Elect your TSHS Section Chair!
The Section on Teaching Statistics in the Health Sciences will be electing the next section chair in the 2019 elections, which are open now (through 11:59 p.m. PT on May 1). This person would serve as chair elect in 2020, chair in 2021, and past chair in 2022.
Paraphrasing from the TSHS charter, here are the roles and responsibilities for these three years:
The Chair-Elect is a member of the Executive Committee and supports the chair. With the help of the Chair and Secretary/Treasurer, the Chair-Elect is tasked with preparing the Section budget for his/her year as Chair. Laila Poisson is currently serving as Chair-Elect.
The Chair heads the Executive Committee and coordinates the work of the officers and committees of the Section. The chair is responsible for reports on activities and financials. Amy Nowacki is currently serving as Chair.
The Past-Chair continues to serve on the Executive Committee and presides over the Awards Committee and the Committee on Nominations. Jeff Szychowski is currently serving as Past-Chair
Two candidates have graciously accepted our nomination to take on this three-year commitment:
Ann Brearley, PhD
Assistant Professor in the Division of Biostatistics at the University of Minnesota
A note from Ann:
I am an assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Minnesota. I have been teaching and consulting here since 2008 and joined the faculty in 2016. My time is divided between teaching, teaching-focused research, service, and collaborative research in our Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI).
I teach introductory biostatistics courses, in both fully online and hybrid ("flipped") in-person formats, for public health graduate students and health-related professionals. I developed a new Biostatistical Literacy course, which has been taught successfully every semester since 2014. I teach in our six-week Summer Institute in Biostatistics (SIBS) program, co-teach our online clinical trials course, and co-teach the consulting course for our Biostatistics graduate students. I also chair the Division's Curriculum Committee.
My collaborative research is varied (which is what makes it fun!), including clinical trials focused on prevention of neonatal jaundice in low- and middle-income countries, on minimizing the effects of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in preschoolers, on the effect of genomics on organ transplant rejection, and on improving methods for orthopedic surgery for scoliosis.
I have been involved in the TSHS section since 2012, when I attended the TSHS mixer at JSM for the first time and Carol Bigelow and Steve Grambow invited me to join the organizing committee for the TSHS Resources Portal . I currently serve as the TSHS publications officer and as co-editor of the Portal. I have always gravitated toward projects (such as the Portal!) that connect people and resources across boundaries and institutions, to avoid reinventing wheels. I would continue to emphasize these kinds of activities as TSHS chair-elect and chair. I would be honored to serve as TSHS chair-elect.
Todd Schwartz, DrPH
Associate Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Research Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina
A note from Todd:
I currently serve as Associate Professor in the Department of Biostatistics at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. As a faculty member in Biostatistics since 2001, I have extensive research collaborations with the UNC School of Nursing (joint faculty appointment), the UNC Thurston Arthritis Research Center (Co-Director of the Methodology Core) and the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy (adjunct faculty appointment). Much of my effort is focused on supporting various projects across these units with regard to their biostatistical aspects, including consultation on design, conduct, analysis and dissemination. I have also published on innovative pedagogical methods, including the ‘flipped’ classroom.
Statistics plays a prominent role and is taught as foundational in the areas of medicine, public health, dentistry, and pharmacy. These disciplines recognize the importance of statistics in training their students to be competent in reading & contributing to the scientific knowledge base. However, statistical education is perhaps not fully appreciated in these fields. The Teaching of Statistics in the Health Sciences (TSHS) Section fills a critical niche to support educators who teach statistics to these students.
My vision for TSHS is to strengthen the existing support for all statistics educators in the health sciences, regardless of their role. One of our challenges is limited time as we juggle other responsibilities; however, I believe there are many existing resources that are underutilized but could be great time-savers. TSHS is currently developing some of these, such as the TSHS Resource Portal, which contains peer-reviewed resources but has not yet reached its full potential. Another relevant educational resource is the availability of government-procured datasets (such as NHANES). I would like to leverage the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education (CAUSE) and work to develop a track for those who teach in the health sciences as part of the USCOTS/eCOTS conferences. I would like to continue prior TSHS Chairs' initiatives to recognize outstanding statistics educators through TSHS awards, encourage the promotion of faculty with an emphasis on statistics education, and support nominations of statistical educators as ASA Fellows.
If elected, it would be my pleasure to serve our diverse community of statistical educators. I appreciate your consideration as you vote.
Voting is easy. You don’t need to have an invitation, just a current ASA membership.
ASA Executive Director Ron Wasserstein offers these 5 steps.
1. Go to the ASA website at http://www.amstat.org and click on the green "Vote Now for Your 2020 Officers" graphic.
2. Log in with your ASA username and password.
3. Review the election materials and make your selections.
4. Click the "Proceed" button at the bottom of the ballot.
5. Review your selections to ensure they are correct and click "Submit ballot".