General Exam - Katie Paulson
Committee: Jon Wakefield (chair), Tyler McCormick, Megan Othus, Audrey Dorélien (GSR)
Presentation: Survival models for estimating child mortality rates using national-level data
Abstract: In the last century, there has been substantial progress in reducing preventable child mortality globally. However, large inequalities remain both between and within countries. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include targets of fewer than 25 under-five deaths and 12 neonatal deaths per 1000 live births, in every country, by 2030. To track progress towards these SDG targets, research endeavors such as those by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) and the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study leverage statistical models and available data to estimate child mortality rates. For countries without high-quality vital registration systems, data come primarily from household surveys and censuses. Currently, UN IGME and GBD both use separate modeling processes to…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Hans Rosling Center for Population Health (HRC). Campus room: HRC 370. Accessibility Contact: Deb Nelson, nelsod6@uw.edu, 206-685-9323. Event Types: Academics.
Tuesday, September 23, 2025, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Biostatistics Seminar: Generalization Beyond Data: A Distributional Perspective
Speaker: Xinwei Shen, PhD, Assistant Professor of Statistics, University of Washington
Presentation: Generalization Beyond Data: A Distributional Perspective
Abstract: Generative AI has achieved remarkable success across various domains, but its potential for addressing statistical challenges is less explored. This talk focuses on generalization beyond the observed data distribution, including problems such as extrapolation, distribution shifts, and causal inference. These tasks require generalizing beyond what has been directly observed. We propose tackling such problems through a distributional perspective: instead of fitting only point summaries like conditional means, we estimate the entire distribution of the observed data. While natural from an identifiability standpoint, this approach has been underutilized in estimation. We introduce engression, a distributional learning method that balances the flexibility of generative models with conceptual simplicity. Under various structural settings, we show…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB). Campus room: HSEB 235. Accessibility Contact: Deb Nelson, nelsod6@uw.edu, 206-685-9323. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Thursday, October 2, 2025, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.
Joint Dinner: Departments of Biostatistics and Statistics
Welcome dinner for current Biostatistics and Statistics students and faculty. Details coming soon.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus room: TBD. Accessibility Contact: Vickie Graybeal, grabeal@uw.edu. Event Types: Student Activities. Special Events. Target Audience: For current Biostatistics and Statistics students and faculty only.
Friday, October 3, 2025, 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM.
Biostatistics Seminar: Speaker TBD
Presentation title and abstract coming soon.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB). Campus room: HSEB 235. Accessibility Contact: Deb Nelson, nelsod6@uw.edu, 206-685-9323. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Thursday, October 16, 2025, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.
Biostatistics Seminar: Mariano Gabitto, PhD, Allen Institute for Brain Sciences, Affiliate Professor of Statistics, University of Washington
Presentation title and abstract coming soon.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB). Campus room: HSEB 235. Accessibility Contact: Deb Nelson, nelsod6@uw.edu, 206-685-9323. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Thursday, October 23, 2025, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.
UW Biostatistics & Fred Hutch Cancer Center Joint Faculty Retreat
This all-day in person event will explore opportunities to connect, learn, plan and collaborate.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Center for Urban Horticulture. Accessibility Contact: Deb Nelson, nelsod6@uw.edu, 206-685-9323. Event Types: Meetings.
Thursday, October 30, 2025, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM.
Biostatistics Seminar: Dannica Sutherland, PhD, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, The University of British Columbia
Presentation title and abstract coming soon.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB). Campus room: HSEB 235. Accessibility Contact: Deb Nelson, nelsod6@uw.edu, 206-685-9323. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Thursday, November 6, 2025, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.
Seventh Seattle Symposium in Biostatistics - Online Short Courses
The role of causal inference in biomedical research: dare we speak of ‘effect’?
The field of causal inference has seen a massive expansion in recent years and is now one of the most active areas of biostatistical research. The concepts and tools developed in causal inference are intended to support practitioners in their quest for evidence on causal relationships, often critical for scientific progress. While powerful, these tools can also be easily misunderstood or misused — this has made some biostatisticians and epidemiologists apprehensive of the growing prominence of the field.
The symposium will address: how causal inference can be leveraged to inform the design and enhance the analysis of observational and randomized studies, including combinations of both; , how causal inference has stimulated the integration of machine learning into statistical inference; , how causal inference provides clarity on assumptions that suffice to infer causality from different study designs and informs strategies for…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus room: Online. Accessibility Contact: Deb Nelson, nelsod6@uw.edu, 206-685-9323. Event Types: Conferences. Workshops.
Saturday, November 15, 2025, 8:00 AM – Sunday, November 16, 2025, 3:00 PM.
For more info visit www.biostat.washington.edu. Biostatistics Seminar: Saori Sakaue, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Genome Sciences University of Washington
Presentation title and abstract coming soon.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB). Campus room: HSEB 235. Accessibility Contact: Deb Nelson, nelsod6@uw.edu, 206-685-9323. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Thursday, November 20, 2025, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.
Seventh Seattle Symposium in Biostatistics - Online
The role of causal inference in biomedical research: dare we speak of ‘effect’?
The field of causal inference has seen a massive expansion in recent years and is now one of the most active areas of biostatistical research. The concepts and tools developed in causal inference are intended to support practitioners in their quest for evidence on causal relationships, often critical for scientific progress. While powerful, these tools can also be easily misunderstood or misused — this has made some biostatisticians and epidemiologists apprehensive of the growing prominence of the field.
The symposium will address: how causal inference can be leveraged to inform the design and enhance the analysis of observational and randomized studies, including combinations of both; , how causal inference has stimulated the integration of machine learning into statistical inference; , how causal inference provides clarity on assumptions that suffice to infer causality from different study designs and informs strategies for…
Event interval: Ongoing event. Campus room: Online. Accessibility Contact: Deb Nelson, nelsod6@uw.edu, 206-685-9323. Event Types: Conferences.
Saturday, November 22, 2025, 8:30 AM – Tuesday, November 25, 2025, 1:00 PM.
For more info visit www.biostat.washington.edu. Biostatistics Seminar: William DeWitt, PhD, Assistant Professor, Genome Sciences, University of Washington
Presentation title and abstract coming soon.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB). Campus room: HSEB 235. Accessibility Contact: Deb Nelson, nelsod6@uw.edu, 206-685-9323. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Thursday, December 4, 2025, 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM.