Biostatistics Careers in Healthcare
Monday, June 3rd, 2024, 5:30 – 6:30 PM CST (Virtual)
Are you curious about roles for biostatisticians in healthcare? This week’s “What Can I Do with My PhD?” Career Panel will feature professionals in biostatistics who have leveraged their training to impact healthcare. Join our panelists as they discuss what drew them to this field, the importance of statistical analysis in healthcare, the competencies required for success in biostatistics roles, and how you can prepare yourself to make a similar shift.
Dean Follmann, PhD
Assistant Director for Biostatistics, NAID at NIH
Dr. Follmann earned degrees in Mathematics from Elgin Community College and Northern Illinois University. He received a PhD in Statistics from Carnegie Mellon University in 1985. His career began at the Center for Naval Analyses, a think tank for the Navy, followed by stints within the National Institutes of Health, where he founded the Biostatistics Research Branch at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 2002. Current interests include vaccinology, emerging infectious diseases, and causality.
Yuan Ji, PhD
Professor of Biostatistics, UChicago
Dr. Yuan Ji is Professor of Biostatistics at The University of Chicago. His research focuses on innovative Bayesian statistical methods for translational cancer research. Dr. Ji is author of hundreds of publications in peer-reviewed journals including across biomedical and statistical journals. He is the inventor of many innovative Bayesian adaptive designs such as the mTPI and i3+3 designs, which have been widely applied in dose-finding clinical trials worldwide. He received Mitchell Prize in 2015 by the International Society for Bayesian Analysis. He is an elected fellow of the American Statistical Association.
Eric Polley, PhD
Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences, UChicago
Eric Polley, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at The University of Chicago where he is the faculty director for the Data Science concentration in the Master of Public Health program and director of the Biostatistics Laboratory. Dr. Polley was previously an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics in the Department of Quantitative Health Sciences at Mayo Clinic (2015-2021) and a mathematical statistician in the Biometric Research Branch at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (2012-2015). Dr. Polley received his PhD in biostatistics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2010. With Mark van der Laan, they developed the Super Learner ensemble prediction methodology. His research area involves the development and evaluation of prediction methods, innovative methods for diagnostic and prognostic prediction, and precision medicine clinical trial design.