This month, we spotlight new member and undergraduate statistics major Elena Payne, who answered the following questions so we could get to know her better:
How did you become interested in statistics and/or data science?
I’d been working in health care for the better part of a decade when, one day, an industry representative came into the orthopedic clinic where I worked, promoting a new hip prosthesis with a ~10% lower complication rate than the one our surgeons were using. The physician I worked under was skeptical. She pulled up the clinical trial article for the prosthesis and showed me that the confidence interval for complications rates was quite wide. She explained to me that, after taking a stats course in med school, she always checked the numbers when a claim felt too good to be true. “The numbers don’t lie,” she said.
That moment really stuck with me. I became increasingly interested in academic articles on clinical trials and methodologies. Two years later, I went back to school and, during my Intro to Statistics course that first semester, I was completely sold.
What do you consider your dream job?
While I’m just an undergraduate going into my senior year and dreams are subject to change, I’d like to follow in the footsteps of my professors at this point. I’ve been able to get involved in biostatistics research—statistical genomics with a mental health focus—and serving as a teacher’s assistant for Intro to Stats this last year. I love both and would feel lucky to get to keep working in research and helping others learn as my career progresses.
What do you hope understanding statistics and/or data science helps you accomplish?
At risk of sounding pedantic, what does understanding statistics not help you accomplish? Science, the world, life in general, are so uncertain. Stats feels as close as you can get to understanding, to saying something could be true.
Is there a particular group of statisticians you would like to reach out to you?
I think I’d like to connect with members of the Mental Health Statistics Interest Group, Women in Statistics and Data Science, and any groups that support undergraduate or early-career students (my university is small and does not have an ASA student chapter). I’m also definitely interested in hearing from statisticians working in genomics and health research.
What is your favorite hobby?
It’s a strong tie between pinball and backpacking!
What is something you would like people to know about you that we haven’t asked?
This was the hardest question, hands down! I used to volunteer at a farm animal sanctuary before coming back to school (when I had more free time). I have a special place in my heart for pardoned turkeys; they’re so cuddly.
If you are a new member interested in being featured, email ASA Communications Manager Megan Murphy.
Welcome, New ASA Members!
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Lucas Allen
Manal Hamadi Alloqmani
Maalee Almheidat
Daniel Amede
Nick Anastasi
Alaric Anderson
Jacob Andros
Avanti Athreya
Tony Au
Jared R. Avers
Asma T. Awan
J. Jobu Babin
Inyoung Baek
Jianmei Bai
Matthew Austin Baker
Jennifer Barnes
Rebecca A. Betensky
Ayoushman Bhattacharya
Andrea Biel
Tripp Rucker Bishop
Raphael Lev Bivas
Mario Borha
Austin Bouyamourn
Austin D. Brown
Amanda Ruth Brucker
Kari Buys
Angie Chen
Iris Chen
Kai Chen
Michelle Chen
Nan Chen
Bong-Jin Choi
Louis Christopher
Chris Chung
Claudia Jane Clinchard
Jared Collins
Jay Collins
Sean Collins
Randall J. Covill
Angela Crumer
Javier A. Cuevas
Chengyu Cui
Aimee Cyr
Saleh Dadjouy
Malhar Dave
Kathleen N. Deering
Xuan Deng
Karen M. Dhuyvetter
Bryan Dodson
Sarah D. Drain
Chengyu Du
Rui Duan
Kimberly A. Dukes
Elizabeth Ehrsam
Ifeyinwa Ejisoby-Nwosu
Seth A. Ensor
Matthew David Farnsworth
John Michael Felt
Shannon Ferrante
Alexander Franks
Dongqi Fu
Bo Gao
Gideon Gargar
Anthony J. Glackin
Georg Matthias Goerg
Amanda Granados
Erin Robinson Grant
Carlo Graziani
Jingyi Guan
Jingyi Guo
Charles Gyamfi
Soufiane Hayou
Andrew O. Heeszel
Ryley Hemphill
Katherine Herder
Yingtian Hu
Joshua Hudson
Peter Huynh
Saverio Iaconis
Kayla Irish
Farid Jamshidian
Beth Jarosz
Neha Joshi
Matthew Kay
Hyoshin Kim
Hannah Marie Klinger
Keisuke Kobayashi
Tom Kolokotrones
Henrietta Adei Kotey
Dosten H. Kpozehouen
Sonish Lamsal
Heng Lan
Lang Lang
Gary Langer
Sukurat Lasisi
Jerry J. Li
Xingyan LI
Yanran Li
Jianxin Lin
Qianying Lin
Henry Linder
Jiachang Liu
Jianing Liu
Kirstyn Loftus
Wei-En Lu
Mary Lucas
Grace P. Malonga
Charlie Manolakis
Ethan P. Marzban
Zvifadzo Matsena Zingoni
Katelyn McCabe
Shannon McCormick
Darius McDaniel
Anna McGlothlin
Max McQuide
Anju Menon
Philip Mensah
George Mitchell
Dylan Thomas Moore
Mickey Acot Morandante
Sabrina Mousum
Rebecca Murphy
Dimitrios Nerantzinis
Roxana Nguyen
Nicholas Niako
Lorie Ninganza
May Conway Norman
Robert Lewis Norton
Peter I. Ogunyinka
Tunmbi Olayemi Okediran
Dave A. Osthus
Yu-Kuan Pan
Pratik Patil
Rena Tarcila Ozon Pedaria
Jennifer Petrillo
Vincent Pisztora
Apsara Pitigalaarachchi
Alyssa Platt
Max Frank Poland
Yizhuo Qin
John Gilbert Rabanal
Irin Rahman
Tahmina Rainy
Shashipraba Rajakaruna
Noelle Reid
Nora Lee Suzanna Reinhardt
Gustavo Roa
Julio E.Julio
Rodriguez Torres
Manuel Roosevelt Lamptey
Shiling Ruan
Kiersten Ruby
Ali Safi
Matthew Salomon
Brandon Sanichar
Oliver Michael Santos
Somnath Sarkar
Samuel K. Sarkodie
Maria A. Serafini
Ria Shaji
Sinja Sharma
TeVaughn Shaw
Yikun Shi
Zhaoyang Shi
Kathleen Shiffer
Matthew Singer
Lavisha Singh
Yogendra Yogendra Singh
Singh Cornell Smith
Lei Song
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Shannon Stock
Thea Sukianto
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Steven Sun
Nikola Surjanovic
Angela Ting
Sushil Tiwari
Meilin Tong
Quang Minh Trinh
Shivani Tripathi
Tina Trosclair
Siyabulela Tyaliti
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Shelly C. Vernon
Kaylee Vo
Julia Walchessen
Chase M. Walton
Qichang Wan
John Hong Wang
Rena Wang
Tao Wang
Xiaopu Wang
Eric Warren
Yipeng Wei
Paul Whitney
Manel Wijesinha
Joy Wu
Yao Xie
Ruoxuan Xiong
Jie Xu
Liheng Xu
Yijia Xu
Zhichen Xu
Jiaqi Yang
Jonathan Yang
Yuchen Yao
Hongyang Ryan Zhang
Jinfeng Zhang
Ying Zhang
Yutao Zhang
Jay Zhao
Ruochen Zhao
Wei Zhao
Xin Zhao
Cheng Zheng
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