Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics Newsletter

Message from the Chair

Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo

Happy May!

As the academic year winds down, I want to acknowledge, thank, and congratulate several people in our department.

Congratulations to the students in our PhD, MAS, and certificate programs who will be graduating this spring! We are so proud of your accomplishments thus far and look forward to watching your futures unfold. We are sad to see you go but hope that you will remain part of our DEB community as you move on to your next adventure.

Big thanks to all of the faculty, staff, and students who contributed to our 2018 DEB Good Ideas Contest on Open Proposals. We received 22 good ideas and many comments helping to refine these further. Winners will be announced mid-May, but we’ve been thrilled to learn that planning for some of these good ideas has already begun! Stay tuned.

Thrilled to learn that our department manager Georgina Lopez will be honored with a Chancellor’s Award for Public Service at the May 11th Founders Day Luncheon. Georgina is critical to the outstanding work of our department and has been invaluable as I’ve transitioned to Chair of this department. You can read more about this award below, and I hope you will join me in extending congratulations directly to Georgina.

Kirsten

  HONORS & NEWS
Georgina Lopez

Georgina Lopez, director of finance and administration, will receive a Chancellor’s Award for Exceptional University Management at the UCSF Founder’s Day Awards Lunch on May 11. The award recognizes staff who exhibit extraordinary professional performance and managerial service beyond the scope of their individual functions and demonstrate outstanding dedication to the betterment of their staff and UCSF.

 Chiung-Yu Huang

Chiung-Yu Huang was elected a fellow of the American Statistical Association for her significant contribution to the literature on survival and recurrent event data analysis and for excellence in statistical methodology development for vaccine efficacy trials; for her contributions to collaborative science across a wide range of areas, including malaria, influenza, transplant and cancer research; and for her service to ASA and the profession. She will be honored at this summer’s Joint Statistical Meetings.

 Mark Pletcher

Mark Pletcher and partners have been awarded a $6.5 million grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) for a study to compare two ways of helping doctors improve their methods for controlling patients’ blood pressure. It will also compare two types of home blood pressure monitors to see which is more effective at helping patients achieve personal goals.

More News:

  • Bob Hiatt was named one of UC Berkeley School of Public Health’s 75 Most Influential Alumni and was honored at the school’s 75th anniversary event on April 21st.
  • Prospective TICR students looking for research projects
    This is the season when prospective students for our Master’s Degree and Certificate Programs will be contacting DEB faculty members looking for research projects for the next one to two years. Faculty, please enthusiastically respond to these inquiries and see if there might be a good match with the student. If you have a suitable project for a student and want to be proactive, please contact the TICR Program’s Research Ambassador, Michael Kohn.
  • Looking for Study Recruits! The All of Us study is recruiting participants from the UCSF Health patient community ages 18 and older, both health and with medical conditions.
  • Go for a walk for UC Walks Day on May 16th! Talk time for your wellness by taking a walk for UC Walks Day. Get some fresh air and a free UC Walks T-shirt (while supplies last)! Walking events will be held at nine UCSF locations from 11am to 1pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2018 (Parnassus, Mission Bay, Mount Zion, Laurel Heights, Mission Center Bldg, ZSFG, SF VAMC, Fresno, 8000 Marina Blvd). For more information, including starting locations, please visit http://tiny.ucsf.edu/UCWalksDay.
  • We welcome these new employees who have joined the department in April and May: Shirley Yuen, financial analyst; Pushkar Inamdar, data scientist; Julissa Cabrera, Hanley Chan and Tiara Smith, clinical research coordinators for the All of Us study; Sarah Tan, visiting grad student from Cornell; Peggy Reynolds, adjunct professor, and her team: Stella Beckman, Debbie Goldberg, Susan Hurley, Minhthu Le and Julie Von Behren. Their focus is environmental epidemiology, and they are located in Berkeley.
  • Your books wanted! We are still collecting books for the next Books, Bagels and Booze event. Add your books to the boxes located throughout the department. Once we have an adequate number for swapping, we’ll schedule the event.
  • Part-time interview opportunities
    We are recruiting for part-time interviewers (20% LOE) to conduct recruitment, qualitative (in-person one-on-one) and CATI quantitative interviews for a multi-cultural prostate cancer study. The ideal candidates will have previous experience conducting interviews, preferably in the language of focus and/or experience working with our minority target populations (Chinese, Filipino, Hispanic and African American men). These positions may also assist with analysis of qualitative data. Please contact Laura Allen if interested or if you know of people who may be good candidates for these specialized positions.

If you have news or honors you’d like to submit for an upcoming newsletter, send an email with the details to Anne Wolf.

 

  EVENTS AND DEADLINES
  • Application Deadline for Advanced Training in Clinical Research Certificate Program
    May 7
  • Epi Tools Lecture: Polygenic Scores and Mendalian Randomization: Promises and Pitfalls
    Amal Harrati
    May 14, Noon to 1:30pm
    MH 1407
  • Epi Lecture Series: Bio-surveillance in the Democratic Republic of Congo
    Anne Rimoin
    May 16, 12 to 1 pm
    MH-1407
  • Guns, Obesity and Opioids: A Population Health Science Approach to Contemporary Concerns
    May 29, 1 to 5 pm
    Parnassus Campus, HSW-300
    For more information and to rsvp, visit http://epibiostat.ucsf.edu/events/guns-obesity-and-opioids-population-health-science-approach-contemporary-concerns

  PUBLICATIONS