Department of Statistics
Presents the
Robert W. Makuch Distinguished Lecture in Biostatistics
Featuring
Bhramar Mukherjee
Senior Associate Dean of Public Health Data Science and Data Equity
Anna M.R. Lauder Professor of Biostatistics
Professor of Epidemiology (Chronic Diseases) and of Statistics and Data Science
Yale University
The Importance of Statistical Thinking in an AI-Augmented World
Standing at this transformative moment for data science and higher education, it is natural to debate the role statisticians will play in science and society in the next ten years. I would like to argue that foundational statistical thinking always has a role to play, even in a world consumed by AI. I will start with the obvious: AI algorithms and systems developed on exclusionary datasets can lead to erroneous conclusions and misguided policies. However, while we wait for the ideal scenario of globally representative datasets or training corpora, statisticians play a pivotal role in mitigating systematic sources of bias in analyzing LARGE datasets—an expertise that few other quantitative disciplines possess. I will illustrate my point by using analysis of electronic health records as an example where clever statistical thinking around selection bias and missing data can prevent analytic disasters. Proper design, collection, and measurement of data reside at the heart of doing good science.
I will conclude the talk with a call to arms for statisticians to lead efforts for creating, curating, collecting "good" data and pioneering new scientific studies, not just remain on the design and analytic fringes.
DATE: Wednesday, April 8, 2026
TIME: 3:30 PM–4:30 PM
Location: AUST 434
Webex: https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/uconn-cmr/j.php?MTID=m320ff948a8777fd01b9949555e3a013e
Coffee will be served at 3:00 PM in AUST 326
Dr. Bhramar Mukherjee is the Anna M.R. Lauder Professor of Biostatistics and the inaugural Senior Associate Dean of Public Health Data Science and Data Equity at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH), where she also holds appointments in Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Statistics & Data Science.
Before joining Yale in 2024, she spent nearly two decades at the University of Michigan, where she rose to become the John D. Kalbfleisch Distinguished University Professor and Chair of Biostatistics, as well as the inaugural Assistant Vice President for Research Data Services Strategy.
Her research focuses on developing statistical methods for electronic health records, gene-environment interaction studies, data integration, data equity, and environmental epidemiology, with collaborative work spanning cancer, cardiovascular disease, and reproductive health. She holds a PhD in Statistics from Purdue University and received her early training at the Indian Statistical Institute and Presidency College in Kolkata.
With over 500 publications and nearly 19,000 citations, she is a fellow of the American Statistical Association, the Institute of Mathematical Statistics, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Medicine in 2022. She has received numerous honors including the Gertrude Cox Award, the Janet Norwood Award, and the Marvin Zelen Statistical Leadership Award.
Dr. Robert Makuch is Professor Emeritus of Biostatistics at the Yale School of Public Health. A graduate of the University of Connecticut (BA), University of Washington (MA – mathematics), and Yale University (MPhil, PhD), Professor Makuch worked at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer early in his career. He also worked for six months at the National Cancer Research Center in Tokyo, Japan.
He also was heavily involved in HIV research from the mid 80's through the early-mid 90's. He participated on the data monitoring committee for the original AZT vs. placebo randomized clinical trial in AIDS patients and served on numerous committees for the NCI and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He also worked closely with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), developing and implementing more than 200 HIV studies. He also served as a Special Government Employee (SGE) to the FDA. He returned to Yale in 1986 and has worked extensively on methodologic issues in clinical trials and large population-based studies since. Another area of current interest involves detection of rare adverse drug events, especially in the post-marketing environment.
These areas of methodologic research evolved as a result of his continued interest (since the mid-1980s) in regulatory affairs science. In addition, Makuch developed a regulatory affairs track at YSPH for graduate and post-doctoral level students, and over the past 10 years has been the leader of more than 25 training programs for senior delegations of the Chinese Food and Drug Administration. His areas of medical application include cancer, HIV, arthritis, and cardiovascular disease.
In 2003, Makuch received the American Statistical Association Fellow Award for his numerous contributions to the field. In 2008, Makuch was received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Connecticut. In 2012, Makuch was nominated to serve on the University of Connecticut Dean's Advisory Board for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He also has been a decades-long member of Phi Beta Kappa. He also developed a 5-year biostatistics training program in Japan, in collaboration with the Japanese government. His primary research interests continue to be methodologic issues in the design, conduct, analysis, and interpretation of clinical and large-population/epidemiologic studies. Design and sample size considerations for Phase IV studies is another active research area, in which a new class of hybrid designs has been proposed for scientific and regulatory purposes to detect rare adverse events.
For more information, contact: Yuwen Gu at yuwen.gu@uconn.edu