News

ASDa staff and recent MSc graduate Jeff Bone developed and executed the detailed statistical analysis plan for a recently reported study about the controversial "liberation therapy", finding no significant impact of the therapy. This work adds to the many ways Statistics Department members have contributed to medical research into this debilitating disease. Indeed, in 2014, Professor John Petkau received the Statistical Society of Canada's Impact Award, largely for such work. To read more about this study, please see

Kevin Multani has received full funding from CANSSI and SAMSI to attend a SAMSI Interdisciplinary Workshop for Undergraduate Students, from May 14 – 19. The workshop is an introduction to applied mathematical and statistical research in the area of Astronomy and Optimization.

Microsoft has provided $1 million to fund UBC and the University of Washington in a data science initiative, the Cascadia Urban Analytics Cooperative.  As UBC President Ono said in the UBC press release, which gives details of the initiative, "Thanks to this generous gift from Microsoft, our two universities are poised to help transform the Cascadia region into a technological hub comparable to Silicon Valley and Boston".

Undergraduates Katie Li (Statistics), Jenny Song (Mathematics), and David Yin (Statistics and Computer Science) won first place in the ANÉA-ASNA Case Competition 2017 (ASNA = Actuarial Students National Association). They beat out 10 other teams, with their development of a method for estimating an insurer’s liability from future claims.

See a photo on the UBC Science Facebook page.

The Rick White Memorial Fund was established late last year, to honour Rick’s memory. Rick, who passed away September 2, 2016, was a long time member of the department, an accomplished statistical consultant and data scientist, and a wonderful mentor, leader, and colleague. 

You can learn more about the fund and about Rick on the department web page:

/rick-white-memorial-fund

and on

http://memorial.supporting.ubc.ca/rick-white/.

This year, we were honoured by the generosity of Anona Thorne and Takao Tanabe, who established the Anona Thorne and Takao Tanabe Graduate Entrance Scholarship. Anona Thorne (BA '91 Mathematics; MSc '93 Statistics) is a double alumna of UBC and went on to an interesting career using her statistics training at the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network at Saint Paul's Hospital in Vancouver. Takao Tanabe is an internationally acclaimed Canadian painter.

The Department of Statistics is soliciting nominations for the recently established Department of Statistics Award in Data Science, an award to recognize the importance of developing and applying tools to answer important questions through the analysis of data. This $1000 award is offered to an undergraduate or graduate student who has demonstrated initiative and creativity in making outstanding contributions in the field of Data Science.

Faculty member Jenny Bryan has been honoured with her election to Ordinary Membership in the R Foundation, joining the ranks of those who, through their work, have contributed substantially to the R project. We all know and love R—it has been an essential part of the statistician’s toolbox for many years now. Its use has expanded far beyond the world of statisticians, leading IEEE to rank it as the fifth most popular programming language.

Congratulations, Jenny, for this honour.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently announced results of a study carried out by an international team of researchers led by Gavin Shaddick of the University of Bath and including Jim Zidek. Professor Shaddick is a long-time collaborator of Jim Zidek’s and a frequent visitor to the UBC Statistics Department. Some of the work on the study was done while Dr Zidek was the Global Chair at the Institute for Mathematical Innovation at the University of Bath. The research team has developed a model to study air quality around the world.

The first recipients of the Dr John and Barbara Petkau Scholarships are Shuxian Fan and Janet Lam.