A day-long symposium in honor of Steve Lagakos was held at the Harvard School of Public Health on October 22. Lagakos, a professor of biostatistics at Harvard, died in a car accident with his wife and mother-in-law on October 13, 2009. (See December obituary.)
Several events have celebrated Lagakos’s life and achievements. This symposium addressed aspects of his many contributions to biostatistics and medicine. The first session focused on his contributions to the New England Journal of Medicine. Lagakos served as a statistical consultant to the journal from 1997 until his death, having reviewed approximately 60 articles per year among those published. He also contributed several articles under the heading “Statistics and Medicine.”
One session was devoted to training the next generation of statisticians. Lagakos voluntarily organized a supplementary reading group for students in the McGoldrick fellowship program in biostatistics in AIDS research, which supports short-term training in quantitative methods for HIV/AIDS studies for fellows who will buy ativan online prescription return to their country of residence in the developing world. Aside from his contributions, this session pointed out nonstatistical aspects that are necessary for success in the statistics profession, including professional ethics, fostering interdisciplinary efforts, and communication skills.
Lagakos made many contributions to AIDS research, being especially interested in mother-to-infant transmission and design of vaccine clinical trials. In keeping with his joint interests in statistics and HIV, several medical scientists spoke about his contributions to these areas. The keynote speaker was Robert Gallo, who discussed the difficulties in developing an HIV vaccine.
During dinner, photos were shown and those who knew Lagakos had the opportunity to express remembrances over an open microphone. Thelma Zelen spoke of the Zelens’ friendship with the Lagakoses, and many students and colleagues spoke of a wonderful teacher, role model, generous and kind mentor, and friend.
Donations in memory of Steve Lagakos may be sent to the Lagakos family fund.
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