BUSCASA General Meeting Minutes 9-12-18
BUSCASA General Meeting Minutes 9-20-17
BUSCASA General Meeting Minutes 1-25-17
BUSCASA General Meeting Minutes 9-14-16
BUSCASA General Meeting Minutes 4-27-16
BUSCASA General Meeting Minutes 2-16-16
BUSCASA General Meeting Minutes 11-18-15
BUSCASA General Meeting Minutes 9-8-15
Past Events: 2018-2019 Academic Year
One-Day Short Course: An Introduction to the Analysis of Incomplete Data
Friday, October 19, 9:00am-4:30pm, Sargent College Room 101
BUSCASA World Statistics Day Presentation by Professor David Madigan of Columbia University:
“Ethical Challenges in the Analyses and Reporting of Healthcare Studies”
Tuesday, October 23, 4:00pm-5:00pm, HAR 208
BUSCASA Web Scraping Workshop
Tuesday, November 6, 5:00pm-6:30pm, MCS 180
The workshop was run by members of the Software & Application Innovation Lab (SAIL) at the Hariri Institute for Computing.
Presentation by Professor Susan Murphy:
“Stratified Micro-Randomized Trials with Applications in Mobile Health”
Wednesday, November 14, 7:00pm, MIT Tang Center, Room E51-149
Time: Social and light Dinner 6:15 pm; Presentation 7:00 pm
Past Events: 2017-2018 Academic Year
Seminar on Statistical Practice – Statistical Forecasting
Date: Thursday, May 3rd, 2018
Time: 6-7:30pm (with dinner to after)
Location: CAS B20 (BU’s College of Arts and Sciences Building, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA)
Details: BUSCASA held its 4th annual Statistics in Practice Seminar on Thursday May 3rd from 6- 7:30pm in CAS B20 (College of Arts and Sciences Building located at 725 Commonwealth ave).
This year the theme is Statistical Forecasting and our expert panelists will be discussing methods and applications to diverse fields like business, infectious diseases, and climate change. The individual talks will be followed by a roundtable question and answer session, which will provide an excellent opportunity for dialogue across a broad range of statistical backgrounds. (Dinner will be provided during this event!)
PANELISTS:
- Alessandro Vespignani, PhD – Sternberg Distinguished Professor of Physics, Computer Science and Health
Sciences, Northeastern University - Greta M. Ljung, PhD – Principal Scientist, AIR Worldwide Corporation
- Udit Bhatia – PhD Candidate, Interdisciplinary Engineering, Northeastern University
MODERATOR :
Jacqueline Hicks, PhD – Clinical Assistant Professor, Biostatistics, Boston University
Pharma Symposium (organized by the Boston Chapter of the ASA)
Date: Friday, May 4th, 2018
Time: 9am – 5pm
Location: Takeda Pharmaceuticals, 35 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge
Registration Fees: $135 Chapter member, $160 non-member $75 student
Registration link: https://bcasa2018pharma.eventbrite.com
Details: The Boston Chapter of ASA is pleased to hold its Second Annual Pharmaceutical Symposium in Cambridge MA on Friday, May 4, 2018. The event is organized by the Boston Chapter in collaboration with researchers from Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer Inc, and Cytel Inc. This will be a full-day event hosted by Takeda Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge. The program will feature invited presentations by well-known biostatisticians, focusing on statistical issues and challenges that arise in the Pharma area. In addition to these presentations, there will be plenty of time for discussion and networking throughout the day.
BUSCASA trip to Pfizer
Monday, March 26, 10-11am, Pfizer’s Cambridge offices in Kendall Square
BUSCASA organized a corporate visit to the Pfizer offices in Cambridge (Kendall Square). During this visit, students had the opportunity to meet employees of Pfizer, learn about positions and internships available, and ask questions about the culture and management style of the company.
Statistics @ Work Seminar (coordinated by the MSSP program)
Wednesday, April 18, 5-7pm, Boston University, Sargent College (SAR), room 102
Tom Foth, Senior Director of PwC’s Emerging Technologies Applied Research Lab and founder of PwC’s Analytics Apps group, gave a talk on the emerging requirements for data scientists to be effective contributors to enterprises today. In particular, he discussed how data scientists increasingly need more domain expertise and the recent emergence of automated analysis pipelines such as DataRobot.
Qualifying Review Sessions
BUSCASA organized review sessions for the qualifying exams for MA 581, MA 582, MA 583, MA 575, and MA 576. Special thanks to Jia Yang, Long Tao, and Ben Sweigart for running the sessions!
MA 581/582
4/3 – 6:00pm to 8:00pm – MCS 148
MA 583
3/29 – 6:00pm to 8:00pm – MCS B19
MA 575
4/4 – 6:00pm to 8:00pm – MCS 144
MA 576
4/5 – 6:00pm to 8:00pm – MCS B19
Statistics @ Work Seminar (coordinated by the MSSP program)
Wednesday, February 28, 5-7pm, Boston University, Sargent College (SAR), room 102
Alok Pattani presented his work as a quantitative analyst in the Search Ads group at Google, analyzing large data sets generated by users and advertisers interacting with Google Search. Prior to joining Google, Alok worked for 8 years at ESPN, primarily working in sports analytics (still an area of interest). Drawing on Alok’s experiences over the past decade, this talk will go inside what it’s like to do statistics/data science work in the sports and technology industries.
Statistics @ Work Seminar (coordinated by the MSSP program)
Wednesday, February 7, 5-7pm, Boston University, Sargent College (SAR), room 102
Senior Data Scientist Kate Donahue presented projects Booz Allen Hamilton’s Boston office has worked on in a variety of fields, with the goal of showing how data scientists can take thorny, unmanageable problems and convert them into powerful, understandable solutions.
Statistics @ Work Seminar (coordinated by the MSSP program)
Wednesday, November 8th, 5-7pm, Boston University, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), room B36
David Liu, Director of Data Science and Innovation at CVS Health, presented a case study in retaining early tenure customers and other statistical applications to business problems.
Statistics @ Work Seminar (coordinated by the MSSP program)
Wednesday, October 25th, 5-7pm, Boston University, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), room B36
Xiaoyu Jiang, Associate Director of Biostatistics at Biogen, presented her experiences as a statistician in the pharmaceutical industry. The speaker also discussed challenges that statisticians face and important skillsets for statisticians to be successful in the cross-functional environment of today’s pharma industry.
SQL workshop
Monday, October 30th, 5:30-7:30pm, Boston University, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), room 318
Anahita Bahri, BUSCASA officer and MSSP student, hosted a SQL workshop. SQL provides powerful but reasonably simple tools for data analysis and handling. This workshop took beginners through the basics of SQL to an ability to write common types of queries with confidence. It included a combination of lecture and in-class exercises to ensure that everyone left with a working grasp of SQL.
World Statistics Day
Friday, October 20th, 12-1pm, Boston University, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), room 325
Maimuna Majumder, an Engineering Systems PhD student from MIT, presented how she analyzes big data to increase awareness of gerrymandering in the US.
One-Day Short Course on Applied Longitudinal Analysis (organized by the Boston Chapter of the ASA)
Date: October 13, 2017
Time: Presentation: 9am – 4:30pm
Details: Dr. Fitzmaurice from Harvard gave a broad introduction to statistical methods for analyzing longitudinal data.
Statistics @ Work Seminar (coordinated by the MSSP program)
Wednesday, October 11th, 5-7pm, Boston University, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), room 226
Iyue Sung, Vice President of Enterprise Analytics at Press Ganey, described the role of data scientists in healthcare consulting.
BUSCASA General Meeting – Wednesday, September 20th, 2017
First BUSCASA general meeting of Fall 2017. We gave out planned some events for the new academic year and gave out free BUSCASA water bottles.
Past Events: 2016-2017 Academic Year
Seminar On Statistical Practice – Statistics in New Media and Technology
BUSCASA will be holding its 3rd annual Statistics in Practice Panel on April 27th!!
This event is sponsored by the Boston University Student Chapter of the ASA, in cooperation with The Boston Chapter of the ASA. The speakers will all give a brief overview on their experience working with data and statistical aspects of problems pertaining to new media and technology. The individual talks will be followed by a roundtable question and answer session, which will provide an excellent opportunity for dialogue across a broad range of statistical backgrounds. The remainder of the evening will consist of a catered meet and greet with the speakers.
MODERATOR :
Dr. Gina Peloso, Professor, Biostatistics at Boston University
PANELISTS:
- Dr. Jared Hawkins – Faculty and Director of Informatics at Boston Children’s Hospital
- Glenn McDonald – Data Alchemist at Spotify
- Dr. Brandon Rohrer – Data Scientist at Facebook
WHERE : Boston University, Metcalf Science Center (SCI), Room 117 (meet and greet afterwards in Room 115)
WHEN: Thursday, April 27, 2016 from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM (with catered meet and greet to follow)
Qualifying Review Sessions
BUSCASA will be holding review sessions for the qualifying exams for MA 581, MA 582, MA 583, MA 575, and MA 576! If you have not signed up yet, you can RSVP now!
Below are the dates, times, and locations at which the sessions will be held.
MA 581/582
03/27 – 6:00pm to 7:30pm – MCS 148
03/29 – 6:00pm to 7:30pm – MCS B31
MA 583
03/28 – 6:00pm to 8:00pm – PSY B35
MA 585/576
04/03 – 6:00pm to 8:pm – MCS 148
04/06 – 6:00pm to 8:pm – CAS 208
ASA Short Course: Introduction to Statistics for Spatio-Temporal Data (hosted by the Boston Chapter of the ASA)
Saturday, April 08, 9:30am-4:00pm, Harvard University, Science Center, 1 Oxford St
Christopher K. Wikle, Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Statistics at the University of Missouri will be giving a presentation on spatio-temporal processes and data analysis. Please register here by April 5th at noon. The fee is $25 for students, $60 for ASA members, and $70 for non-members. More information on the attached flyer.
Statistics @ Work Seminar (coordinated by the MSSP program)
Wednesday, April 12, 5-7pm, Boston University, Department of Math and Computer Science (MCS), room 148
Jeff Palmucci, Director of Machine Intelligence at Trip Advisor, will be speaking.
Data Visualization in R Seminar – Thursday, March 23, 1-2pm, Crosstown Center room 460
Kristin Baltrusaitis, president of BUSCASA, ran a workshop on data visualization with the ggplot2 package in R. Pizza was served!
BUSCASA Seminar – Monday, March 20th, 6-7pm, Hariri Institute’s Seminar Room (MCS)
Elliott Bartsch, the Director of Data Science at Firecracker and Data Science Instructor at General Assembly, presented his work at Firecracker and discussed the responsibilities of data scientists in small, medium, and large firms. Firecracker is an adaptive education platform used by medical students to study for board exams. Elliott described the challenges in developing and implementing the 2nd generation of the Firecracker application.
Rock Climbing (BUSCASA-hosted social event) – Thursday, March 16th, 6-7pm, BU gym
We rented out the rock climbing wall for an hour, gave out free BUSCASA water bottles, and got nachos and drinks afterwards at the Sunset Cantina!
Statistics @ Work – Wednesday, March 15, 5:00-7:00pm, MS 148
Wendy L. Martinez, Director of the Mathematical Statistics Research Center at the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, gave a talk about working for the Federal government. She described day-in-the-life of statisticians and data scientists employed at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other government agencies. She also discussed the salary and benefits of federal employees, and presented advice on coursework needed for different job categories, tips for writing federal resumes, and how to navigate the USAJOBS website.
Data Analysis in Python Workshop (BUSCASA-hosted) – February 24th
Anahita Bahri, a student in the MSSP program, hosted a workshop on using Python to analyze data. She has graciously posted the content of the workshop on Github here.
Statistics @ Work Seminar – February 15th
Xiaoyu Jiang, associate director of Biostatistics at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, introduced the role of statistics in drug development. She discussed important skills for statisticians in today’s pharma industry through a series of examples, including mixed effects models, repeated measures, shrinkage linear regression, and Bayesian statistics.
BUSCASA General Meeting – Wednesday, January 25, 2017 from 12:30pm-1:30pm in MCS Room 144
First BUSCASA general meeting of 2017. We gave out free BUSCASA water bottles.
BUSCASA General Meeting – Wednesday, September 14 from 12pm-1pm in MCS Room 148
The BU Student Chapter of the ASA (BUSCASA) had its first general meeting of Fall 2016 on Wednesday, September 14th from 12pm-1pm in MCS room 148. At this meeting, we discussed some exciting planned events and solicited new ideas. Pizza was served!
Past Events: 2015-2016 Academic Year
BUSCASA General Meeting – Wednesday, April 27 from 12pm-1pm in MCS Room 144
Please mark your calendars for our last BUSCASA general meeting of the 2015-2016 academic year on Wednesday, April 27 from 12pm-1pm in MCS room 144. At this meeting we hope to announce officers for the upcoming school year, summarize the events that we’ve held so far, and discuss plans for the next academic year. If you are interested in getting more involved and becoming an officer next year, please email us at buscasa@bu.edu. In order to be an officer of BUSCASA, you must be a member of both the ASA and BUSCASA.
Data Visualization Seminar (co-hosted with the BSA) – Thursday, April 21 from 12pm-1pm in CT-305 (Crosstown Building, 801 Massachusetts Ave)
Dr. Josee Dupuis, Professor of Biostatistics, will talk about the best ways to present results (advice for making tables, figures, etc.). Lunch will be provided.
Seminar On Statistical Practice – Thursday, April 14, 2016 from 7pm to 9pm
The Boston University Student Chapter of the ASA will be hosting their second annual Seminar on Statistical Practice on Thursday, April 14 at Boston University. This year, we have invited a more diverse panel of speakers to share their experiences working with data and statistical aspects of problems. After each speaker gives a brief overview of how they use statistics in their field, the remainder of the evening will consist of a panel discussion and question and answer session, which promise to provide an excellent opportunity for dialogue amongst a broad range of statistical backgrounds. We ask that you please RSVP. If you have any questions, please email buscasa@bu.edu.
MODERATOR :
Dr. Lisa Sullivan, Associate Dean for Education and Prof. at Boston University
PANELISTS:
- Dr. Ernst Linder – Discussing applications of ecological statistics, Prof. at University of New Hampshire
- Dr. Constantine Gatsonis – Discussing applications of forensic science, Prof. at Brown University
- Dr. Greta Ljung – Discussing catastrophe and hurricane modeling, formerly of AIR Corporation
- Dr. Kim Dukes – Discussing applications of biostatistics, President and CEO of DM-Stat, Inc.
WHEN: Thursday, April 14, 2016 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
WHERE : Boston University, School of Education – 2 Silber Way Room 130, Boston, MA 02215
Seminar on Sports Statistics – Tuesday, April 5, 2016 from 6pm to 7:30pm
The Boston University Student Chapter of the ASA is hosting a Seminar on Sports Statistics on Tuesday, April 5th at Boston University. The speakers will all give a brief overview on their experience working with statistics in sports. The remainder of the evening will consist of a panel discussion and question and answer session, which promise to provide an excellent opportunity for dialogue amongst analysts in college and professional sports. We ask that you please RSVP. If you have any questions, please email buscasa@bu.edu.
Moderator :
Professor Uri Eden, Boston University
Panelists :
Mike Zarren – Assistant GM and Team Counsel, Boston Celtics
Tom Tippett – Director of Baseball Information Services, Boston Red Sox
Jimmie Oakman – Director of Basketball Operations, Boston University Men’s Basketball
Shaun Morris – Associate Head Coach, Boston University Men’s Basketball
WHEN : Tuesday, April 5, 2016 from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
WHERE : Boston University, School of Education – 2 Silber Way Room 130, Boston, MA 02215
Statistics @ Work Seminar – Wednesday, March 23 from 5-7pm in MCS 148
Gavin Miyasato from Trinity Partners presented. What does it take to succeed as a statistician in the workplace and are students receiving adequate training? In this discussion, we examine our experiences in developing statisticians in the consulting industry and propose some areas of focus for programs and their students. In its simplest form, success as a statistician hinges on the ability to effectively balance two skill sets – technical (e.g., methods) and soft skills (e.g., communication). While it is important to be able to perform an analysis, it is equally as important to be able to tell someone what you’ve done, why it’s important and what the results mean. Our experience in hiring leads us to believe that technical skills are not in short supply; rather, it is those soft skills that are hard to find.
Review Sessions for Upcoming Qualifying Exams
BUSCASA will be offering 4 review sessions for the upcoming qualifying exams. Please note the dates, times and locations of the following sessions.
Session 1: Tuesday, March 15th
Location: MCS 144 5-7 pm
Topics: MA581, MA582, MA583
Session 2: Thursday, March 17th
Location: MCS 144 5-7 pm
Topics: MA575, MA576
Session 3: Tuesday, March 22nd
Location: MCS 144 5-7 pm
Topics: MA 575, MA 576
Session 4: Thursday, March 24th
Location: MCS 144 5-6 pm (we can extend this to a different location after 6)
Topics: MA 581, 582, 583
Trampoline Social Event – Wednesday, February 24 from 7pm-9pm at Sky Zone Trampoline Park
BUSCASA and the BSA (Biostatistics Student Association) co-hosted a social event on February 24 from 7pm-9pm at Sky Zone Trampoline Park (69 Norman St., Everett, MA 02149).
LaTeX Tutorial – Thursday, February 18 from 5-5:50pm at CT-462A
Biostatistics Student Association (BSA) and BUSCASA co-hosted a LaTeX tutorial on Thursday, February 18 from 5pm-5:50pm at CT-462A (Crosstown Building, 801 Massachusetts Avenue).
BUSCASA General Meeting – Wednesday, February 17 from 12pm-1pm in MCS Room 144
The first BUSCASA General Meeting of the Spring 2016 semester was on Wednesday, February 17 from 12pm-1pm in MCS Room 144.
Statistics @ Work Seminar – Wednesday, February 17 from 5pm-7pm in MCS Room 148
We had a “Statistics @ Work” Seminar will on Wednesday, February 17 from 5pm-7pm in MCS Room 148. The presenter was Dr. Sarah Leatherman, PhD. She received her PhD in Biostatistics from Boston University. Dr. Leatherman is now a statistician at Proctor & Gamble (P&G) and has supported research and development for Gillette. P&G is one of the world’s most admired companies, and includes brands that have become household names. Their success is due largely in part to successful research and development, which is heavily supported by a global statistics team. In this talk, Dr. Leatherman discussed a few examples of how statistics has played a crucial role in the development process for Gillette.
Statistics @ Work Seminar – Wednesday, February 3, 2016 from 11am-12pm in Questrom Room 240
The first “Statistics @ Work” Seminar of the Spring 2016 semester was on Wednesday, February 3 from 11am-12pm in Questrom Room 240. The presenter was Marc L. Berger, MD, from Pfizer, Inc. Dr. Berger is Vice President of Real World Data and Analytics (RWDnA) in the Global Health and Value group.
Statistics @ Work Seminar-Wednesday, December 9 at 5pm in MCS Room 148
We had a “Statistics @ Work” seminar on Wednesday, December 9 at 5pm in MCS Room 148. The presenter was Leah Isakov from Pfizer. Leah Isakov, PhD, MBA, is senior director at Pfizer, Inc. Dr. Isakov leads an international biostatistics team in biosimilars development. She discussed a data scientist’s role in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.
Statistics @ Work Seminar-Wednesday, December 2nd at 5pm in MCS Room 148
A “Statistics @ Work” Seminar was held on Wednesday, December 2nd at 5pm in MCS Room 148. The presenter was Chris Moore, a Manager of Actuarial Modeling in Commercial Insurance at Liberty Mutual. Chris Moore’s talk titled “Statistics in the Insurance Industry” discussed how statisticians have made their mark on this very mature industry.
BUSCASA General Meeting-Wednesday, November 18th at 1pm in MCS Room 144
We had a BUSCASA general meeting on Wednesday, November 18th at 1pm in MCS Room 144.
The general meeting was more of an open discussion. We were looking for your ideas and input on the following events next semester:
–Seminar: We would like to hold a seminar, similar to the seminar on statistical practice we did last year, inviting statisticians from the Boston area. We would appreciate your input on a theme (e.g. women in statistics, statistics in sports, any other ideas…)
–Social Event: We also want to do another social event. What type of activity would you enjoy? Bowling? Billiards? Ice Skating? Other ideas?
–Volunteer Event: We also would like to volunteer to speak in AP statistics classes in May/June after the AP Exam. Is anyone interested in participating in this volunteer event? Any ideas of activities we could do with the students?
–Stats @ Work: We will give an update on Statistics @ Work Industry Speaker Seminar Series
–Other Events: Any other types of events you would like to have next semester?
ASA President’s Presentation-Wednesday, November 4 from 6:15pm to 9pm at Simmons College
BCASA (Boston Chapter of the American Statistical Association) hosted a presentation by the ASA President, David Morganstein, on Wednesday, November 4 at Simmons College from 6:15 PM to 9:00 PM. Click here for more information about the presentation..
Statistics @ Work Seminar Series-Wednesday, October 28 at 5pm in MCS room 148
Joseph Cauteruccio from DigitasLBi discussed how statistics and data science are applied in a global marketing and technology agency that transforms businesses for the digital age.
World Statistics Day 2015 -Tuesday, October 20 at 11am in Hariri Institute Conference Room 180
Thank you for making World Statistics Day 2015 a great success! This year Dr. Sinan Aral, a leading expert on social networks and digital strategy, was our “World Statistics Day” speaker.
BUSCASA Social Event at Jillian’s and Lucky Strike Lanes on Friday, October, 2 at 5pm
BUSCASA and the BSA (Biostatistics Student Association) are co-hosting a bowling happy hour at Jillian’s & Lucky Strike Lanes (145 Ipswich St., 3rd floor) on Friday, October 2nd at 5:00 PM . Bowling costs $5.50 per game until 6pm ($7 afterward), and shoe rentals are $4. The location also offers pool tables, a bar, and much more. Free appetizers will be provided! This is a great opportunity to network and have some fun with other statistics students throughout BU. Please RSVP here so that we can get a head count. We hope to see you there!
BUSCASA Logo Competition-Deadline October 1
BUSCASA is looking for a new logo design to represent our student chapter of the ASA. If you have any ideas for a new BUSCASA logo, please submit your ideas or proposed logos to buscasa@bu.edu by Thursday, October 1. The best logo will be featured on our website, Facebook page, t-shirts, caps, cups, etc. The winner of the logo competition will also win a gift card.
SAS Learning Group – Sign up by September 27
Are you interested in learning SAS or obtaining SAS certification? Then, click here to find out more information about how to receive FREE training in SAS that could potentially lead to an official SAS certification. And you don’t have to go through the SAS training alone. If you are a BU student, you could sign up for our BUSCASA sponsored SAS Learning Group. Starting in October we will start a discussion/lab section that meets weekly for two months where an experienced SAS instructor will be available to answer all of your questions and help you work through the SAS Programming training. Email us at buscasa@bu.edu by Sunday, September 27 if you’d like to join us! In your email, please include your availability. We will try our best to accommodate the most students.
Consulting Training Session-Thursday, September 24th, 11:45am-1:45pm in CT305
Dr. Janice Weinberg, Professor of Biostatistics and statistical consultant to the Department of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, will be leading a consulting training session on Thursday, September 24th, 11:45am-1:45pm in CT305 (Crosstown Building, 801 Massachusetts Avenue 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02118). This session introduces students to the skills needed to become an effective consultant and provides an opportunity for practical training through a mock consultation. Topics covered include the role of the consultant, steps in a consulting session, communication with a non-statistical audience and tips for the effective consultant. This event will be hosted by the Boston University Student Chapter of the ASA (BUSCASA) and the Biostatistics Student Association (BSA). Pizza will be served! So please RSVP by Tuesday, September 22nd 4pm so we can make sure to have enough food. Participants should read the following article prior to the session: The Role of the Statistician: Scientist or Shoe Clerk, Irwin D. J. Bross, The American Statistician, Vol. 28, No. 4 (Nov., 1974), pp. 126-127.
ASA Student Chapter Video Contest-Deadline was Tuesday, September 15, 2015
The ASA was running a contest for members of ASA student chapters to submit short videos explaining why they chose to study statistics, what they love about the discipline, and how it’s preparing them for a great career. The top five videos would have been featured in ASA’s national education campaign (ThisisStatistics.org) about the important role of statisticians in business, government and society. The five winners would also have received a $25 gift card from Amazon. Click here for more details.
BUSCASA General Meeting-Tuesday, September 8th at 4pm in MCS 144
We held our first general meeting of the semester on Tuesday, September 8 at 4:00pm in MCS 144. At this meeting, we summarized some of the exciting upcoming events planned for the semester such as…
– A consulting seminar – coming up on September 24! (watch out for an email in the coming weeks!)
– A seminar series with a focus on data science in industry
– A fun night out to bowl, play pool, and eat/drink with other students!
– A World Statistics Day Celebration!
Our meeting minutes can be found here: BUSCASA General Meeting Minutes 9-8-15. If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to contact us at buscasa@bu.edu!
Past Events: 2014-2015 Academic Year
BUSCASA Hosted Seminar Speaker, April 2nd at 2pm
Peter Bull from DrivenData visited BU on April 2nd for lunch, a meet and greet opportunity and to give a very interested talk about his company. If you’re interested in learning more about the company or wish to participate in one of their data competitions, check out their website DrivenData!
Abstract from Peter’s talk:
Using your powers for good: Data science in the social sector
Just like every major corporation today, nonprofits and governments have more data than ever before. And just like those corporations, they are eager to tap into the power of their data. But the social sector doesn’t have the same resources to attract talent. Jeff Hammerbacher, Chief Scientist at Cloudera, put it best: “The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads. That sucks.” At DrivenData our goal is to make the world suck a little less by empowering impact organizations to get the most from their data.
Peter Bull, co-founder at DrivenData, will speak on the ways in which statistics, computer science, and machine learning can be applied to the challenges in the social sector. The talk will address both the big-picture context of the data for good movement, and an in-depth case study of the methods which won DrivenData’s recent machine learning competition on smart school budgeting.
It’s an exciting time for people who love data: methods are improving, computational costs are decreasing, storage and transport are cheaper, and the talent pool is growing. It’s up to the data geeks to use these powers for good.
Seminar on Statistical Practice, April 8th at 6pm
A Seminar on Statistical Practice, sponsored by the Boston University Student Chapter of the ASA, in cooperation with The Boston Chapter of the ASA, was held Wednesday, April 8 at Boston University. The attendees and speakers had dinner followed by the seminar. The speakers each gave a brief overview on their experience working with data and statistical aspects of problems. The remainder of the evening consisted of a question and answer session, which proved to be an excellent opportunity for dialogue amongst a broad range of statistical backgrounds. The speakers included:
Dr. Scott Evans – Senior Research Scientist, Harvard University
Dr. Richard Goldstein – Independent Statistical Consultant
Dr. David Hoaglin – Independent Statistical Consultant and Adjunct Professor, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA
Dr. Victor S.Y. Lo – VP, Managerial Finance & Analytics, Fidelity Investments
Najah Shakir – Program Manager, Boston Bikes
Registration Lunch, Thursday, April 16th at 1pm
This informal event was a resounding success for those who were able to attend! Students were able to chat with other students about electives and recommended versus required classes. We all shared our own experiences, and were able to learn from the experiences of our peers. We are looking forward to hosting this event again in the fall in preparation for registration for the spring semester!
BUSCASA General Meeting, Monday, April 27th at 2pm
We held our final chapter meeting of the year on Monday, April 27th at 2pm. At this meeting, we announced officer’s for the upcoming school year, summarized the events that we’ve held so far, and discussed plans for the fall semester. Our meeting minutes can be found here: BUSCASA General Meeting Minutes 4-27-15. If you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to contact us at buscasa@bu.edu!
Seminar Speaker, May 1st at 11am in MCS148
LISA 2020: Building a Network of Statistical Collaboration Laboratories
Eric Vance, Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis (LISA), Virginia Tech
To increase the global impact of statistics and make the profession more useful for solving real-world problems, LISA—The Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis at Virginia Tech—is partnering with universities and individuals around the world to create a network of 20 new statistical collaboration laboratories in developing countries by 2020.
LISA and its partners will educate and train statisticians from developing countries to communicate and collaborate with non-statisticians and then encourage these statisticians to create statistical collaboration laboratories in their home countries to help researchers, government officials, local industries, and NGOs apply statistical thinking and data science to make better decisions through data. At LISA and elsewhere, we will unlock the collaborative potential of technically sound statisticians who will in turn unlock the research potential of their collaborators and teach other statisticians to do the same. These local research collaborations, now with the power of statistical thinking and data science open to them, will be key to improving human welfare worldwide.
This talk will focus on the steps and current updates of this program, called “LISA 2020”, including how LISA trains statisticians to become interdisciplinary collaborators, how statistical collaboration laboratories create knowledge, and how the LISA 2020 mentoring network we are building will assist statisticians in developing countries to enable and accelerate research.
Bio:
Dr. Eric Vance is an associate research professor of statistics at Virginia Tech. He is the Director of LISA, Virginia Tech’s Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis, which met with 1332 clients last year to help them use statistics in their research. LISA’s primary mission is to train statisticians to become interdisciplinary collaborators, and since its reformation in 2008, it has trained and mentored 173 statistics students to communicate and collaborate with non-statisticians to solve real-world problems. Eric is an elected member of the International Statistical Institute, the Chair of the ASA Section on Statistical Consulting, and the former Vice-chair of Statistics Without Borders. He was a triple major in mathematics, economics, and statistics at UC Berkeley, and then five years later entered graduate school, earning his PhD in 2008 in Statistical Science at Duke University. In the years between his undergraduate and graduate studies, Dr. Vance traveled around the world three times, backpacking through 67 countries in Europe; South and Southeast Asia; Australia and New Zealand; North, Central, and South America; and Africa.
Short Course on Patient-Reported Outcomes: Measurement, Implementation and Interpretation
Instructors: Joseph C. Cappelleri and Andrew G. Bushmakin, Pfizer Inc
When: Friday, June 26, 2015 from 7:30am to 12:30pm
Location: Boston University, Boston University School of Public Health, Hiebert Lounge (14th floor of the Instructional Building), 72 East Concord Street, Boston MA
Short Course Summary: This short course will provide an exposition on health measurement scales – specifically, on patient-reported outcomes. Some key elements in the development of a patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure will be noted. The core topics of validity and reliability of a PRO measure will be discussed. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, techniques to understand the underlying structure of a PRO measure, will be described. The topic of mediation modeling will be presented as a way to identify and explain the mechanism that underlies an observed relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable via the inclusion of a third variable, known as a mediator variable. Approaches to interpret PRO results will be elucidated in order to make results useful and meaningful. Other topics such as item response theory and longitudinal analysis will be considered if time permits. Illustrations will be provided mainly through real-life examples and also through simulated examples using SAS.
Biography of Speakers
Joseph C. Cappelleri earned his MS in statistics from the City University of New York, his PhD in psychometrics from Cornell University, and his MPH in epidemiology from Harvard University. He is a senior director of statistics at Pfizer Inc and Fellow of the American Statistical Association. He has delivered numerous conference presentations and published extensively on clinical and methodological topics, including regression-discontinuity designs, meta-analysis, and health measurement scales.
Andrew G. Bushmakin earned his MS in applied mathematics and physics from the National Research Nuclear University (former Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, Moscow, Russia). He has more than 20 years of experience in mathematical modeling and data analysis. He is a director of statistics at Pfizer Inc. He has coauthored numerous articles and presentations on topics ranging from mathematical modeling of neutron physics processes to patient-reported outcomes.
Sponsored by the Boston Chapter of the American Statistical Association and the Boston University Biostatistics Department
BUSCASA Summer Event at Jillian’s and Lucky Strike Lanes on Wednesday, July 29 at 5pm
BUSCASA will be hosting a summer event at Jillian’s and Lucky Strike Lanes on Wednesday, July 29th at 5:00 PM. We would love to meet up with all students who are interested in joining BUSCASA and those who are already members. This is a great opportunity to meet the BUSCASA officers, discuss plans for the upcoming academic year, and have some fun!