DSS News

• Dr. Alan Gelfand delivers 15th P. C. Mahalanobis Memorial Lectures 

  In January, Alan Gelfand delivered the 15th P. C. Mahalanobis Memorial Lectures – seven lectures over two weeks in three cities (Kolkata, Delhi, Bengaluru). These lectures honor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, founder of the Indian Statistical Institute and pioneering contributor to statistical theory and methodology in sample survey work and in multivariate analysis. Previous winners include Samuel Karlin, Sir David Cox, Peter Hall, and Jim Berger.

  Dr. Gelfand also presented the Presidenti al Invited Lecture at the 22nd annual meeting of The International Environmetrics Society (TIES2012) in Hyderabad.

• NSF Awards $3 Million To Triangle Scientists To Improve Federal Data 

  Faculty from the Duke Departments of Statistical Science, Economics and Political Science in collaboration with NISS have been awarded a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation (in partnership with the US Census Bureau) to improve the way that federal statistical agencies analyze and disseminate economic and demographic data to the public. Investigators from Statistical Science include Jerry Reiter (PI), David Dunson, and Fan Li. The team will use the award to create the Triangle Census Research Network (TCRN), one of eight such networks across the country. The TCRN will develop cutting edge statistical methodologies to help statistical agencies (i) release data that maintain subjects' confidentiality while still enabling valid inference, (ii) handle missing and faulty values, and (iii) combine information across sources. The team will apply methodologies to high profile Census Bureau datasets, thereby improving analyses for hundreds of other researchers.

  There are multiple opportunities for graduate students, both PhD and Masters, to be a part of the TCRN research. Interested students should contact Jerry Reiter.

• BEST Award for Student Research 2010/11 

  Statistical Science PhD student Jouchi Nakajima is the recipient of the 2010/2011 BEST Award for his research on "Bayesian Dynamic Factor Models: Latent Threshold Approach".

  Statistical Science undergraduate student Derrick Hang received an honorable mention for his research on "High-Frequency Bayesian Modeling and Analysis of Stochastic Volatility in Finance ".

  For full details, pictures and papers, visit the BEST 2010-11 page.

  And see details of the BEST Award past, present and future at http://www.stat.duke.edu/research/BEST/.

• Departmental Graduation Reception 

  LOCATION: Von Canon A (Bryan Center)

  12:00pm Luncheon and Cocktails

  12:20 pm Welcome
  Professor Alan Gelfand - Department Chair

  12:40 pm Presentation of Bachelor’s Degrees
  Professor Dalene Stangl - Director of Undergraduate Studies

  1:00 pm Presentation of Masters & PhD Degrees
  Professor Mike West - Director of Graduate Studies

  1:20 pm Presentation of BEST Award

• Faculty News Dr. Jerry Reiter has been elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association. The official awards ceremony will take place at the Joint Statistical Meetings in Miami Beach in August. Dr. Sayan Mukherjee has received tenure and has been promoted to Associate Professor, effective July 1, 2011. Dr. David Dunson has been chosen as a recipient of an Outstanding Alumni Award from the Eberly College of Science at the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Alan Gelfand delivered the 40th Craig Lectures at the University of Iowa in April 2011.
• The 2010/2011 BEST Award This year's award announcement and ceremony will be during the Statistical Science departmental graduation reception on May 15th. See the BEST award flyer with full details.
• Dr. Jim Berger awarded the 2011 Rao Prize 

  The Department of Statistical Science is delighted to announce Dr. Jim Berger is the 2011 recipient of the Rao Prize. The C. R. and Bhargavi Rao Prize was established to honor and recognize outstanding and influential innovations in the theory and practice of mathematical statistics, international leadership in directing statistical research, and pioneering contributions by a recognized leader in the field of statistics. The Rao Prize is awarded by the Department of Statistics at Penn State University to a nominee selected by the members of the Rao Prize Committee.

  Previous winners are Brad Efron, Jayaram Sethuraman, Larry Brown, and Peter Bickel.

• Fabrizio Ruggeri elected as ISBA President, Hedibert Lopes elected as ISBA Treasurer 

  Fabrizio Ruggeri (Stat Sci PhD 1994), currently Research Director of CNR-IMATI in Milan, Italy (Italy's leading national research center for mathematical sciences and its applications), has been elected as President of ISBA, the International Society for Bayesian Analysis -- the world's leading professional organization for Bayesian statistics and related disciplines. Fabrizio will serve as President Elect of ISBA in 2011, President in 2012 and Past President in 2013.

  Hedibert Lopes (Stat Sci PhD 2000), currently associate professor of econometrics and statistics at the University of Chicago Booth Business School, has been elected as Treasurer of ISBA. Hedibert will serve as Treasurer of ISBA for a 3-year term, 2011-2013 inclusive.

• Postdoctoral Research Associate (RA) in Statistical Science The departments of Statistical Science and Mathematics are inviting applications for a Postdoctoral Associate to work on inference of network controls. The primary goal is the development of methods to infer nonlinear dynamics from times series data. Special focus will be on dynamics supported on networks, where the inference problem will also include information about network topology

  The candidate will work under the supervision of Profs. John Harer (Mathematics) and Sayan Mukherjee (Statistical Science) at Duke on a project funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. The project is a joint effort with Prof. Konstantin Mischaikow of Rutgers University.

  An ideal candidate will have a strong background in topological methods for the analysis of dynamical systems and statistical inference or stochastic processes. As this is a rare combination strong candidates with either background are encouraged to apply.

  Applicants should email their CV, a brief statement of their background and interests and contact information for at least three references to:

  Sayan Mukherjee Department of Statistical Science Duke University sayan@stat.duke.edu

• Dr. David Dunson wins 2010 COPSS President's Award 

  The Department of Statistical Science at Duke University is proud to announce that David Dunson, a professor in our group, is the recipient of the 2010 COPSS Award. The COPSS Presidents' Award is given annually by the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies to a person under the age of 40, in recognition of outstanding contributions to the profession of statistics. It is awarded by the five sponsoring statistical societies:

  The American Statistical Association (ASA)
  The Statistical Society of Canada (SSC)
  The Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS)
  The Eastern North American Region of the International Biometric Society (ENAR)
  The Western North American Region of the International Biometric Society (WNAR)

  The presentation of the award takes place at the annual Joint Statistical Meetings and, in fact, was awarded on Wednesday, August 4, 2010 in Vancouver, BC. This award is widely regarded as the "Nobel Prize in Statistics," as it is a worldwide competition encompassing the entire field and only a single award is given each year.

  The citation on Dunson\u2019s award is as follows: For his wide-ranging and fundamental contributions to the development of parametric and nonparametric modeling within complex Bayesian frameworks; for making significant concurrent scientific progress in machine learning through this development; for use of this methodology in substantive applications, notably in reproductive epidemiology; and for outstanding service to the profession as well as mentoring of students and post-doctoral researchers.

  This has been a remarkable year for Professor Dunson. He was also elected a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and he was named the 2010 Myrto Lefkopoulou Distinguished Lecturer at Harvard School of Public Health.

• Dr. David Dunson named the 2010 Myrto Lefkopoulou Distinguished Lecturer at Harvard School of Public Health. 

  The lectureship was established in perpetuity in memory of Dr. Myrto Lefkopoulou, a faculty member and graduate of Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Lefkopoulou tragically died of cancer in 1992 at the age of 34 after a courageous two-year battle. She was deeply beloved by friends, students, and faculty.

  Each year the Myrto Lefkopoulou Lectureship is awarded to a promising statistician who has made contributions to either collaborative or methodologic research in the applications of statistical methods to biology or medicine, and/or who has shown excellence in the teaching of biostatistics. Ordinarily, the lectureship is given to a statistician who has earned a doctorate in the last fifteen years. The lecture is presented to a general scientific audience as the first Department colloquium of each academic year. The lectureship includes travel to Boston, a reception following the lecture, and an honorarium of $1000. Previous recipients of the Lefkopoulou Memorial Lectureship have been Xihong Lin, Heping Zhang, Francesca Dominici, Jianqing Fan, Mark van der Laan, Geert Molenberghs, Marie Davidian,Danyu Lin, Bradley P. Carlin, Steven N. Goodman, Ronald Brookmeyer, Michael Boehnke, Trevor Hastie, Hans-Georg Mueller,Giovanni Parmigiani, Kathryn Roeder, and Louise Ryan.

• Duke using game systems to crunch scientific problems New scientific programming tools developed at Duke University can help scientists tap the processing power of graphics processing units, or GPUs, from video gaming systems to handle complex calculations, such as better understanding the body’s response to experimental treatments for AIDS and other diseases.
• Dr. Jerry Reiter received endowed chair Dr. Jerry Reiter is the recipient of an endowed chair through the University’s Bass Program for Excellence in Undergraduate Education, a $40 million initiative that recognizes faculty members who are gifted teachers as well as scholars. His new title is Mrs. Alexander Hehmeyer Associate Professor of Statistical Science. Congratulations to Jerry! Wonderful for him and for the Department. For further details on the Bass Chairs please see http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2001/01/bass126.html.
• The BEST Award for Student Research 2010 The BEST Award for Student Research 2010

  The Department of Statistical Science invites submissions for the 2010 BEST Award, the annual prize awarded to a student or students in recognition of student research in Bayesian statistical modeling related to time series and other methods in financial applications.

  For full details of the 2010 competition, the BEST Award and Foundation, and past awards, visit the BEST Award page

• The BEST Award for Student Research 2009 Statistical Science PhD student Hao Wang is the recipient of the 2009 BEST Award for his research on "Sparse Seemingly Unrelated Regression Modelling: Applications in Econometrics and Finance".

  Statistical Science PhD student Jouchi Nakajima received an honorable mention for his research on "Bayesian Analysis of GARCH and Stochastic Volatility: Modeling Leverage, Jumps and Heavy-Tails for Financial Time Series".

  For full details, pictures and papers, visit the BEST 2009 web page

• Assistant Professor of the Practice 

  The Department of Statistical Science invites applications for faculty appointment at the level of Assistant Professor of the Practice to begin in Fall 2010. This position is a regular rank faculty with a term renewable appointment. Preference will be given to candidates demonstrating outstanding teaching and strong interests in developing a new and growing undergraduate major. Complementary interests in Bayesian statistical science research and collaboration will also be considered.

  The Department of Statistical Science is an internationally recognized center of excellence for research and education in the development and application of contemporary statistical methodology. Particular emphasis is directed toward Bayesian modeling in many scientific fields as well as emerging computationally intensive methods. The Department offers outstanding computational facilities and opportunities for interdisciplinary research. It currently has 14 regular rank faculty along with 14 visiting, adjunct, and post doctoral faculty and 35 Ph.D. students.

  The educational program (graduate and undergraduate) as well as the Department's research agenda benefit from strong connections with the Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI) and the National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS), both located nearby in the Research Triangle. More information about the Department is available at the Statistics web site.

  All applicants should provide a letter, curriculum vitae, personal statement, and three reference letters. All materials should be submitted online at Academic Jobs Online. For inquiries and e-mail correspondence please write to dalene@stat.duke.edu. The application pool will remain open until the position is filled but screening will begin on 1 December, 2009.

  Duke University is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. The department is committed to increasing the diversity of its faculty, and we strongly encourage applications from women and underrepresented minority candidates.

• Positions for Postdoctoral Research Associates in Statistical Methods and Computation for Immunological Applications 

  Two positions for postdoctoral research associates in statistical methods and computation for immunological applications are available at Duke University. These positions are available immediately and will be filled as soon as possible.

  ---

  Postdoctoral research associate (RA) in statistical science
  Bayesian methods and advanced Bayesian computation for structured mixture modelling. (NIH - ARRA RC1 funding)

  Appointment will be to the Department of Statistical Science, working with Mike West and his research group in development and implementation of structured mixture models for high-dimensional variables and very large data sets. Applied contexts are those of structure identification and discrimination in studies immune monitoring and immunotherapy applications in vaccine research, infectious disease and cancer, using huge data sets generated by flow cytometry technologies. The RA will join an interdisciplinary team of researchers and students in statistical science, computational biology and clinical sciences, working together to develop statistical models and software for flow cytometry data analysis.

  The RA will be involved in theory and methods developments related to hierarchical mixture modelling and Bayesian analysis, and implementation of MCMC and Bayesian EM methods including aspects of parallel and multi-core computation. Candidates should have a PhD in statistics or closely related discipline, knowledge and experience in Bayesian methods and computation, strong computational orientation and programming skills, and interests in biological applications.

  This position is available immediately and will be filled as soon as possible. Appointment will be made on a renewable, one-year contract with the expectation of a two-year term.

  Applications should be submitted by email only (as pdf attachment) to tameka@stat.duke.edu. Applicants should arrange for 3 letters of recommendation to be emailed to the same address.

  Duke University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and Educator

  ---

  Postdoctoral research associate in computational statistics for flow cytometry.
  (NIH - ARRA RC1 grant funding)

  The department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at Duke University Medical Center has a postdoctoral research associate (RA) position open in computational statistics for flow cytometry. Flow cytometry is an advanced technology assay for measuring individual cell phenotype and function, and is critical for immune monitoring and immunotherapy applications in vaccine research, infectious disease and cancer. The RA will join an interdisciplinary team of researchers and students in computational biology, statistics and clinical sciences working together to develop statistical models and software for flow cytometry data analysis.

  The RA roles include the management and analysis of cancer and HIV data sets, as well as working with our collaborators in statistics to develop an open source software suite for Bayesian machine learning in flow cytometry. Candidates should have a PhD in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Computer Science or related technical field, and strong programming skills in Python and C/C++. Knowledge of databases and a biological background are desirable but not necessary. The successful candidate will be expected to interact with experimentalists and clinicians, and to have a strong interest in learning the relevant biology.

  This position is available immediately and will be filled as soon as possible. Appointment will be made on a renewable, one-year contract with the expectation of a two-year term.

  Please submit a cover letter (including a brief statement of interest), CV, and contact information for 3 references to Dr. Cliburn Chan, cliburn.chan@duke.edu.

  Duke University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and Educator

• Postdoctoral Associate in Bayesian Statistics 

  The Department of Statistical Science at Duke University is inviting applications for a Postdoctoral Associate to work on Bayesian methods for massive dimensional predictors, with an emphasis on applications to studies of gene-environment interactions and complex phenotypes. Some areas of particular interest include random and nonlinear projections for dimensionality reduction, sparse latent factor models and Bayesian nonparametrics. The ideal candidate will hold a Ph.D in statistics or a related field and will have a very strong theoretical and computational background. This research will focus on advancing the theory and methods available for massive dimensional predictors, with an emphasis on practically useful methods that can be applied broadly by non-statisticians.

  Applicants should email their CV, a brief statement of their background and interests and contact information for at least three references to:

  David Dunson, Professor
  Department of Statistical Science
  Duke University
  dunson@stat.duke.edu

• Assistant Professor Position The Department of Statistical Science invites applications for faculty appointment at the level of Assistant Professor to begin in Fall 2010. Preference will be given to candidates whose core statistical science research interests are complemented with collaborative research interest in systems biology, neurosciences, social sciences, or environmental science.

  The Department of Statistical Science is an internationally recognized center of excellence for research and education in the development and application of contemporary statistical methodology. Particular emphasis is directed toward Bayesian modeling in many scientific fields as well as emerging computationally intensive methods. The Department offers outstanding computational facilities and opportunities for interdisciplinary research. It currently has 14 regular rank faculty along with 14 visiting, adjunct, and post doctoral faculty and 35 Ph.D. students.

  The Ph.D. program as well as the Department's research agenda benefit from strong connections with the Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI) and the National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS), both located nearby in the Research Triangle. A Statistical Science major, started in Fall 2007, provides the primary focus of our undergraduate program. More information about the Department is available at the web site http://www.stat.duke.edu.

  All applicants should provide a letter, curriculum vitae, personal statement, and the names of three references. All materials should be submitted online at Academic Jobs Online. For inquiries and e-mail correspondence please write to here. The application pool will remain open until the position is filled but screening will begin on 1 December, 2009.

  Duke University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Applications from women and minorities are strongly encouraged.

• Visiting Faculty Positions The Duke University Department of Statistical Science invites applications for Visiting Faculty positions to begin in Fall 2010. Preference will be given to candidates whose core statistical science research interests are complemented with collaborative research interest in systems biology, neurosciences, social sciences, or environmental science.

  The Department of Statistical Science is an internationally recognized center of excellence for research and education in the development and application of contemporary statistical methodology. Particular emphasis is directed toward Bayesian modeling in many scientific fields as well as emerging computationally intensive methods. The Department offers outstanding computational facilities and opportunities for interdisciplinary research. It currently has 14 regular rank faculty along with 14 visiting, adjunct, and post doctoral faculty and 35 Ph.D. students.

  The Ph.D. program as well as the Department's research agenda benefit from strong connections with the Statistics and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI) and the National Institute of Statistical Science (NISS), both located nearby in the Research Triangle. A Statistical Science major, started in Fall 2007, provides the primary focus of our undergraduate program. More information about the Department is available at the web site http://www.stat.duke.edu.

  All applicants should submit a letter, curriculum vitae, and the names of three references at Academic Jobs Online. For inquiries and e-mail correspondence, please write to Dalene Stangl, Associate Chair. The application pool will remain open until the position is filled but screening will begin on 15 January, 2010.

  Duke University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Applications from women and minorities are strongly encouraged.

• Duke Statistics Alumni Network Web Site and Newsletter The first issue of the Duke Statistics Alumni Letter is available on the Duke Statistics Alumni Network homepage. The Alumni Network home page is available via a link at the bottom of the Duke Statistics homepage.
• Jared Niemi among winners for 2009 Student Paper Competition  Jarad Niemi , who will graduate PhD in May, is one of the winners of the 2009 Student Paper Competition run by the Section on Bayesian Statistical Science of the American Statistical Association. Jarad will present his winning paper, entitled Adaptive Mixture Modelling Metropolis Methods for Bayesian Analysis of Non-Linear State-Space Models, at the Joint Statistical Meetings in Washington DC in August this year, and receive a certificate and $1000 award at the SBSS social/business event at the meeting.
• Bayesian analysis and systems biology A recent paper demonstrating detailed application of Bayesian factor analysis in cancer systems biology has been selected for invited commentary. The abstract of the full commentary article reads: "Systems biology promises to personalize medicine via network-based biomarkers that predict therapeutic effectiveness. Toward this goal, Chang et al. (2009) recently introduced a systems-based approach to break down oncogenic signaling networks into modules that predict the effectiveness of pathway-specific therapeutics"
• 2009 BEST Award for Student Research The 2009 BEST Award competition is open and will receive submissions from eligible Duke students up until the September 30th 2009 deadline. The Award will be announced and made at a ceremony in late October 2009. For full details of the Award see the BEST Award web site.