Jacqueline Hicks

Clinical Associate Professor of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health

Jacqueline Hicks grew up in a small Michigan town in the Metro Detroit area called Livonia, in a family of engineers who first piqued her interest in math. Her parents stressed the importance of having a solid foundation in math and science growing up.

“While I did well in my math courses in college, it wasn’t until I took a course in mathematical biology and began to apply all the math that I learned to a real-life setting that I found a career path that truly interested me,” said Hicks. She completed her master’s degree in biostatistics at The George Washington University while serving as a teaching assistant for an introductory biostatistics course. To her surprise, she found she loved teaching and decided to pursue her doctoral degree in biostatistics at Boston University while continuing to teach. 

During her graduate studies, Hicks began doing research in statistical genetics, specifically looking at genetic risk factors of disease severity among patients with sickle cell disease. “I really enjoyed working in a collaborative setting with physicians, computer scientists, and geneticists,” said Hicks.

Most of her work is now in health disparities research. She collaborates with epidemiologists and physicians in the Black Women’s Health Study to examine how structural racism affects developing health outcomes such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Hicks’s proudest accomplishment professionally is being an educator and mentor. “I love teaching students about the field of biostatistics and seeing them apply the skills that they’ve learned in the field of public health,” said Hicks. “I’ve had the pleasure of watching students go through introductory-level courses and learning the basics of biostatistics to graduating and having impressive careers as data scientists and biostatisticians.” Hicks finds it rewarding when former students and mentees successfully give a talk at their first academic conference, receive their first job offer, or reach out to her years later to thank her for a course she taught years ago that changed their career trajectory.

Personally, Hicks’s proudest accomplishment is the family she has created for herself. “I’m married to a wonderful husband, and we have an amazing son. They motivate me every day.”