Despite several proposed roadmaps to increase representation in scientific research, most of the world's research data are collected on selected populations. We rely on summary statistics from dominant groups and then devise clever statistical methods to transfer/transport them for cross-ancestry use. In this talk, I would first argue the obvious: for building fair algorithms we need representative training datasets. As public health statisticians, our job is not just to predict, but to prevent. However, till we have reached the dream of representative big data at a global scale, statisticians have an important role to play. In fact, we have the perfect tools to study the "unobserved" through modeling of missing data, selection bias and alike. I will share examples from my personal journey as a statistician when doing good and timely statistical work with imperfect data (such as data from observational patient care databases) quantified important scientific observations. I will conclude the talk with a call to arms for statisticians and computational scientists to not just develop new methods but also lead efforts for creating, curating, collecting data and pioneering new scientific studies, stepping outside their comfort zones.
Professor Bhramar Mukherjee is currently appointed as Anna M.R. Lauder Professor of Biostatistics and Professor of Chronic Disease Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) . Professor Mukherjee serves as the inaugural Senior Associate Dean of Public Health Data Science and Data Equity at YSPH. She holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Statistics and Data Science and is affiliated with the MacMillan Center and the Institute for the Foundations of Data Science. She serves on the Yale Cancer Center Director’s cabinet.
Dr. Mukherjees’s research interests span statistical methods for analyzing electronic health records, gene-environment interaction studies, data integration, data equity, shrinkage estimation, and the analysis of environmental mixtures. Collaboratively, she contributes to areas such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, reproductive health, exposure science, and environmental epidemiology
LOCATION:SEC 3.301/302/303 STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20250310T153000Z DTEND:20250310T163000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR