L. Adrienne Cupples Award Goes to Harvard Biostatistics Professor Xihong Lin.
L. Adrienne Cupples, left, and Xihong Lin.
L. Adrienne Cupples Award Goes to Harvard Biostatistics Professor Xihong Lin
Lin is a pioneer in statistical methods for analysis of whole genome sequencing studies.
The 2021 L. Adrienne Cupples Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research, and Service in Biostatistics, has been awarded to Xihong Lin, professor of biostatistics and coordinating director of the Program in Quantitative Genomics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Lin is also a professor of statistics at Harvard University. Lin will accept the award and give a presentation, most likely in a virtual format, on April 1.
The annual L. Adrienne Cupples Award is presented each year by the Department of Biostatistics at Boston University School of Public Health. It recognizes a biostatistician whose academic achievements reflect the contributions to biostatistics exemplified by L. Adrienne Cupples, professor of biostatistics and epidemiology and the award’s first recipient.
“I am very honored to receive the Adrienne Cupples Award,” says Lin. “Dr. Cupples has made a profound impact on biostatistics through methodological and collaborative research, training and mentoring young researchers, and professional leadership. She is a great role model for many of us, including myself.”
Lin’s research interests focus on the development and application of statistical and computational methods for analysis of massive data from genome, exposome, and phenome, as well as scalable statistical inference and learning for big genomic, epidemiological, and health data.
She is a recognized leader in the field, with impactful statistical development in mixed models, nonparametric and semiparametric regression, missing data, measurement error for analysis of longitudinal data, and causal inference for complex clinical trials. Over the past 15 years, Lin has become a pioneer in statistical methods for analysis of whole genome sequencing studies, and her group developed the widely used sequence kernel association test (SKAT) to detect genetic association with rare variants.
Lin has also served as the primary dissertation advisor for 42 doctoral students, and has trained 18 postdoctoral fellows. In 2001, she co-founded the bi-annual Eastern North American Region International Biometric Society (ENAR) Young Researcher Workshop.
“The Selection Committee was most impressed by Dr. Lin’s extensive list of publications in leading journals, her impactful research in genetics and genomics, her many leadership positions within the profession, and her outstanding record in education and mentoring,” says Josée Dupuis, professor and chair of biostatistics. “All of these accomplishments made Dr. Lin most deserving of receiving this award.”
Cupples joined SPH in 1981 and served as the founding chair of the Department of Biostatistics and co-executive director of the Graduate Program in Biostatistics. During her time at SPH, she has advanced the field of biostatistics through more than 600 publications in major journals and book chapters on collaborative and methodological research, development and effective teaching of a wide range of biostatistics courses, and mentorship of numerous graduate students and faculty.