alumni Award has been established in memory of Dr. Stephen Lagakos, a faculty member and former chair of the Department of Biostatistics who passed away in a tragic automobile accident in 2009.

Professor Lagakos was a leader in the Department, the School of Public Health, and more broadly, in the international community of quantitative biomedical researchers. Steve’s qualities of commitment, passion, intellectual brilliance, and personal generosity had a direct personal impact on our lives; and his contributions to biostatistics and to AIDS research were fundamental.

This award serves to honor Steve’s distinguished career, and to recognize Department alumni whose research in statistical theory and application, leadership in biomedical research, and commitment to teaching have had a major impact on the theory and practice of statistical science. The award will be open to all who have an earned degree through the department, regardless of length of time since graduation or type of degree.

The award recipient will be invited to the school to deliver a lecture on their career and life beyond the Department.

Nominations

Nominations are welcome for next year’s award, to be given in October 2024.

Please send nominations via email: kpietrini@hsph.harvard.edu

Nominations should include contact information for yourself and your candidate, and the candidate’s curriculum vita, if available. Please include a letter describing the contributions of the candidate, specifically highlighting the criteria for the award. Supporting letters and materials would be extremely helpful to the committee, but are not required.

Nominations must be received by Friday, August 9th, 2024.