Lucy D’Agostino McGowan spent the beginning of her childhood in Boston, Massachusetts, and the rest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she lives today as a biostatistician, teacher, science communicator, podcaster, partner, mom, programmer, Disney enthusiast, and BB-8 builder. She fell in love with the statistics field after doing a Summer Institute in Biostatistics at Boston University. D’Agostino McGowan is also an avid statistical communicator. Her efforts in statistical communication span from op-eds about the current COVID-19 pandemic; a podcast in partnership with the American Journal of Epidemiology, Casual Inference; and outreach via social media. Her research focuses on causal inference, human-data interaction, and statistical communication. She is currently the chair of the ASA Committee on Women in Statistics and co-leads an effort with past-chair Stephanie Hicks to build community and engagement. Follow their Twitter feed at @WomeninStat.
covid-19
New Federal Data Policies and the Impact of Data for Good
With the transition to a new administration in Washington, this is a good time to review how new policies and practices are expected to affect our work in Data for Good.
SFASA Celebrates Holiday Season with Positive Outlook
The San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (SFASA) hosted a three-hour virtual celebration December 4, 2020: A Positive Outlook During the COVID Era: How Statistics Could Contribute to a Better 2021. More than 70 SFASA members attended.
BBSW 2020 Finds New Ways to Collaborate Virtually
While the pandemic prevented a face-to-face event in 2020, the Bay Area Biotech-Pharma Statistical Workshop held two virtual symposiums—both related to COVID-19.
Data for Good Can Drive COVID Vaccine Confidence
David Corliss says statisticians can help address the distrust of vaccines, a large challenge of this phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Webinar: Privacy Risk and Preservation
Countries and regions around the world have developed and deployed COVID-19 contact tracing software or mobile apps. While contact tracing plays an important role in the pandemic, red flags have been raised regarding the privacy risk associated with the contact tracing apps and software. Tune in to this webinar hosted by ASA Committee on Privacy and Confidentiality as Fang Liu discusses the effectiveness of privacy-preserving measures.
Data for Good: The Year in Review
The year 2020 was a year of great changes and challenges. The Data for Good community was at the center of many storms in the past year, rising to the challenge to support communities, guide an economy through a sea of troubles, preserve the environment, fight for justice, and—perhaps as no year before—save lives.
A Conversation with DataKind’s Executive Director, Jake Porway
Porway and David Corliss discuss COVID-19, police violence, protests, inequailty, and opportunities for Data for Good projects to help solve big problems.
NC Chapter Offers Tips for Holding a Virtual Career Fair
Due to COVID-19, the North Carolina Chapter’s 2020 career fair was reimagined in an all-virtual format. Here, the organizers offer advice based on the lessons they learned.
Biopharmaceutical Report Focuses on Statistical Issues in COVID-19 Trials
The editorial team invited authors from government, industry, and academia to write articles about their perspectives on the impact of COVID-19 on clinical trials, particularly the statistical issues involved in designing new COVID-19 trials.