Affiliation: Professor, Department of Biostatistics and Data Science at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health

Educational Background: PhD, Biostatistics, Tulane University; MS, Biostatistics, Tulane University; BSc, Statistics, National University of Colombia

Adriana Pérez was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and always enjoyed science but especially mathematics. She recalls solving math problems in her father’s lap. The husband of her aunt was an economist at the Central Bank in Colombia and explained to her the existence of a career in “statistics.” In the spring of 1986, Pérez started to pursue her bachelor’s degree in statistics at the National University of Colombia, as well as the National University of Colombia master’s program scholarship, which she was awarded when she finished her undergraduate degree.

Alonso Takahashi, in the department of mathematics and statistics at the National University of Colombia, helped Pérez hone her probability skills. Pedro Nel Pacheco opened her eyes to experimental designs and the field of biostatistics, which she pursued with a scholarship-loan from Colfuturo.

Communication and team science were skills needed for her first job as a statistician at the Colombian National Administrative Department of Statistics. “Collaboration and listening to other professionals’ perspectives was essential to understand and solve the challenges at work,” said Pérez.

During her graduate studies, she disentangled the interaction of ascorbic acid and Lewis phenotype differences between Blacks and whites in New Orleans. “I learned the importance of Helicobacter pylori in the pathway to gastritis under Pelayo Correa, Elizabeth Fontham, and Bernardo Ruiz at Louisiana State University,” said Pérez.

After completing her graduate studies, she worked at the school of medicine at Javeriana University and the department of statistics at the National University of Colombia. She believes translational research is essential for public health. Two of her initial rewarding projects, not only at the scientific level but with strong collaborators, sought to identify risk factors associated with hospital mortality in patients admitted to intensive care units in Colombia and evaluating the training on parental antibiotic use for physicians in a teaching hospital. “I have been blessed to work with physicians whose passion for better health for patients is achieved through research as their daily motivation.”

Pérez has conducted team science research with researchers in multiple public health departments—epidemiology, health promotion and behavioral sciences, environmental sciences, health management, and policy. She has played a crucial role in designing studies that are representative of the population of interest, developing sampling weights representative of the entire population, and conducting complex data analyses in Texas. Her interest in conducting and disseminating results of longitudinal clinical trials varies from the largest clinical trial of early patients with Parkinson’s disease in the USA and Canada through the design and dissemination of results of a school-based cluster randomized gardening, nutrition, and cooking intervention seeking to prevent obesity in Central Texas children. She has published measurement error models of food intake, validity of measurements seeking to reduce the obesity epidemic and identify its associated factors in children and adults.

Pérez was the director of the statistical and marketing core of the Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science on Youth and Young Adults in the US. This core supported a 2x2x2 clinical trial in potential communication methods to inform young adults about the harms and risks of tobacco use, as well as two Texas cohorts on youth and young adult measurement of tobacco use behaviors and marketing of tobacco products to these age groups. She recently received funding to estimate the age of initiation of tobacco products, conducting secondary analysis of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health waves 1–4 in youth and young adults.

Since 2001, Pérez has taught students located in six cities in Texas, connected through interactive TV and now Webex. Her class slogan is, “This course is also known as biostatistics without tears.” Her teaching style goes beyond the teaching and learning of the subject matter, as she teaches students practical skills in biostatistics. She motivates her students with practical and individual examples to foster an effective learning environment. She has a genuine interest in and enthusiasm for the material and delivers the subject matter with skill and knowledge. Students have appreciated her well-prepared class notes, open-door policy, and fruitful communication via email/discussion board. Her courses foster an atmosphere in which both sides do their best for the overall success in learning the course content.

Since 2009, Pérez has worked with Cheryl L. Perry, learning her leadership skills, demonstrating leadership, and passing the torch to others, including her current dean, Deanna Hoelscher. Pérez has more than 110 peer-reviewed publications and serves as a permanent member of the NIH-ASG study section. She has promoted diversity in the profession by fostering recruitment, retention, and promotion of minorities. Since 2010, she has served in different roles at diversity workshops and StatFest competitions. She is also a member of the American Statistical Association Committee on Minorities in Statistics.

On a personal level, Pérez enjoys swimming in her free time with her adopted son, David. She also enjoys traveling, baking, and studying Precept Upon Precept.