ASA Community

HIGHLIGHTS FOR OUR RECENT AWARD RECIPIENTS
Research Excellence Award Dr. Jiangtao Gou, an Associate Professor of Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Villanova University, was selected as the recipient of the 2024-2025 Research Excellence Award for his commendable contributions to the research of multiple testing in clinical trials. He has developed several novel multiple comparison methods, including the improved hybrid Hochberg-Hommel step-up multiple testing procedure, the quick multiple testing procedure, the reverse graphical approach, and the sample size optimization method when multiple endpoints are involved. These methodologies have been employed by researchers across diverse fields. In clinical trial studies, he developed a set of new group sequential procedures to hierarchically test multiple endpoints and the corresponding sample size estimation procedures. Notably, Dr. Gou tackled the challenging task of deriving mathematically guaranteed family-wise error rates for stepwise multiple testing procedures when hypotheses within the family exhibit negative correlations. Despite the technical complexity of this problem in the clinical trial community, Dr. Gou persisted in his pursuit of a viable solution. Dr. Gou’s contributions also extend to providing software for implementing the methods that he has proposed. He has developed multiple R packages. Teaching Excellence Award Dr. Jingwei Wu is the recipient of the 2024-2025 Teaching Excellence Award for the College/University level. Dr. Wu is an Associate Professor of Instruction of Biostatistics in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, Temple University. Throughout the past ten years, Dr. Wu has consistently shown exceptional, sustained commitment to the profession of teaching statistics and has demonstrated meaningful impact on his students. At Temple University, Dr. Wu has taught four graduate courses (for a total of 29 sections since 2015), mentored 15 graduate students by serving on dissertation and thesis committees, and received multiple teaching grants and awards from the university. As commented by one of his students in the letter supporting this nomination, Dr. Wu is an extraordinary educator who embodies the qualities and dedication one hopes to find in a mentor and teacher. Additionally, he has many other contributions to statistics and science, publishing over 140 published papers in various statistical methodologies and biomedical applications, acting as a grant reviewer for NIH and other funding agencies, and serving as a journal reviewer for more than 30 scientific journals. Mr. Adam Shrager, a 20-year veteran teacher from Hopewell Valley Central High School, Pennington, NJ received the K-12 Teaching Excellence Award for 2023-2024. He has been teaching AP statistics for about 10 years in his high school, where he started the program with only 12 students in 2004 and now the program has been expanded to four full sections with over 100 students. Mr. Shrager is passionate about teaching and learning statistics, and he does that in many creative and inspiring ways with his students. He also has actively taken statistics out of his classroom with events that draw participation from various student groups and local communities. Mr. Shrager has also been a long-term member and active presenter in the Philadelphia-Area Statistics Association (PASTA) since 2009 in which he presented topics on statistics pedagogy, mentored new teachers, and provided AP Statistics Exam reviews to students in the area. Mr. Shrager also has taught multiple statistics courses at Princeton University and The College of New Jersey. On the national levels, he serves in leadership roles at AP Statistics Reading, including Table Leader, Rubric Team Member and Question, as an AP Statistics instructor with Advance Kentucky, which is part of the National Math & Science Initiative, as a judge for the ASA National High School Statistics Competition Project for the past six years, and as a presenter at various conferences to share his experience in teaching AP Statistics. Practice Excellence Award Dr. Cong Chen, a long-term member of Philadelphia Chapter of the ASA, is the recipient of the 2024-2025 Excellence in Statistical Practice Award. Dr. Chen is currently an Associate Scientific Vice President of Early Development Statistics at Merck. Over his over 25 years in drug development, Dr. Chen has proved his extensive knowledge in all aspects of biostatistics, including clinical and non-clinical studies, modeling and simulation, and epidemiologic studies. Dr. Chen has been a part of numerous programs making a significant impact, most recently playing a pivotal role in accelerating the development and regulatory approvals of KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), the leading oncology drug in the market. Dr. Chen’s research has significantly influenced the oncology clinical development strategy, particularly in early and transitional phases such as First-in-Human efficacy expansion and Go/No-Go decision-making. In addition, Dr. Chen is an expert in innovative statistical design and analysis methods. Dr. Chen has used this expertise to serve the profession in a variety of ways, including conducting numerous short courses at statistical conferences, delivering oral presentations at various medical conferences on design strategies for oncology drug development, being as a panelist at multiple FDA-AACR scientific workshops, and serving on the editorial boards of Statistics in Biopharmaceutical Research and Cancer Clinical Research. Dr. Chen is also an elected fellow of the ASA and holds leadership positions in multiple statistical scientific working groups, including DIA, PhRMA, and ICSA. Exceptional Student Achievement Award Kai Wu is the recipient of the 2024-2025 Exceptional Achievement Award for Undergraduates. Kai is a senior undergraduate student at Villanova University who is double majoring in mathematics and statistics. In addition to being quite successful in his academic endeavors, Kai has participated in five different research projects with faculty from three different universities (Villanova, Michigan, and Cambridge). One of these projects, regarding multiple testing and design and analysis of clinical trials on oncology, was awarded second place in the ASA’s 2023 Undergraduate Statistics Project Competition. Kai has also participated in student leadership programs at Villanova, led a DataFest Philly team in 2024, and served as a reviewer for statistical journals. Over the past two summers, Kai has worked in two internship positions for pharma-tech companies in China, and he plans to attend graduate school for statistics starting in Fall 2025.

HIGHLIGHTS FOR OUR RECENT AWARD RECIPIENTS

Research Excellence Award

Dr. Jiangtao Gou, an Associate Professor of Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Villanova University, was selected as the recipient of the 2024-2025 Research Excellence Award for his commendable contributions to the research of multiple testing in clinical trials. He has developed several novel multiple comparison methods, including the improved hybrid Hochberg-Hommel step-up multiple testing procedure, the quick multiple testing procedure, the reverse graphical approach, and the sample size optimization method when multiple endpoints are involved. These methodologies have been employed by researchers across diverse fields. In clinical trial studies, he developed a set of new group sequential procedures to hierarchically test multiple endpoints and the corresponding sample size estimation procedures. Notably, Dr. Gou tackled the challenging task of deriving mathematically guaranteed family-wise error rates for stepwise multiple testing procedures when hypotheses within the family exhibit negative correlations. Despite the technical complexity of this problem in the clinical trial community, Dr. Gou persisted in his pursuit of a viable solution. Dr. Gou’s contributions also extend to providing software for implementing the methods that he has proposed. He has developed multiple R packages.

Teaching Excellence Award

Dr. Jingwei Wu is the recipient of the 2024-2025 Teaching Excellence Award for the College/University level. Dr. Wu is an Associate Professor of Instruction of Biostatistics in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, Temple University. Throughout the past ten years, Dr. Wu has consistently shown exceptional, sustained commitment to the profession of teaching statistics and has demonstrated meaningful impact on his students. At Temple University, Dr. Wu has taught four graduate courses (for a total of 29 sections since 2015), mentored 15 graduate students by serving on dissertation and thesis committees, and received multiple teaching grants and awards from the university. As commented by one of his students in the letter supporting this nomination, Dr. Wu is an extraordinary educator who embodies the qualities and dedication one hopes to find in a mentor and teacher. Additionally, he has many other contributions to statistics and science, publishing over 140 published papers in various statistical methodologies and biomedical applications, acting as a grant reviewer for NIH and other funding agencies, and serving as a journal reviewer for more than 30 scientific journals.

Mr. Adam Shrager, a 20-year veteran teacher from Hopewell Valley Central High School, Pennington, NJ received the K-12 Teaching Excellence Award for 2023-2024. He has been teaching AP statistics for about 10 years in his high school, where he started the program with only 12 students in 2004 and now the program has been expanded to four full sections with over 100 students. Mr. Shrager is passionate about teaching and learning statistics, and he does that in many creative and inspiring ways with his students. He also has actively taken statistics out of his classroom with events that draw participation from various student groups and local communities. Mr. Shrager has also been a long-term member and active presenter in the Philadelphia-Area Statistics Association (PASTA) since 2009 in which he presented topics on statistics pedagogy, mentored new teachers, and provided AP Statistics Exam reviews to students in the area. Mr. Shrager also has taught multiple statistics courses at Princeton University and The College of New Jersey. On the national levels, he serves in leadership roles at AP Statistics Reading, including Table Leader, Rubric Team Member and Question, as an AP Statistics instructor with Advance Kentucky, which is part of the National Math & Science Initiative, as a judge for the ASA National High School Statistics Competition Project for the past six years, and as a presenter at various conferences to share his experience in teaching AP Statistics.

Practice Excellence Award

Dr. Cong Chen, a long-term member of Philadelphia Chapter of the ASA, is the recipient of the 2024-2025 Excellence in Statistical Practice Award. Dr. Chen is currently an Associate Scientific Vice President of Early Development Statistics at Merck. Over his over 25 years in drug development, Dr. Chen has proved his extensive knowledge in all aspects of biostatistics, including clinical and non-clinical studies, modeling and simulation, and epidemiologic studies. Dr. Chen has been a part of numerous programs making a significant impact, most recently playing a pivotal role in accelerating the development and regulatory approvals of KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), the leading oncology drug in the market. Dr. Chen’s research has significantly influenced the oncology clinical development strategy, particularly in early and transitional phases such as First-in-Human efficacy expansion and Go/No-Go decision-making. In addition, Dr. Chen is an expert in innovative statistical design and analysis methods. Dr. Chen has used this expertise to serve the profession in a variety of ways, including conducting numerous short courses at statistical conferences, delivering oral presentations at various medical conferences on design strategies for oncology drug development, being as a panelist at multiple FDA-AACR scientific workshops, and serving on the editorial boards of Statistics in Biopharmaceutical Research and Cancer Clinical Research. Dr. Chen is also an elected fellow of the ASA and holds leadership positions in multiple statistical scientific working groups, including DIA, PhRMA, and ICSA.

Exceptional Student Achievement Award

Kai Wu is the recipient of the 2024-2025 Exceptional Achievement Award for Undergraduates. Kai is a senior undergraduate student at Villanova University who is double majoring in mathematics and statistics. In addition to being quite successful in his academic endeavors, Kai has participated in five different research projects with faculty from three different universities (Villanova, Michigan, and Cambridge). One of these projects, regarding multiple testing and design and analysis of clinical trials on oncology, was awarded second place in the ASA’s 2023 Undergraduate Statistics Project Competition. Kai has also participated in student leadership programs at Villanova, led a DataFest Philly team in 2024, and served as a reviewer for statistical journals. Over the past two summers, Kai has worked in two internship positions for pharma-tech companies in China, and he plans to attend graduate school for statistics starting in Fall 2025.

Award Recipients Highlights