Dear Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to announce the launch of a new Center for Health Data Science here at the Boston University School of Public Health that will grow the work of, and subsume, the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Data Analytics Center (BEDAC) and the Population Health Data Science Program (PHDS).  I am delighted that Professor Debbie Cheng will serve as inaugural Executive Director of the new CHDS and Assistant Dean of Data Science at the school effective October 1, 2024.

Dr. Cheng has long been a distinguished member of our community, contributing much to the field of biostatistics and to the life of our school. The focus areas of her research include longitudinal data analyses and the design and analysis of clinical trials. She is Director of the Biostatistics and Data Management Core for the International URBAN ARCH Center, Associate Director for the Providence/Boston Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) and Co-Director of its Biostatistics Core. She works with investigators throughout the world on a number of projects in the areas of substance use and HIV research. She also served with distinction as Chair of our school’s Appointments and Promotions Committee and for a year as interim Chair of our Department of Biostatistics.

In her role as Assistant Dean of Data Science and ED of the CHDS reporting to the Dean, Dr. Cheng will be tasked with growing data science work at the School to meet a new generation of scholarship and approaches in the field.  We are fortunate to be able to build around BEDAC, one of our most highly valued assets, which will position us well to advance this ambitious agenda. Dr. Cheng, working closely with our excellent BEDAC team, will build on the work of previous BEDAC leaders, including most recently Dr. Kim Dukes, to further the unit’s mission, aligned with that of the School, and anticipating the ever growing role of data science at the heart of population health.   Dr. Cheng and CHDS will work closely with all departments to ensure that all have an opportunity to leverage our central expertise into scholarship and science that advances each department’s and our collective vision.

I am excited about the launch of CHDS and to be working closely with Dr. Cheng in this role and as she rejoins school leadership formally through the Governing Council. I think this is a tremendous opportunity to put data science where it will need to be in future—at the heart of a thriving, forward-looking public health.  I am grateful to Dr. Cheng for taking on this challenge, and to all the BEDAC community for working to advance this vision.

I want to thank Joe Palmisano and Emily Sisson who have served as interim co-directors of BEDAC with distinction over the past year. A word of gratitude also to the Faculty Recruitment Committee who guided our search for this position, with thanks to Deans Yvette Cozier and Mike McClean, Professors Jacqui Hicks, Allegra Gordon, Greg Wellenius, Amelia Wesselink, Alana Brennan, and Kevin Nguyen, and BEDAC representatives Clara Chen, Ayesha Chowhan, and Michael Winter. A special thanks to Caroline McQuade in the Faculty Resources Office for coordinating the many administrative details in support of the recruitment effort.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Cheng and thanking her for taking on her new role.

Warmly,

Sandro

Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH

Dean, Robert A Knox Professor

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