Stats + Stories

The World Health Organization defines health equity as a public health concept describing equity of access to health resources for genetic, socio-environmental, and economic determinants of health, varying according to individuals, families, and social or societal groups. Concerns about data equity have surfaced, which may result in many populations, including those in rural areas with disabilities, experiencing homelessness or living in low and middle-income regions of the world, being underrepresented in health data sets. This can lead to biased findings and suboptimal health outcomes for certain subgroups, which is the focus of this episode of Stats+Stories with guest Bhramar Mukherjee.

Three hundred and thirty-two days, that was the international statistic of the year in 2020, as identified by the Royal Statistical Society. That was the length of time between scientists publishing the genetic sequence of COVID-19 on the 11th of January, and an effective vaccine being administered on the 8th of December. This vaccine was an integral part of the world's pandemic response. Vaccines aren't new. In a World Health Organization report describing the history of vaccines, Dr. Edward Jenner is credited with the world's first successful vaccine for smallpox in 1796. In the last 100 years, vaccines were developed for yellow fever, pertussis, polio, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella, and more. Well, how do we know vaccines are safe and effective? Why do some people argue against using vaccines? That's the topic of this episode with guest Dr. Jeffery Morris.

Three hundred and thirty-two days, that was the international statistic of the year in 2020, as identified by the Royal Statistical Society. That was the length of time between scientists publishing the genetic sequence of COVID-19 on the 11th of January, and an effective vaccine being administered on the 8th of December. This vaccine was an integral part of the world's pandemic response. Vaccines aren't new. In a World Health Organization report describing the history of vaccines, Dr. Edward Jenner is credited with the world's first successful vaccine for smallpox in 1796. In the last 100 years, vaccines were developed for yellow fever, pertussis, polio, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella, and more. Well, how do we know vaccines are safe and effective? Why do some people argue against using vaccines? That's the topic of this episode with guest Dr. Jeffery Morris.

About 5.4 million Americans live with some form of paralysis. Sometimes that's just a temporary loss of mobility, but for the Americans whose paralysis is caused by a spinal cord injury, that loss of movement is often permanent, as there's no biological way to heal an injured spinal cord. There are efforts to see if technology might be able to help these individuals regain use of their limbs, and that's the focus of this episode of Stats+Stories with guest Dr. David Friedenberg.

Coronaviruses, Ebola, Marburg, NEPA, SARS, what do these diseases share in common? Habitat loss resulting in closer interactions between infected bats and uninfected humans is one factor. What other factors are driving the growth of zoonotic diseases, and where is the spillover risk the greatest?

The civil war in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, which lasted from November 2020 to November 2022, left as many as 600 thousand people dead. The war fought by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front on one side and Ethiopian and Eritrean forces on the other also had a devastating impact on the health-system in Tigray. That’s the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories, with guests James J. Cochran and Mulugeta Gebregziabher.

When a gene in the human body goes bad, it can cause illness and disease. Scientists have been working for decades to develop therapies to address faulty genes. In the U.S. gene therapy has been approved as a treatment for illnesses such as cancer, hemophilia, AIDS. However, as researchers explore treatment possibilities. The ethics and costs of such treatments remain a concern. A new book aims to provide an overview of the state of gene therapy development which is the focus of this episode of Stat+Stories with guests Avery McIntosh and Oleksandr Sverdlov.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hospital mortality rates in the US were on the decline in the early 2000s, even as total hospitalizations rose. This came after a 1999 U.S. Institute of Medicine report that suggested tens of thousands of individuals died in hospitals unnecessarily each year. The report focused attention on patient safety in modern hospitals. About 70 years earlier, an organization in the American South was also concerned with patient outcomes. That's the focus of this episode of Stats+Stories with guest Melissa Thomasson.

As you reach the end of a long day with an excess of stress how do you recharge? Have you found that a long stroll in the sun or through the woods can provide this renewal? Walking in nature is the focus of this episode of Stats+Stories with guest Dr. Altea Lorenzo-Arribas.

Helaine Alessio, PhD, FACSM is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Kinesiology, Nutrition, and Health at Miami University and is a past President of the MWACSM and a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine. She teaches Exercise Science-related courses and has received university commendations for her teaching. She has been funded by NIH, private foundations, and corporations to support research, teaching, and service projects. She has published 2 books, 13 book chapters, and 56 journal articles, as well as national and international peer reviewed blogs, infographics, and NPR broadcasts. She is listed in the top 2% of Exercise Scientists cited in the world by Stanford University researchers. Her work on academic integrity includes co-editing a special edition of a journal on the topic that was the most widely published for the Journal of Excellence in College Teaching.

An entire industry has grown up around nutrition and health. People pushing everything from shakes, to meal kits, to special diets. While some of the claims surrounding such products can be questionable at best, the field of nutrition science is growing. Filled with researchers who are working to truly understand the science of food that is a focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Michelle Cardel.

It’s been a little over a year of lockdowns, curfews, online schooling, mask wearing, worry and grief. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it an experience of collective trauma that researchers will be studying for years to come. The British Academy has launched one such study COVID119 and Society: Shaping the COVID Decade. That’s the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Dr. Molly Morgan Jones.

Last week the U-S Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a pause on the distribution and use of Johnson and Johnson’s COVID vaccine. The pause amid reports that 6 women who had received the vaccine had developed rare blood clots. The concern this has brought up around J&J’s vaccine mirrors earlier concerns raised in relation to the vaccine produced by AstraZeneca. Vaccine safety is a focus of this episode of Stats and Stories

Leslie McClure is Professor & Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University. Dr. McClure does work to try to understand disparities in health, particularly racial and geographic disparities, and the role that the environment plays in them. Her methodological expertise is in the design and analysis of multicenter trials, as well as issues of multiplicity in clinical trials. She is currently the Director of the Coordinating Center for the Diabetes LEAD Network, and the Director of the Data Coordinating Center for the Connecting the Dots: Autism Center of Excellence.

When an individual is admitted to a hospital they are quite often hooked up to a pan plea of monitoring devices all designed to help the doctors and nurses caring for them meet their medical needs. Increasingly hospitals are exploring how machine learning can help them better monitor patient vital signs and that’s a focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Glen Wright Colopy.

There are a lot of facts and figures to sift through when it comes to the COVID 19 pandemic – there are death rates and infection rates to consider, as well as the paths of infection in a particular community. Investigating the pandemic is the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guests Ron Fricker and Steve Rigdon.

The work of health researchers is vitally important to the safety and well-being of people around the world, with the COVID-19 crisis making that all too clear. However, health researchers are facing a crisis of their own, a crisis of trust. It’s fueled partly by the proliferation of social media, the politicization of data, and the reluctance of some researchers to discuss their work. The issue of trust and health research is a focus of this episode of Stats and Stories with guest Sandra Alba

Lynn McDonald is a professor emerita at the University of Guelph. McDonald’s career has focused on enduring contributions as a scholar and social activist. She also served as a member of Parliament when her Non-Smokers’ Health Act of 1988 led the world in enacting legislation to establish smoke-free work and public spaces. In addition, in a labor of love, she published the definitive collection of Florence Nightingale’s writings, bringing renewed attention to this important female icon for a new generation.

Amanda Makulec is the Senior Data Visualization Lead at Excella and holds a Masters of Public Health from the Boston University School of Public Health. She worked with data in global health programs for eight years before joining Excella, where she leads teams and develops user-centered data visualization products for federal, non-profit, and private sector clients. Amanda volunteers as the Operations Director for the Data Visualization Society and is a co-organizer for Data Visualization DC. Find her on Twitter at @abmakulec

Vicki Hertzberg is a Professor at Emory University in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, where she has founded and directs the Center for Data Science. Her research focuses on, “developing and applying statistical methods for the analysis of network data as well as microbiome data.” Specific topics include infectious diseases on networks, dynamic networks and microbiome of the airplane cabin.

David B. Allison is the current dean, distinguished professor, and provost professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington. Prior to Indiana University, Allison was a distinguished professor, Quetelet Endowed Professor, and director of the NIH-funded Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Allison has published more than 500 scientific papers with research interests including obesity and nutrition, quantitative genetics, clinical trials, statistical and research methodology, and research rigor and integrity.

Dr. Frank Harrell is the founding chair of the Vanderbilt Biostatistics department. He is also the Expert Statistical Advisor for the Office of Biostatistics for FDA CDER. He is Associate Editor of Statistics in Medicine, a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for Science Translational Medicine, and a member of the Faculty of 1000 Medicine. He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and winner of the Association's WJ Dixon Award for Excellence in Statistical Consulting for 2014.

Dr. Frank Harrell is the founding chair of the Vanderbilt Biostatistics department. He is also the Expert Statistical Advisor for the Office of Biostatistics for FDA CDER. He is Associate Editor of Statistics in Medicine, a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for Science Translational Medicine, and a member of the Faculty of 1000 Medicine. He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and winner of the Association's WJ Dixon Award for Excellence in Statistical Consulting for 2014.

Vicki Hertzberg is a Professor at Emory University in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, where she has founded and directs the Center for Data Science. Her research focuses on, “developing and applying statistical methods for the analysis of network data as well as microbiome data.” Specific topics include infectious diseases on networks, dynamic networks and microbiome of the airplane cabin.

Nicole Lazar is Professor of Statistics at the University of Georgia. After receiving her BA in Statistics and Psychology from Tel Aviv University, she served three years as Statistics Officer in the Israel Defense Forces Department of Behavioral Sciences. She then moved to the US for graduate school, obtaining her MS in Statistics from Stanford University and Ph.D. in Statistics from The University of Chicago. She was Associate Professor of Statistics at Carnegie Mellon University before joining the Department of Statistics, University of Georgia.