The ASA Statistics and Data Science in Aging (SDSA) Interest Group was featured in the June 2026 issue of AmStat News. They warmly welcome anyone interested in this field as members. There is no charge to join, and full membership in the ASA is not a prerequisite.
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Middle Tennessee chapter
Officers
President: Qingxia "Cindy" Chen
President-elect: Dandan Liu
Secretary: Andrew Spieker
Treasurer: Hakmook Kang
Council of Chapters Representative: Bryan Blette
Sections, Special Interest Groups, and more
Our graduate program and department members are actively involved with the ASA. In addition to the Biostatistics Graduate Student Association, there are numerous groups led and supported by Vanderbilt Biostatistics students, alumni, faculty, and staff. Here is a partial list:
ASA Biometrics Section
- Andrew Spieker, chair-elect (2027)
- Sarah Lotspeich, winner of the
ASA Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology Geospatial Interest Group
: Caroline Birdrow, Jamie Joseph
ASA Government Statistics Section
ASA Health Policy Statistics Section
ASA K-12 Statistics Project Competition
ASA Records Linkage Interest Group
ASA Statistical Genetics and Genomics Section: Siyuan Ma, co-chair (2024-present)
ASA Statistical Mentoring Program
: Panpan Zhang, program chair
ASA Statistics in Epidemiology Section
- Ran Tao: publication officer (2020-2021) and Council of Sections representative (2023-2025)
ASA Statistics in Imaging Section
- Simon Vandekar, chair-elect (2027); previously program chair-elect (2020-2021) and program chair (2021-2022)聽
- We hosted the , and Dr. Vandekar served on the 2023 organizing committee.
- Past officers include Panpan Zhang, publications officer (2023 - 2025)
ASA Teaching Statistics in Health Sciences Section
Honors and Recognition (selected)
See also honors listed under specific sections.
Fellows
2024 -
2021 - Jeffrey Blume
2019 - Jonathan Schildcrout
2018 - Bryan Shepherd
2010 - Yu Shyr
2009 - William Dupont
2005 - Frank Harrell
Outstanding Chapter Service Winners
2026 - TBA
2025 - Robert Johnson (Middle Tennessee) - "for serving as Secretary for the Mid-TN Chapter (2022-present), developing an online election ballot, and assisting in local arrangements for the traveling course." Dr. Johnson previously received this award in 1996 for service to the Virginia chapter.聽
2000 - Yu Shyr (Middle Tennessee)
Statistical Partnerships Among Academe, Industry & Government (SPAIG) Award
2025 - Rameela Raman (faculty), David Schlueter (PhD 2018), Ryan Jarrett (PhD 2021), Sarah Lotspeich (PhD 2021), Jamie Joseph (PhD 2024), Julia Thome (PhD 2024), Joshua Slone (PhD candidate), Alexis Fleming (PhD candidate), Lisa Levoir (MS 2025), Ashley Mullan (PhD student), and Lynne Berry (faculty)
Press and features
,听Vanderbilt Health News, June 17, 2026
, October 28, 2025
- Lucy D'Agostino McGowan is a 2025 winner.聽
, AmStat Magazine, May 1, 2023. This compilation includes Jamie Joseph's tribute to Rameela Raman.
Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM) Participation
Our involvement with the largest annual gathering of statisticians in North America includes talks, posters, roundtables, socials, and even therapy dogs! Mia greeted dog room visitors on Monday and Tuesday (organized by ASA GivesBack) at JSM 2026. Photo courtesy of Jamie Joseph (PhD 2024).