Home

 

Welcome to the Central Indiana Chapter

American Statistical Association

Our Latest News

  • Chapter meeting - Professional development series

    By: Ed Brizendine Ed Brizendine , 8 days ago
    The Central Indiana Chapter will have an in-person meeting on Thursday, April 09, 2026 at DORIS Research in Indianapolis. Our guest speaker will be Gary Sullivan from Espirer Consulting. As part of our professional development series, Gary will be giving a presentation on leadership development for statisticians and data scientists. The presentation will start at approximately 5:00 and last about 1 hour. But be sure to arrive early and stay afterwards for some light refreshments and networking with other data professionals.
     
        speaker:  Gary Sullivan, PhD
        title:  Leadership Development for Every Statistician
        date:  Thursday, April 09, 2026
                   4:30 - 6:30 pm ET
        place:  Doris Research
                     536 E Market St
                     Indianapolis, IN
        cost:  FREE
        register: register on Zeffy 
     
    Gary is the co-developer and primary instructor for The Effective Statistician Leadership Program - a leadership training program aimed at pharmaceutical professionals. In 2018, Gary founded Espirer Leadership Consulting LLC after a 28-year career at Eli Lilly & Co. His company provides leadership training, coaching, and advising to statisticians and quantitative scientists. His clientele include over a dozen pharmaceutical companies and clinical research organizations and he has taught to over a 1,000 professionals. His programs focus on how to improve one's communication, presentations, strategic thinking, and business acumen. Gary earned his PhD from Iowa State University. During his time at Lilly, he held various technical and administrative roles retiring in 2017 as the Senior Director of Non-Clinical Statistics.
     
    Abstract
    Most leaders become leaders by studying, getting the right coaching and mentoring, developing and applying the proper skills, and continuously learning and growing through that process. In this talk, Gary will present how to get started on your journey to leadership and the needed skills and behaviors for you to grow as a leader. Specifically, Gary will focus on three primary questions:
          What is leadership?
          What skills do leaders have?
          How do you develop and apply these skills?
    Leadership development is a journey that takes many years and it may seem overwhelming at first. Gary will discuss some easy ways to get started quickly and to make progress fast.

  • Lunchtime virtual technical talk

    By: Ed Brizendine Ed Brizendine , 2 months ago
    Join the Central Indiana Chapter for a virtual lunchtime presentation by Dr. Yong Zang of the IU Department of Biostatistics. This is a free event, but registration via Zoom is required.
     
         Title:  Bayesian Information Borrowing Prior for Longitudinal Data with Informative Dropout
         Speaker:  Dr. Yong Zang
                          Associate Professor
                          IU Department of Biostatistics
         Date:  Tuesday, February 10, 2026, Noon - 1:00 ET
         Register:  register on Zoom
    Abstract
    Borrowing information from historical controls can improve the efficiency of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), but its application to longitudinal outcomes with informative dropout remains limited. We propose two Bayesian mixture priors for longitudinal data information borrowing: the mixture prior for longitudinal data borrowing (MLB) and its self-adapting extension (SLB). Both approaches use a shared-parameter model to handle the informative dropout and apply a mixture prior framework to incorporate historical control data while accounting for possible prior-data conflict. Simulation studies show that the proposed priors yield desirable operating characteristics enabling efficient and rigorous information borrowing. In particular, the SLB prior demonstrates the best overall performance. 
     
    Speaker
    Dr. Yong Zang is a Showalter Scholar at the IU School of Medicine in the Department of Biostatistics and Health Data Science. Yong earned his PhD in 2011 from University of Hong Kong and has been with the Department of Biostatistics since 2016. His research interests include the theoretical, algorithmic, and software development for adaptive clinical trial design and analysis, methods and testing for statistical genetics, and Bayesian analysis.

  • November Chapter Meeting

    By: Ed Brizendine Ed Brizendine , 5 months ago

    Our next in-person chapter meeting will be on Thursday, November 20, 2025 at DORIS Research in Indianapolis. Our guest speaker will be Andreas Sashegyi. He will be giving a presentation on effective communication for statisticians and data scientists. The presentation will start at approximately 5:00 and last about 1 hour. But be sure to arrive early and stay afterwards for some light refreshments and networking with other data professionals.

        speaker:  Andreas Sashegyi, PhD
                        Associate Vice President, Safety Analytics - Eli Lilly & Co
          date:  Thursday, November 20, 2025
                    4:30 - 6:30 pm ET
          place:  DORIS Research
                      536 E Market St.
                      Indianapolis, IN 46204
          cost:   free
          registration: RSVP on eventbrite
     
    Abstract
    Effective communication is at the very heart of how we achieve results in our work and influence for the better within our organizations. It is a skill that most of us need to hone to one extent or another, which requires deliberate effort. This presentation will focus on communication fundamentals, centered around the proposition that effective communication begins with a focus on the audience (in general, the “other”) and a fundamental embrace of the other’s position. Four styles of communication are discussed (analytical, functional, intuitive, and personal), as are the motivation for awareness of one’s own as well as one’s stakeholders’ preferences, and the need to flexibly switch between styles according to the demands of the communication. Connections to trust building and other building blocks of leadership are also addressed.
     
    About Andreas
    Andreas Sashegyi (PhD in biostatistics, University of Waterloo, 1998) has been with Lilly for 27 years, and has advanced the late-stage clinical and life-cycle development of compounds in numerous therapeutic areas, including endocrine, cardiovascular, critical care, immunology and oncology. He also spent 6 years in Decision Sciences, driving deliverables like the company R&D portfolio scorecard and the semi-annual portfolio review. After holding management roles in clinical design, oncology statistics, and real-world analytics, he took his current assignment as Associate VP and lead of Safety Analytics last year. Apart from his “day job”, Andreas is passionate about career and leadership development.

  • Workshop on Best Practices in AI

    By: Ed Brizendine Ed Brizendine , 8 months ago

    The Central Indiana Chapter will be hosting an ASA traveling short course in September. David Corliss will present on Ethical Issues and Best Practices in Artificial Intelligence. This virtual course will be split into two half-day sessions held over two consecutive Friday afternoons. 

    workshop:  Modern Ethical Issues and Best Practices in Data, Analytics, and AI
    instructor:  David Corliss, PhD
                        Principal Data Scientist, Grafham Analytics
    dates:  Friday afternoon, September 05, 2025 (first half-day session)
                Friday afternoon, September 12, 2025 (second half-day session)
                ===> This full-day course will be split into 2 half-day sessions <===
    cost:  student $25 / Central Indiana member $30 / ASA member $35 / Guest $45
    registration: register here on Zeffy

    This workshop discusses emerging issues for ethical best practices in data, analytics, and AI. The course includes a half day on data issues such as court cases that are shaping data practice standards, learning from standards in other professions, and the impact of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on ethical practices around the world. The second part of the course presents a half-day on issues in analytics and AI such as model bias mitigation, the rapidly evolving federal landscape, and the ASA’s new guidelines for ethical practices in AI. The workshop teaches a practical understanding of ethical issues in data and analytics, presenting concrete examples of both good and bad practices, enabling course attendees to better understand the changing ethical landscape and address potential questions and issues.

  • Annual Business Meeting

    By: Ed Brizendine Ed Brizendine , 11 months ago
    The Central Indiana Chapter will be having its annual business meeting on Thursday, 08 May, 2025. Join other chapter members at the Guggman Haus Brewery as our President Meghan Tooman recaps this past year and previews upcoming chapter events. We will also be soliciting nominations for new chapter officers. After chapter business, stick around and network with your fellow statisticians and data scientists.

        what:  Annual business meeting / social hour
        when:  Thursday, 08 May, 2025
                    4:30 - 6:00 pm ET
        where:  Guggman Haus Brewing Co. 
                     Boyle Racing Room
                     1701 Gent Ave
                     Indianapolis IN 46202
        register:  Let us know you will be attending! 

    There is no cost to attend for chapter members. Potential new chapter members and guests will be charged $5. The chapter will be providing appetizers and your first drink. Attendees are free to order off of the Guggman Haus dinner menu at their own expense. 

    Guggman Haus is a dog and bicycle friendly brewpub!

Upcoming Events


  • April In-Person Chapter Meeting

    Apr 9, 16:30 - 18:30 (ET)
    speaker: Gary Sullivan, PhD title: Leadership Development for Every Statistician date: Thursday, April 09, 2026 4:30 - 6:30 pm ET place: Doris Research 536 E Market St Indianapolis, IN cost: FREE

Latest Discussions

Log in to see this information

Either the content you're seeking doesn't exist or it requires proper authentication before viewing.