ASA Community

2024
Virtual Career Panel for Early to Mid-Career Pharmaceutical Statistician, January 2024 We invited four panelists working in the greater Philadelphia area to speak on their career pathways, share tips and answer questions about their experiences in working in the pharmaceutical industry. The panelists included Charlotte Baidoo, Head of Immunology Biostatistics, Bristol Myers Squibb; Jason Liao, Associate Vice President, Incyte; Devan Mehrotra, Vice President of Biostatistics, Merck; Hong Tian, Vice President, Head of Global Statistics, BeiGene. SAS SQL Workshop, January 2024 On January 20^th, Villanova University and the ASA Philadelphia Chapter co-sponsored a SAS SQL workshop run by local statistician Russ Lavery. Nineteen attendees from industry and universities in the area had the opportunity to learn about SQL and how it is implemented within SAS. Virtual Career Panel for Students and Early-Career statisticians, February 2024 We invited four panelists of statistics/biostatistics/data science professionals in a range of position in the Philadelphia. The panel is intended for students and early career individuals. The panelists talked about their experience in the work force, provide tips for students when considering jobs and interviews, and give example important traits and strategies for success early in a statistical career. The panelists included Francis Abreu (Genentech), Thomas Jemielita (Merck & Co), Thinh Pham (Vanguard), Nadea Leavitt (IQVIA). Chapter Awards Ceremonies, February 2024 Congratulations to our Chapter Award Winners this year! We have recognized five outstanding individuals for their excellence in the area of research, practice, teaching (both University and K-12 levels) or as a graduate student. The award plagues were delivered in front of applauses from colleagues and friends! Below, the graduate student award recipient Gary Hettinger with his adviser, Dr. Nandita Mitra; Mr. Adam Shrager, our K-12 Teaching award recipient, at the recent Philadelphia-Area Statistics Teachers Association (PASTA) meeting; and Dr. Rebecca Hubbard for the Research Excellence Award. Check out the highlights of their accomplishments here! Montgomery County Science Fair, March 2024 We are proud to sponsor Montgomery County Science Fair this year. There were around 100 projects that we reviewed with respect to statistical content, with 16 projects interviewed for the Special Statistics Award given by our Chapter. The project by Audrey Wu was selected for the use of advanced statistical techniques and the presentation of the statistical aspects of the project. The project aimed to enhance epidemic control through the development of mathematical models for predicting measles cases and trends in the United States by employing dynamic (time series) regression analysis and incorporating data on vaccine exemption rates and global disease transmission. Judging ASA Special Awards for Delaware Valley Science Fairs (DVSF), April 2024 We again sponsored 3 special awards this year for Grades 6-12 students for the best use of statistics. Our member judges reviewed students posters and interviewed the students for their work. The awarded projects including a project that studied relationships between drinking and driving, a project about wearable hazardous gas sensor for respiratory health monitoring, and another project that test the hypotheses that using both video and audio clues would be more easy to tell a lie than using video or audio clues alone. DataFest Philly 2024, April 2024 The Chapter sponsored this annual event that took place in Villanova University with 12 teams competing for Best Insights Award and Best Visualization Award. Participants included undergraduate students across the Philadelphia area including Drexel University, West Chester University, Villanova University, Rutgers University, Penn State Brandywine, La Salle University, Eastern University, Haverford College, Swarthmore College, and Ursinus College. Multiple Chapter members participated in the event as the event organizers, consultants for students to assist with ideas about how to approach the data or other questions, and also as judges to listen to students' presentations and select the award winners. We are also proud this event was featured for 2024 ASA Giving Day newsletter and video this November. PA Statistics Poster Competition at the Saint Francis University, April 2024 We are proud to sponsor again this annual event organized by the Saint Francis University. The competition is open to all K-12 students in Pennsylvania in the four grade level categories: K-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. Cash prizes and certificates are awarded for first, second, third, and fourth place in each category. Virtual Career Panel for Early-Career Pharmaceutical Statistician, June 2024 Two panelists, Dr. Arinjita Bhayyacharyya at Merck and Dr. Hao Li at Boehringer Ingelheim have shared with the participants their career pathways, what they daily life would consist of at work, career development suggestions, and answer questions about finding jobs and working in the pharmaceutical industry. ASA Traveling Virtual Course, October 2024 Dr. Babette Brumback, an Emerita Professor of Biostatistics at University of Florida gave a full-day virtual course entitled "Fundamentals of Cause Inference: With R". Through a series of four modules, participants across the US learned about causal inference concepts through examples and R codes. Virtual Career Panel for Master's Students in Statistics, Biostatistics & Data science, December 2024 We invited five panelists of statistics/biostatistics/data science professionals that graduated with a Master degree in the Philadelphia area universities to share about their experiences in finding jobs and their career. The panelists included Meghan Buckley (alumni of Villanova’s MS in Applied Statistics program), Faith Platz (alumni of Villanova’s MS in Applied Statistics program), Jonathan Heintz (alumni of West Chester’s MS in Applied Statistics program), Amos Odeleye-Ajakaye (alumni of West Chester’s MS in Applied Statistics program), Arpita Deb (alumni of Drexel’s MS in Biostatistics program).

2024

Virtual Career Panel for Early to Mid-Career Pharmaceutical Statistician, January 2024

We invited four panelists working in the greater Philadelphia area to speak on their career pathways, share tips and answer questions about their experiences in working in the pharmaceutical industry. The panelists included Charlotte Baidoo, Head of Immunology Biostatistics, Bristol Myers Squibb; Jason Liao, Associate Vice President, Incyte; Devan Mehrotra, Vice President of Biostatistics, Merck; Hong Tian, Vice President, Head of Global Statistics, BeiGene.
SAS SQL Workshop, January 2024

On January 20^th, Villanova University and the ASA Philadelphia Chapter co-sponsored a SAS SQL workshop run by local statistician Russ Lavery. Nineteen attendees from industry and universities in the area had the opportunity to learn about SQL and how it is implemented within SAS.
Virtual Career Panel for Students and Early-Career statisticians, February 2024

We invited four panelists of statistics/biostatistics/data science professionals in a range of position in the Philadelphia. The panel is intended for students and early career individuals. The panelists talked about their experience in the work force, provide tips for students when considering jobs and interviews, and give example important traits and strategies for success early in a statistical career. The panelists included Francis Abreu (Genentech), Thomas Jemielita (Merck & Co), Thinh Pham (Vanguard), Nadea Leavitt (IQVIA).
Chapter Awards Ceremonies, February 2024

Congratulations to our Chapter Award Winners this year! We have recognized five outstanding individuals for their excellence in the area of research, practice, teaching (both University and K-12 levels) or as a graduate student. The award plagues were delivered in front of applauses from colleagues and friends! Below, the graduate student award recipient Gary Hettinger with his adviser, Dr. Nandita Mitra; Mr. Adam Shrager, our K-12 Teaching award recipient, at the recent Philadelphia-Area Statistics Teachers Association (PASTA) meeting; and Dr. Rebecca Hubbard for the Research Excellence Award. Check out the highlights of their accomplishments here!
Montgomery County Science Fair, March 2024

We are proud to sponsor Montgomery County Science Fair this year. There were around 100 projects that we reviewed with respect to statistical content, with 16 projects interviewed for the Special Statistics Award given by our Chapter. The project by Audrey Wu was selected for the use of advanced statistical techniques and the presentation of the statistical aspects of the project. The project aimed to enhance epidemic control through the development of mathematical models for predicting measles cases and trends in the United States by employing dynamic (time series) regression analysis and incorporating data on vaccine exemption rates and global disease transmission.
Judging ASA Special Awards for Delaware Valley Science Fairs (DVSF), April 2024

We again sponsored 3 special awards this year for Grades 6-12 students for the best use of statistics. Our member judges reviewed students posters and interviewed the students for their work. The awarded projects including a project that studied relationships between drinking and driving, a project about wearable hazardous gas sensor for respiratory health monitoring, and another project that test the hypotheses that using both video and audio clues would be more easy to tell a lie than using video or audio clues alone.
DataFest Philly 2024, April 2024

The Chapter sponsored this annual event that took place in Villanova University with 12 teams competing for Best Insights Award and Best Visualization Award. Participants included undergraduate students across the Philadelphia area including Drexel University, West Chester University, Villanova University, Rutgers University, Penn State Brandywine, La Salle University, Eastern University, Haverford College, Swarthmore College, and Ursinus College. Multiple Chapter members participated in the event as the event organizers, consultants for students to assist with ideas about how to approach the data or other questions, and also as judges to listen to students' presentations and select the award winners. We are also proud this event was featured for 2024 ASA Giving Day newsletter and video this November.
PA Statistics Poster Competition at the Saint Francis University, April 2024

We are proud to sponsor again this annual event organized by the Saint Francis University. The competition is open to all K-12 students in Pennsylvania in the four grade level categories: K-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. Cash prizes and certificates are awarded for first, second, third, and fourth place in each category.

Virtual Career Panel for Early-Career Pharmaceutical Statistician, June 2024

Two panelists, Dr. Arinjita Bhayyacharyya at Merck and Dr. Hao Li at Boehringer Ingelheim have shared with the participants their career pathways, what they daily life would consist of at work, career development suggestions, and answer questions about finding jobs and working in the pharmaceutical industry.
ASA Traveling Virtual Course, October 2024

Dr. Babette Brumback, an Emerita Professor of Biostatistics at University of Florida gave a full-day virtual course entitled "Fundamentals of Cause Inference: With R". Through a series of four modules, participants across the US learned about causal inference concepts through examples and R codes.
Virtual Career Panel for Master's Students in Statistics, Biostatistics & Data science, December 2024

We invited five panelists of statistics/biostatistics/data science professionals that graduated with a Master degree in the Philadelphia area universities to share about their experiences in finding jobs and their career. The panelists included Meghan Buckley (alumni of Villanova’s MS in Applied Statistics program), Faith Platz (alumni of Villanova’s MS in Applied Statistics program), Jonathan Heintz (alumni of West Chester’s MS in Applied Statistics program), Amos Odeleye-Ajakaye (alumni of West Chester’s MS in Applied Statistics program), Arpita Deb (alumni of Drexel’s MS in Biostatistics program).

2023
Judging ASA Special Awards for Delaware Valley Science Fairs (DVSF), April 2023 Saranya Anantapantula, Sravamti Manikonda, and Tiago Ferreira are the winners for the ASA Philadelphia Chapter special awards this year for Grades 6 to 8, 9 & 10, and 11 & 12 competitions, respectively. The awards are given to projects that demonstrate the best use of statistics. PA Statistics Poster Competition at the Saint Francis University, April 2023 We are proud to continue our sponsorship to this annual event organized by the Saint Francis University. The competition is open to all K-12 students in Pennsylvania in the four grade level categories: K-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. Cash prizes and certificates are awarded for first, second, third, and fourth place in each category. Certificates are awarded for honorable mentions in each category. ASA Traveling Virtual Course, September 2023 Dr. Jingchen (Monika) Hu, an Associate Professor of Statistics at Vassar College, and Dr. Kevin Ross, a Professor of Statistics at Cal Poly gave a full-day virtual course entitled "Introducing Bayesian Statistical Analysis into Your Teaching". Through a series of breakout room activities, participants across the US learned about many important concepts of Bayesian statistical methods through detailed classroom-ready examples and hands-on activities, including exercises in R, and ideas to incorporate those aspects into classroom teaching.

2023

Judging ASA Special Awards for Delaware Valley Science Fairs (DVSF), April 2023

Saranya Anantapantula, Sravamti Manikonda, and Tiago Ferreira are the winners for the ASA Philadelphia Chapter special awards this year for Grades 6 to 8, 9 & 10, and 11 & 12 competitions, respectively. The awards are given to projects that demonstrate the best use of statistics.
PA Statistics Poster Competition at the Saint Francis University, April 2023

We are proud to continue our sponsorship to this annual event organized by the Saint Francis University. The competition is open to all K-12 students in Pennsylvania in the four grade level categories: K-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. Cash prizes and certificates are awarded for first, second, third, and fourth place in each category. Certificates are awarded for honorable mentions in each category.

ASA Traveling Virtual Course, September 2023

Dr. Jingchen (Monika) Hu, an Associate Professor of Statistics at Vassar College, and Dr. Kevin Ross, a Professor of Statistics at Cal Poly gave a full-day virtual course entitled "Introducing Bayesian Statistical Analysis into Your Teaching". Through a series of breakout room activities, participants across the US learned about many important concepts of Bayesian statistical methods through detailed classroom-ready examples and hands-on activities, including exercises in R, and ideas to incorporate those aspects into classroom teaching.

2022
Judging ASA Special Awards for Delaware Valley Science Fairs (DVSF), April 2022 Tushar Mehta of the Orefield middle school received the special award given by Philadelphia Chapter for his project titled "RecycleBot: Machine Learning Based Automated Waste Detection and Classification" for demonstrating the best use of statistics. Also receiving the special awards for 9th to 10th grade level are Bryan Wu for his project "Impact of Airport Design on Flight Delays" and Ashley Zhou for her project "Restoring MHC-I Molecules to Potentiate Immunotherapy in Uterine Cancer" in 11th to 12th grade level competition. ASA Traveling Virtual Course on Data Visualization with R, October 2022 Aaron Williams, a senior data scientist in the Urban Institute's Income and Benefits Policy Center gave a full-day virtual course on how to create good data visualization using R. This course introduces R Markdown, the basic grammar of graphics, and Jon Schwabish's Five guidelines for R. The participants also got hands-on practices to create visualization for regression models and time series data.

2021
Virtual Judging ASA Special Awards for Delaware Valley Science Fairs (DVSF), April 2021 Nine members from the Philadelphia Chapter participated the virtual judging this year. The special awards are given to Sohum Bandyopadhyay, Srilekha Mamidala, and Irene Biju for their projects entitled "COVID-19: Data Analysis & Interpretation", "The SLED (Shelf Life Expiration Date) Tracking System: Combating Food Waste and Food Borne Illnesses From Expiration Using Machine Learning", and "Mental Health in the U.S. Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic", respectively, for demonstrating the best use of statistics. ASA Traveling Virtual Course in State-of-the-are Strategies for Addressing Selection Bias When comparing Two or More Treatment Groups, October 2021 Ann Griffin, a senior statistician at the RAND Corporation, and Lane Burgette, a senior statistician and associate director of the Economics, Sociology, and Statistics Department at the RAND Corporation, gave a full-day virtual course. This course introduces causal modeling using the potential outcomes framework and use of propensity score weights in the estimation of causal effects from observational data, guidelines on how to estimate and perform diagnostic checks of propensity score weights for evaluations examining the relative effectiveness of two interventions and methods for assessing the sensitivity of finding to unobserved covariates.

2020
ASA Traveling Virtual Course in Analysis of Big Healthcare Databases, October 2020 Rebecca Hubbard, of the Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, gave a day-long virtual course. This course introduces the structure and content of healthcare databases and equips participants with tools to investigate and analyze them, including handling missing data and correcting for bias.

2019
ASA Philadelphia 2019 Spring Gathering, March 2019 The Philadelphia Chapter’s 2019 Annual Spring gathering was held on Boathouse Row in Philadelphia at the Sedgeley Club on Friday, March 29. The keynote speaker was Barry Nussbaum, former President of the ASA and Chief Statistician at the Environmental Protection Agency.

Events before 2019
Click here for events before 2019.

Events