Congratulations to our graduating class of 2021!! Our graduates included 1 Doctorate, 16 Master’s graduates and 2 Undergraduate Statistics Concentrators.

During our annual Commencement Reception celebration, we recognized the extraordinary achievements of several of our students. Since 2012, we have recognized the thesis work of Master of Science graduates whose outstanding research work has resulted in a consequential thesis.

This year, the Master of Science Thesis Award of Excellence was awarded to David James Carbonello, for his thesis entitled, "Prediction of Acute Kidney Injury in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients Using Machine Learning" Mr. Carbonello worked with Professor Chris Schmid, PhD as his thesis advisor.

Since 2013, our PhD candidates and students have been recognized for their PhD Research Presentations, an annual requirement for Biostatistics PhD candidates and students who have successfully passed the Qualifying Exams. This year's presentations are scheduled to occur in May 2021, so you can expect an announcement of our winner in the coming month. 

We are pleased to announce that Gabriella Silva, PhD was the recipient of the School's 2021 Graduate Student Public Health's  Public Health Impact Award, Doctoral. This award  recognizes one exceptional graduating SPH Doctoral student for impact in Scholarship and/or Professional Contribution. “Gaby is a valued collaborator and mentor for other students, and is a true leader in every sense. I have no doubt that she will make significant contributions to biostatistics and health services research”, was one comment included in the nomination letter.

We are also pleased to announce that Ana Lucia Espinosa Dice, AM'21, was the recipient of the 2021 Graduate Student Public Health's  Public Health Impact Award, Master's. This award recognizes up to three exceptional graduating SPH Master's students for impact in Scholarship and/or Professional Contribution. Her nomination letter stated, “Ana Lucia is an all-around team player who takes on large portions of work for multiple NIH studies while still balancing her coursework and TA responsibilities. She does not shy away from a challenge. She consistently pushes her comfort levels by diving into complex methodologies and new fields of research.”

Each year, the Undergraduate Statistics Concentration students are required to exhibit their research work through poster presentations. The 2021 inaugural Capstone Poster Award of Excellence was awarded to Nicholas Pellegrino, for his poster entitled “Effect of Home- and Community-Based Services for People with Multiple Sclerosis​”, (Capstone Advisor, Roee Gutman, PhD), and to Juan Muneton Gallego for his poster entitled “An Evaluation of Machine Learning Methods to Predict Survival of Patients Diagnosed with Breast Cancer​”, (Capstone Advisor, Jon Steingrimsson, PhD).

Thank you to all who joined us virtually or in person to help us celebrate our graduates, faculty and another successful academic year! Congratulations to all our graduates on such a milestone event in your lives. We can’t wait to see what you do next! Our Department Commencement Website can be found here. The School of Public Health Commencement Website can be found here and the University recorded ceremonies can be found here.