Karen Bandeen-Roche is a biostatistician with leadership in research, education and administration. A biostatistical generalist in her methods research, Karen has published nearly 300 peer-reviewed manuscripts in a wide range of topics and journals. Her signature contributions are in methodology for latent variable and multivariate failure time modeling as well as methods work to address questions in medicine and epidemiology. Karen has been a tireless leader in the promotion of biostatistical thinking in general, especially in the field of aging. Her leadership roles in aging have included directorship of the Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health and co-leadership in the national Older Americans Independence Centers network. Karen is a Fellow of both the American Statistical Association (ASA) and the Gerontological Society of America, recognizing her contributions as a bridge researcher who is helping to close the gap between aging research and biostatistics.
Karen has held leadership roles in many of the major biostatistical and statistical organizations. Of particular relevance are her service as president of the International Biometric Society (IBS) Eastern North American Region (ENAR), chair and executive committee member of the Caucus on Academic Representatives of the ASA, chair of the Biometrics section of the ASA, and chair of the Biostatistical Methods and Research Design (BMRD) National Institutes of Health (NIH) study section, which represented the primary funding outlet for methodological, theoretical and general applied biostatistical research. Karen also served on the IBS Executive Board, which allowed her to shape the vision and activities of the International Biometric Society. Since 2020, Karen also serves on the Board of Directors for the National Institute of Statistical Sciences.
In education, Karen’s leadership has expanded biostatistical instruction including onsite, hybrid and online teaching at all levels. Under her leadership, her department expanded its teaching role outside of the university, having a large presence in online open education, including Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). At the same time Karen remains a dedicated and passionate in-person educator herself. She has won the Bloomberg School’s highest teaching award, the “Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching”, an annual award given to only four faculty members among the entire teaching faculty (offering more than 600 courses annually in the Bloomberg School of Public Health). In addition, she is a three-time recipient of the “Advising, Mentoring, and Teaching Recognition Award”, an award given annually by the students of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in recognition of outstanding educational contributions.
For the past 15 years Karen has served as the Hurley Dorrier Professor and Chair of the Department of Biostatistics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. On July 1, 2023 Karen will step down from this role, handing over a department in whose PhD program is co-ranked as number 1 in the nation and whose public health programs are first-ranked according to US News and World Report.
Talk: Statistical measurement of frailty, resilience and—ultimately—thriving
Abstract: Latent variable models were designed for the measurement of constructs that are conceptually well defined but have no easily available direct measures, and rather must be inferred using indirect measures. This talk addresses an opportunity and a challenge for their application. The opportunity is to leverage model checking regarding specific assumptions—and a further step of harmonization—to produce strongly validated measurement strategies. The challenge is the integration of sophisticated, specific scientific knowledge in measurement modeling, such as is available through dynamical systems equations to characterize biological processes. Both opportunities and challenges will be illustrated by considering frailty and resilience in health—predominantly, for older adults. In conclusion, an analogy to the health of statistical organizations will be offered as a reflection on the speaker’s recently concluded department chair experience. Throughout the ultimate aim is to promote increased thriving.