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Committee Leadership
Committee Leadership
Ana Ortega-Villa, PhD (FEBW Chair) is an Associate Director of Biostatistics at Biogen. Prior to this role, she served as a mathematical statistician at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). She completed postdoctoral fellowships at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Cancer Institute, and earned her PhD in Statistics from Virginia Tech, where she currently serves as an Adjunct Professor.
Her interests include design and analysis of clinical trials and observational studies, longitudinal data, mixed models, postpartum depression, immunology, research capacity building, statistics education, and initiatives that foster a culture of belonging.
Dr. Ortega-Villa is a COPSS Emerging Leader, the Chair of the American Statistical Association Biometrics Section, a member of ENAR RECOM, and an Associate Editor of Statistics in Medicine.
Dominique McDaniel, PhD (Co-Chair) is an Associate Director of Biostatistics at Merck, where she leads statistical analysis and design for research and development in the Immunology group. Dominique earned her PhD in Biostatistics from Drexel University and completed her undergraduate studies in Mathematics at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. She also holds a Master of Science in Applied Statistics from West Chester University and a Master of Science in Mathematical Statistics from Purdue University. Prior to her doctoral studies, Dominique worked at Eli Lilly & Company in Indianapolis, IN. Her research interests include Bayesian & Spatial Statistics, Clinical Trial Development, and Causal Inference. In addition to her scientific contributions, Dominique has made a significant impact on diversity and mentoring programs within the statistics community. She is also a passionate advocate and speaker on diversity and STEM-related topics.In her spare time, Dominique enjoys running, weight training, and reading.
Kay See Tan, PhD (Past-Chair) is is an Associate Attending Biostatistician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. As a biostatistician, I collaborate with physicians and scientists to design clinical studies and develop prognostic and predictive models using data from cancer patients. As a first-generation college student, I was fortunate to have the mentorship of many educators who guided me along the path to become a biostatistician. As a result, I have a passion for mentoring the next generation of biostatisticians. I am a member of the Bridge to Biostats committee at MSK, where our goal is to introduce biostatistics to high school students from underrepresented and underserved communities in New York City. I also co-direct the Quantitative Sciences Undergraduate Research Experience program at MSK.
Jarcy Zee, PhD (Future - Chair) was born in Taiwan but grew up in Delaware. She was a first-generation college graduate from the University of Delaware, majoring in mathematics and economics with a minor in music. She worked as an economics research assistant for several years before attending the University of Pennsylvania for her MS and PhD in biostatistics. After working at a non-profit health research organization for six years in Michigan, she returned to Penn and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics. Her interests are in survival, observational, and high-dimensional data analysis methods for clinical research in kidney disease and women’s health. She is passionate about mentorship and connecting students to resources and opportunities. In her spare time, she works as a professional toddler wrangler and snack dispenser for two and enjoys finding good food and TV with her economist husband.
Committee Members
Committee Members
Prince Allotey, PhD is a Faculty Lecturer in the Department of Statistics at the University of Georgia and currently serves as Chair of the American Statistical Association Diversity Mentoring Program. He earned his PhD in Statistics from the University of Connecticut and a BSc in Computer Science and Statistics from the University of Ghana. His research interests include missing data analysis, statistics education, and Bayesian inference for spatially correlated data. Committed to fostering diversity and inclusion, he actively mentors students and professionals through a variety of programs and initiatives. Outside of academia, Prince enjoys playing and watching soccer, staying connected to his Ghanaian heritage, and participating in community activities.
Sefanit Admasu, MPH is a statistician at Merck, supporting clinical trial design and analysis within the Respiratory and Immunology group. Sefanit earned her MPH in Data Science and BS in Statistics and Analytics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to Merck, she worked with the UNC Department of Epidemiology and at IQVIA in Durham, NC. Her research interests include clinical trial development, survival and longitudinal data analysis, and public health research with a focus on women’s health and health disparities. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, being active, and spending time with loved ones.
Diana Alvarez-Bartolo, PhD is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. She earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in Quantitative Research Methods from Arizona State University, and her B.A. in Psychology from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Her research focuses on developing, evaluating, and applying advanced quantitative methods, particularly causal inference and psychometric methods, to projects aimed at improving physical and mental health.
Samuel Anyaso-Samuel, PhD is a postdoctoral fellow in the Biostatistics Branch of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute. His research develops statistical and computational methods for integrating multi-omics data to understand molecular interactions underlying disease etiology, progression, and clinical outcomes. He is particularly interested in network-based and high-dimensional modeling approaches with applications in cancer genomics and precision medicine. Sam enjoys close collaboration with health scientists to translate methodological innovation into biological insight. He earned his Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of Florida.
Lorin Crawford, PhD is a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research. His research program focuses on developing interpretable machine learning and AI algorithms to study how genetic effects and gene-by-environmental interactions influence complex traits and disease progression. As part of this work, Dr. Crawford co-leads Project Ex Vivo, a collaborative effort between Microsoft and the Broad Institute focused on defining, engineering, and targeting cell states in cancer. He has been featured on Forbes 30 Under 30 and The Root 100 Most Influential African Americans list. I also received an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, a Packard Foundation Fellowship for Science and Engineering, a COPSS Emerging Leader Award, and the Annie T. Randall Innovator Award from the Biometrics Section of the ASA. Lorin received his PhD from the Department of Statistical Science at Duke University where he was co-advised by Sayan Mukherjee and Kris C. Wood. He also received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Clark Atlanta University.
Carmen B. Rodriguez Cabrera, MPH is a PhD candidate in Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research focuses on the development of model-based Bayesian clustering methods for high-dimensional exposure data to improve our understanding of population health disparities, with a particular emphasis on neighborhood-level social determinants of health. She is especially passionate about advancing statistical methods to address inequities in cancer treatment and outcomes among underrepresented and vulnerable populations. Prior to her doctoral training, Carmen worked as a Research Project and Data Manager on several NIH/NCI-funded pilot studies and a prospective cohort study at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Department of Epidemiology, examining breast cancer screening and prevention in racially and ethnically diverse populations. She holds an MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the CUNY School of Public Health and a BA in Mathematics from Bard College.
Clemontina A Davenport, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Data Science at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She has extensive collaborative research experience, primarily in general internal medicine, investigating factors that may explain racial disparities in health outcomes. Her research areas of interest are numerous and include structural racism, kidney disease, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and weight loss. Tina is passionate about mentorship, training, and the importance of equity and diversity in research and healthcare.
Harleigh Haynie, MS is a recent graduate from Duke University school of medicine with a Masters of Biostatistics. At Duke, her focus was on clinical translational methods in clinical trial design with research interest in invisible illnesses and incurable diseases. She has obtained her Bachelors of Science Degree in Mathematics with a concentration in Statistics from Winston Salem State University in May 2021.In July of 2023 year HarLeigh began employment with Atrium health Wake Forest Baptist as a Biostatistician II where she works primarily with the pulmonology and critical care group and also on a clinical trial called Look AHEAD. She is a native of Greensboro, NC where she values family, faith and the well-being of the community. She strives to do her part in society by studying Biostatistics; which allows her to use her quantitative skills to contribute to the things that she is most passionate about. She is inspired by those that come before her and her own personal life experiences. Her everyday quote by Dr. Maya Angelou is “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style”.
Raphiel Murden, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Murden’s research centers simultaneous matrix factorization and applications of functional data analysis methods. He has published in a broad swath of subject areas including social determinants of health, HIV, cardiovascular health, neuroimaging, and others. He is a member of the Emory Biostatistics Collaboration Core (BCC) and the Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design Core (BERD) of the Georgia Clinical and Translational Science Alliance. Dr. Murden is also an active member of ENAR, serving on the Regional Advisory Board and the IDEA Committee. Lastly, he dedicates significant time to mentoring through his role Practicum Advisor for his Department’s MPH/MSPH program and his own research program. Dr. Murden earned his Ph.D. in Biostatistics from Emory University, a M.A. in Statistics from Washington University and a B.A. in Mathematics from Morehouse College.
Lydia Owens is a Morehead-Cain and Goldwater Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she is pursuing a dual degree in Biostatistics and Mathematics with a minor in Data Science. Having spent time in research groups at Oxford, Harvard, and Duke, Lydia has developed a deep interest in infectious disease modeling, causal inference, and health equity. As a third-time attendee and the Undergraduate Representative for the Fostering Excellence in Biostatistics Workshop (FEBW), she is dedicated to strengthening mentorship pathways and ensuring student feedback helps shape the future of the biostatistics community. Her previous work includes a first-author study in BMJ Open on agent-based modeling of COVID-19 in U.S. prisons, as well as research on telomere length and cognitive trauma. At this year’s ENAR meeting, she is excited to share her Oxford-based work on Bayesian spatial modeling (CAR and GP models) of UK lung cancer mortality. This summer, she looks forward to joining the Harvard Department of Biostatistics to work with Dr. Rui Duan on electronic health record (EHR) data. Lydia plans to pursue a PhD in Biostatistics with a long-term goal of leading global health initiatives.
Alana Willis, MS is a biostatistician at Wake Forest. She specializes in advancing cancer research, analyzing patient-reported outcomes, developing and reviewing clinical protocols, and contributing to a national Data Coordinating Center. She earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a concentration in Statistics from Winston-Salem State University and a master’s degree in Statistics from Carnegie Mellon University. Her work integrates statistical expertise with interdisciplinary collaboration to promote meaningful advancements in cancer treatment and patient care. She is particularly passionate about assisting with studies that promote diversity and improve the lives of patients. Now in her second year on the workshop committee, she is deeply committed to enhancing and diversifying the field of biostatistics by mentoring and inspiring underrepresented students to pursue a similar path that suits them. Beyond her professional work, she enjoys watching college basketball, playing the piano, and spending time with her two kitties, Sage and Phoenix.
Jesus Epifanio Vazquez is a Provost Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His research focuses on developing robust and efficient statistical methods in federated learning with missing data, outcome-dependent censoring using inverse probability weighting and augmented estimators. Dr. Vazquez is a former Chair of the ENAR Social Media Committee and has been involved with the ENAR Fostering Excellence in Biostatistics Workshop since his time as an MS student in Biostatistics. He earned his PhD and MS in Biostatistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as his undergraduate studies from the University of New Mexico.
Rebbecca Wilson, DrPH is a Principal Statistician who works in Immunology and Oncology at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. She joined Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine in February 2020, bringing prior experience as a Lead Data Scientist in finance. Rebbecca earned her DrPH in Biostatistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2018, following an A.B. in pre-medical studies and Spanish from Bowdoin College in 2007. Before graduate school, she completed a postbaccalaureate program in Mathematics and Statistics at Smith College. Rebbecca's research interests include Longitudinal, Categorical, and Missing Data Analysis. Her dissertation focused on imputation and repeated measures analysis for accelerometer data. Rebbecca is a firm believer in paying it forward. She enjoys serving on various committees related to mentorship, uplifting persons from all backgrounds, and career engagement.
Sahar Zangeneh, PhD (she/her) is founder and Principal Consultant at Cascade Insights LLP and Clinical Associate Professor at University of Washington Department of Biostatistics. She specializes in the design and analysis of experimental and observational studies, including complex sample surveys, individual- and community-randomized trials, and observational cohort studies. Her methodological work focuses on developing statistical methods for addressing missingness and non-random selection, particularly when missingness or selection depends on unobserved factors (missing not at random). Her collaborative research addresses population health and health equity across biomedical and epidemiological domains, with special focus on underrepresented and underserved populations.
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