State of the Department

 

• 2024

  

   

  
  Hiring/Recruitment/Retirements

  • Dr. Evan Reynolds hired April 2024 (biostatistics)
  • Dr. Candice Johnson hired Aug 2024 (epidemiology)
  • Dr. Jean Kerver transitioned to a tenure stream position.
  • Started a second epidemiology faculty search.
  • Dr. Joseph Gardiner retired May 2024 and became professor emeritus.
  • Dr. Allison Kuipers was hired by the Department of Medicine Dec 2024 jointly with our department.

  
  Promotions

  • Promotion of Dr. Claire Margerison to Professor.
  • Promotion of Dr. Chi Chang to Associate Professor with Tenure.

   

  Henry Ford Health Affiliation

  • Henry Ford Health System affiliation and appointments continued.
  • HFH/MSU cancer health services search begun for HFH hire. Search for MSU hire expected 2025.
    
    

  RESEARCH

  • More than $13.97 million annual external funding by department principal investigators for calendar year 2024 (an increase from the $11.7 million in 2023).
  • Department faculty awarded 9 new external grants/contracts as PI and 3 new co-investigator grants/contracts.
  • HFHS Research Faculty awarded 2 new external grants/contracts as PI and 3 new co-investigator grants/contracts. Total new awards for 2024 was $3.07 million (not included in department total annual funding)
  • Average external funding for faculty AY ~32.06 percent (increase from 31.5% in 2023).

  
  EDUCATION

  • In 2024, 12 graduate students in our programs completed their degrees!
    •  1 MS Biostats
    •  4 MS Epidemiology (including 2 dual degree students)
    • 2 PhD Biostatistics
    • 5 PhD Epidemiology
  • Our students were awarded ~$100,000 in Graduate Office Fellowships and Dissertation Awards.
  • 5th cohort of EQ-BEST (undergraduate epi/biostats internship) -- with four interns hired.

  
  SERVICE

  • Our faculty provided service on several college and university committees.
  • Dr. Margerison was appointed to lead the new department faculty mentoring program.
  • The inaugural Claudia Holzman Seminar in Women’s and Reproductive Health held.
  • We held a Causal Inference seminar series including presenters in both biostatistics and epidemiology.
    
    

  2024 PRIORITIES DEPARTMENT EPIDEMIOLOGY AND BIOSTATISTICS

  We hired faculty in both biostatistics and epidemiology, growing our department.
  
  We continue to support our education priorities (ensuring funding for students; increasing recruitment activities; responding to the grad school Strategic Program Assessment (implementing comprehensive annual student review); supporting student funding applications).

  We supported one research priority (support for centers/programs applications) with Drs. Margerison and Misra selected for the MSU inaugural Academy for Developing Visionary Institutes and Centers of Excellence (ADVICE) career development incubator. Planning began for the inaugural department research day to be held in spring 2025.
  
  

  RECAP OF OUR STRATEGIC PLAN

  OVERALL

  Department Strategic Planning

  We completed our strategic plan and identified goals and areas of growth.

  
  Goals:

  • Excellence and innovation in our graduate academic programs.
  • Excellence and innovation in our undergraduate academic programs
  • Excellence and innovation in research to achieve health equity and promote population health.
  • Promote and expand diversity/equity/inclusion in our research and education missions.
  • Practice exemplary stewardship of departmental resources (e.g., recycling, energy conservation) in support of MSU’s goal to offer high-quality educational, research and outreach and engagement programs on its diverse campuses in an environmentally-conscious way.
  • Create a departmental culture and expectation of mutual respect, awareness, and compassion that people want to be a part of and allows people to be their best self.

  
  We identified key areas of growth based on: 1) Alignment with strengths of our department, CHM (including Henry Ford Health), and MSU; 2) prospective and current student interest; 3) job market for graduates; 4) external funding priorities/ trends; 5) needs for graduate programs.

  
  
  Areas of growth prioritized by mission are:

  EDUCATION

  • Leverage partnership with HFH to provide opportunities for internships and theses.
  • Expansion of our undergraduate curriculum and programs (majors, minors)
  • Creation of epi and biostats curriculum modules for clinicians (trainees, attendings)

  
  SERVICE
  

  • Vision for university in public health and population health.
  • Support state health department initiatives and programs and integrating with our programs.
  • Collaborate with communities on needs assessments, program evaluations, outreach.

   

  RESEARCH

  • Build environmental health research.
  • Expand neurodegenerative/neurocognitive health research
  • Expand mental health/drug use research.
  • Expand cancer research.
  • Expand causal inference methods research.
  • Expand randomized controlled trial research.
  • Build infectious disease research.
    
    

   

   

• 2023

   

  Honors/Awards Winners and Nominees

  • David Barondess was awarded the CHM Excellence in Teaching Award
  • Danielle Gartner was awarded the CHM Teacher-Scholar Award

  Hiring/Recruitment/Retirements

  • Hongxiang (David) Qiu hired August 2023 (biostatistics)
  • Began epidemiology faculty search.
  • Claudia Holzman retired May 2023 and became professor emeritus.

   Promotions

  • Promotion of Dr. David Barondess to Professor.
  • Promotion of Dr. Mieka Smart to Associate Professor.

   
  Henry Ford Health Affiliation

  • R25 jointly with HFH submitted (second time) by Drs. de los Campos/Levin
  • Henry Ford Health System affiliation and appointments continued.
  • MSU students completed summer internships at HFH.

   

  RESEARCH

  • More than $11.7 million annual external funding by department principal investigators for calendar year 2023 (an increase from the $6.8 million in 2022).
  • Department faculty awarded 10 new external grants/contracts as PI and 12 new co-investigator grants/contracts.
  • Average external funding for faculty AY ~31.5 percent (increase from 26% in 2022).

   

  EDUCATION

  • In 2023, 10 graduate students in our programs completed their degrees!
    • 2 MS Biostats
    • 4 MS Epidemiology (including 2 dual degree students)
    • 2 PhD Biostatistics
    • 2 PhD Epidemiology
  • Our students and graduates were awarded ~$100,000 in Graduate Office Fellowships and Dissertation Awards from MSU.
  • 3^nd cohort of EQ-BEST (undergraduate DEI internship) -- with four interns hired.

   

  SERVICE

  • Our faculty provided service on several college and university committees.
  • RPT committee drafted Annual Reviews of faculty on behalf of the chair. RPT committee wrote a report recommending structure and process for future Annual Reviews.
  • Bylaws Working Group began October 2022.

   

  2023 PRIORITIES

  DEPARTMENT EPIDEMIOLOGY AND BIOSTATISTICS

  We achieved most of the 2022 overall priorities (completing strategic plan, hiring biostatistics faculty, building work with HFH) and are working on the others (1855 position, online AR).

  We also addressed the education priorities (implementing a funding model for students; increasing recruitment activities; completing the grad school Strategic Program Assessment; supporting student funding applications.).

  We supported one research priority (supporting those applying for centers/program projects) but have not yet achieved the other (convening an in-person research day for faculty and students, including Henry Ford.) In 2024, we are on course to implement the online AR system. We hope to develop the in-person research day.

   

  RECAP OF OUR STRATEGIC PLAN

  OVERALL

  Department Strategic Planning

  We completed our strategic plan and identified goals and areas of growth.

  Goals:

  • Excellence and innovation in our graduate academic programs.
  • Excellence and innovation in our undergraduate academic programs
  • Excellence and innovation in research to achieve health equity and promote population health.
  • Promote and expand diversity/equity/inclusion in our research and education missions.
  • Practice exemplary stewardship of departmental resources (e.g., recycling, energy conservation) in support of MSU’s goal to offer high-quality educational, research and outreach and engagement programs on its diverse campuses in an environmentally-conscious way.
  • Create a departmental culture and expectation of mutual respect, awareness, and compassion that people want to be a part of and allows people to be their best self.

   

  We identified key areas of growth based on: 1) Alignment with strengths of our department, CHM (including Henry Ford Health), and MSU; 2) prospective and current student interest; 3) job market for graduates; 4) external funding priorities/ trends; 5) needs for graduate programs.

   

  Areas of growth prioritized by mission are:

   

  EDUCATION

  • Leverage partnership with HFH to provide opportunities for internships and theses.
  • Expansion of our undergraduate curriculum and programs (majors, minors)
  • Creation of epi and biostats curriculum modules for clinicians (trainees, attendings)

   

  SERVICE

  • Vision for university in public health and population health.
  • Support state health department initiatives and programs and integrating with our programs
  • Collaborate with communities on needs assessments, program evaluations, outreach.

   

  RESEARCH

  • Build environmental health research.
  • Expand neurodegenerative/neurocognitive health research
  • Expand mental health/drug use research.
  • Expand cancer research.
  • Expand causal inference methods research.
  • Expand randomized controlled trial research. 
  • Build infectious disease research. 

    

• 2022

  OVERALL

  DEPARTMENT STRUCTURE

  • Associate Chairs for Research and for Education named with detailed roles adopted.

  DEPARTMENT STRUCTURE PLANNING

  • Three focused meetings held (mission/vision/values; goals; areas for growth) and follow up work at faculty meetings. Goals and areas for growth being synthesized.

  
  VISION STATEMENT FINALIZED

  The vision of our department is to advance public health knowledge and solutions and to train the next generation of epidemiologists and biostatisticians to achieve equitable health in our state, country, and world.
  

  
  VALUES SELECTED

  Collaboration, DEI (Diversity-Equity-Inclusion), Excellence, Integrity, Respect, Transparency
  (Those that area also MSU values are in bold type)
  

   

  HONORS/AWARDS WINNERS AND NOMINEES

  • Dr. Barrett Montgomery received the Anthony Family Fund award.
  • Nomination of Jill Hamilton for the Jack Breslin Distinguished Service Award.
  • Dr. Nicole Talge nominated for the Graduate School Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award.
  • Dr. Zhehui Luo nominated for the College Research Excellence Award.

  
  HIRING/RECRUITMENT/RETIREMENTS

  • Dr. Xioayu Liang hired October 2022 (Biostatistics)
  • Continued biostatistics search for second line.
  • Provost “1855 Professorship” initiative search began: Quantitative scientist focused on evaluation of policies and programs in joint effort of Economics, Psychology, and our Epi/Biostats department (biostats focus).
  • Dr. Nigel Paneth’s retirement symposium, delayed by COVID, held Oct 2022

   

  PROMOTIONS

  • Promotions of Dr. Nicole Talge to Associate Professors with tenure

   

  HENRY FORD AFFILIATION

  • R25 jointly with HFH submitted by Drs. de los Campos/Levin.
  • Henry Ford Health System affiliation and appointments completed.
  • Ford faculty included in tab on our web site.
  • Web site welcome noting Ford affiliation.
  • Associate chairs/chairs attended HFF and MSU faculty meetings.
  • Joint planning of highly successful first joint event held in December.

  ---

  RESEARCH

  • More than $6.8 million annual external funding by department principal investigators for calendar year 2022 (an increase from the $4 million in 2021).
  • Department faculty awarded 22 new external grants/contracts as PI and 12 new co-investigator grants/contracts.
  • Average external funding for faculty AY ~26 percent (decline from 30% in 2021).
  • Transition to post awards staff in HCRS for new funding.

  ---

  EDUCATION

  • In 2022, 22 graduate students in our programs completed their degrees!
    • o 5 MS Biostats
    • o 6 MS Epidemiology (including 1 dual degree student)
    • o 1 PhD Biostatistics
    • o 10 PhD Epidemiology
  • Our students and graduates were awarded ~$100,000 in Graduate Office Fellowships and Dissertation Awards from MSU.
  • Epi curriculum review working group recommendations endorsed by EBCC and the full faculty. The introductory Population Health course, one of the recommendations, was taught for the first time by Drs. Jean Kerver and Kelly Hirko in Fall 2022.
  • Department is participating in Strategic Program Assessment by the Graduate School (review began in Fall 2022 to be completed by summer 2023).
  • BEAMS (Biostatisticians and Epidemiologists at Michigan State; https://epibio.msu.edu/beams/ became our new student organization name, reflecting both biostatistics and epidemiology in the name.
  • NICHD Reproductive Developmental Sciences T32 renewed at MSU (PIs: Keith Latham and Asgerally Fazleabas) and included slots for our PhD students. One of our students was selected as a trainee to start Jan 2023.
  • 2nd cohort of EQ-BEST (undergraduate DEI internship) -- with four interns hired.

  
  
  

  ---

  SERVICE

  • Our faculty provided service on several college and university committees.
  • RPT committee drafted Annual Reviews of faculty on behalf of the chair. RPT committee wrote a report recommending structure and process for future Annual Reviews.
  • Bylaws Working Group began October 2022, plan to complete recommendations by May 2023.
• 2021

  OVERALL

  VISION/IDENTITY

  • Department overwhelmingly voted to adopt a statement on public health. (May 2021). Shared with Provost, EVP, CHM Dean, VPOR.

   

  HONORS/AWARDS

  • Dr. Honglei Chen was named MSU Foundation Professor.
  • Approved appointments of several HFHS biostats and epidemiology faculty.
  • Dr. Nigel Paneth (emeritus) awarded MSU Lester Evans Service Award.
  • Dr. Kristen Upson (assistant professor) awarded College Research Award. 

   

  HIRING/RECRUITMENT/AWARDS

  • Dr. Nigel Paneth retired May 2021
  • Dr. Danielle Gartner hired October 2021 (retention of Dr. Paneth’s tenure line)
  • Two biostatistics faculty lines approved and searches begun.
  • Applied for 5 Provost “1855 Professorship” initiatives:
    • Quantitative scientist evaluation of policies and programs in joint effort of Economics, Psychology, and our department (biostats focus).   
      APPROVED!
    • Native American/Indigenous Health jointly with: University Office of Outreach and Engagement & Community Outreach; American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program.
    • Reproductive health jointly with Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology
    • Integrated epidemiology of trauma jointly with College of Nursing.
    • One Health jointly with CVM, CNS
      APPROVED!
  • Henry Ford Health System affiliation and appointments
    • Approved appointments for ~10 epidemiologists and biostatisticians.
    • Approximately 15 more pending.
    • Future work will include developing opportunities to meet and collaborate on research and educational missions.

   

  PROMOTIONS

  • Promotions of Drs. Chenxi Li and Ana Vazquez to Associate Professors with tenure.
  • Promotion of Dr. Zheui Luo to Full Professor (already tenured)

   

  DEPARTMENT STRATEGIC PLANNING

  • Small faculty, student, and staff group meetings with chair winter 2021.
  • Materials sent to faculty in Oct with full faculty discussion in focused meeting.
  • Next steps being rolled out 2022 for 3 areas: mission/vision/values; goals; areas for growth.
  • Working with faculty to annual align mission percentages with effort.

   
  

  INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

  • Transitioning department forms to electronic forms.
  • New equipment in conference rooms.
  • Change of URL from epi.msu.edu to epibio.msu.edu

  ---

  RESEARCH

  • More than $4 million annual external funding by department principal investigators for calendar year 2021.
  • Department faculty awarded 21 new external grants/contracts as PI and 8 new co-investigator grants/contracts.
  • Average external funding for faculty AY ~30 percent.
  • COVID-19 state and federal funding awarded.
  • Redesign and new content for research web page.
  • Quarterly post award meetings to occur (planned -- starting soon!)

  ---

  EDUCATION

  • Biostats PhD receiving more qualified applicants than we can support; began to involve MSU mentors outside the dept.
  • Biostats MS program changed # credits and courses to make MS more competitive.
  • Dual degree (BA/MS Epi) continued with first cohort. Will evaluate after theses.
  • New PhD qualifying exams rolled out successfully for both Epi PhD and Biostats PhD.
  • New PhD comprehensive exams rolled out for first two Epi students.
  • Epi curriculum review working group met Summer 2021 to examined peer reviewed literature and other programs. Recommendations submitted to EBCC Sept 2021.
  • Department is participating in Strategic Program Assessment by the grad school (scheduling our review for AY 2023).
  • Recruitment working group transitioned to regular committee.
  • PhD student awarded NIH F31. (Three other PhD students applied for F31s).
  • GEMS recognized as official MSU student organization, working on name change.
  • Launched undergraduate DEI internship -- EQ-BEST -- with two interns hired.

  ---

  SERVICE

  • Instituted regular meetings of all department committees so that all faculty could submit requests and/or attend as needed.
  • Our faculty provided service on several college and university committees.
  • RPT committee drafted annual reviews of faculty on behalf of the chair.
  • COVID work for university