VCU Biostatistics Department

Last week, the School of Public Health hosted its very first Public Health Student Showcase, and it was an incredible success! 🎉

We were proud to have four of our students represent our department and present their outstanding research:
✨ Rami Hawila
✨ Li Liu
✨ Oliver Hurst
✨ Sam Soon

A special congratulations to our students who also received awards for their exceptional work. We are so proud to see your dedication, scholarship, and hard work recognized!

Thank you to everyone who helped make this inaugural event such a memorable celebration of student research and achievement. We can’t wait to see this showcase continue to grow!

Dr. Trambak Banerjee from the University of Kansas School of Business, is set to present our last seminar of the semester, on Friday, May 1.
🗣Topic: Detecting Replicating Genetic Associations Across Dependent Studies
⏰Time: 12:00pm EST
📍Location: One Capitol Square (In Person)
💻Also available via Zoom (Registration Required)
https://tinyurl.com/mvjpvypd

Join us in celebrating Dr. Dustin Bastaich, who successfully defended his dissertation this morning! 🎉

His work, “Propensity Score Matching Accounting for Longitudinal Trends Before Baseline with Group-Based Trajectory Modeling,” was completed under the guidance of his advisor, Dr. Bassam Dahman.

We’re proud to recognize this incredible achievement and look forward to all that’s ahead - Congratulations, Dr. Bastaich!

Big congratulations to Dr. Scott Silvey on successfully defending his Ph.D. dissertation on Friday, April 17! 🙌🙌🙌🙌

His dissertation, “Empirical Sample Size Determination for Machine Learning Algorithms in Biomedical Research,” was completed under the guidance of his advisor, Dr. Jinze Liu.

We’re so proud of this incredible achievement and excited to see what’s ahead. Congratulations, Dr. Silvey - we wish you the all the best in your next chapter!

📣Seminar Alert📣
Join us next Friday, April 24, for an exciting talk by Dr. Jonathan Wren from the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation!

🗣Topic: Artificial Intelligence and Human Disease - Embracing ‘The Bitter Lesson’
🕛Time: 12:00pm
📍Location: One Capitol Square (In Person)
💻Also available via Zoom (Registration Required)
https://tinyurl.com/bdhpuu35

Spring was in full swing at our department Egg Hunt, and let’s just say… things got competitive 🐣🌸

Faculty and students joined in on the fun, searching high and low for eggs containing hidden treasures.. including chocolate treats, 3D-printed animals, and some very cool 3D-printed dragon eggs 🐉🥚

And yes, in case you’re wondering, one of the official rules was “No Biting.” We won’t name names, but clearly it needed to be said 😂

But the real highlight?? The post hunt trading...strategies came out, negotiations got serious, and everyone tried to build the ultimate collection.

All in all, a pretty great way to spend a Friday afternoon!!

🏀🔥 The department’s annual bracket showdown delivered once again!

On the men’s side, VCU gave fans something to cheer about with their win over UNC, but even more surprising, Dr. Nolan Wages still finished in first place after backing UNC 😱. With an incredible 95.7% accuracy rate, he somehow outperformed the field. Is there a method behind the madness, or just pure luck? We may never get the answer, but definitely give him a shoutout when you see him!

The women’s bracket came down to the wire, with only a 2% margin separating the top two spots. Rising above the competition (again!), our Education Coordinator Kate Huck, secured first place for the second consecutive year...this time with 88.2% correct picks!! After taking the men’s title last year, she’s clearly building a dynasty, and her claims of “not liking numbers” are officially under review. Her trophy is on display, so feel free to stop by with congratulations!

We also rolled out a new category this time around: worst overall bracket. With 570 points out of a possible 1,920...3rd year Ph.D student Alexandra Gerveni earned the coveted toilet trophy. Choosing Ohio State to win it all didn’t quite pan out when they were knocked out in the second round. 😬

Thank you so much to everyone who participated and kept things competitive!

We invite you to join us for our next seminar speaker, Dr. Fan Li, from Yale School of Public Health. He will present on Friday, April 17, at 12:00pm. Don't miss it!

🗣Topic: Semiparametric Causal Mediation Analysis of Cluster-Randomized Trials for Indirect and Spillover Effects
🕛Time: 12:00pm
📍Location: One Capitol Square (In Person)
💻Also available via Zoom (Registration Required)
https://tinyurl.com/ytc8f9pa

We are so excited to announce that Dr. Bob Carrico has joined our department as an Associate Professor!

Dr. Carrico joins us from The Emmes Company, where he served as Senior Biostatistician Manager from 2022 to 2024, and previously held a number of roles at the United Network for Organ Sharing, including Director of Research, from 2012 to 2022. Dr. Carrico is also a proud alumnus of our Department, graduating with his Ph.D. in 2012.

Please join us in welcoming him back to the department!
🐏

Dr. Yong Zang from Indiana University School of Medicine is set to present this Friday, March 27, at 12:00pm EST via Zoom!
🗣Topic: Bayesian Adaptive Design and Analysis Method for Phase II Clinical Trials with Endpoint and Data Integration
🕛Time: 12:00pm
📍Location: Zoom (Registration Required)
https://tinyurl.com/5n8xevfj