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CHIRP postdoctoral fellow Yajnaseni Chakraborti has received an NIH Pathway to Independence (K99/R00) Award to study how everyday endocrine-disrupting chemicals may affect fertility and early pregnancy.

Sriharsha Mopidevi, MS, is a software engineer and researcher in the AI-4-AI Lab within the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics whose work focuses on developing privacy-preserving AI systems for clinical research. In this Q&A, Sriharsha shares what inspired his work, the real-world challenges it addresses, and what he values most about DBEI's collaborative environment.

Carmen E. Guerra is a co-author of the latest American Cancer Society colorectal cancer screening guideline, which introduces new screening options and updates recommendations for average-risk adults.

Dr. Haitao Chu is an Adjunct Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania. He has over 20 years of leadership experience in the academic institutions and pharmaceutical industry. His […]

Yiwen Lu is an Instructor at the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on developing AI and causal […]

Dr. Ian Barnett is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania where he leads an NIH-funded research program of PhD students and postdoctoral researchers that focuses […]

Dr. LauraEllen Ashcraft has been appointed Associate Editor of Implementation Science Communications, a leading peer-reviewed journal in implementation science, recognizing her expertise and contributions to advancing the field.

Sean Hennessy, PharmD, PhD, co-authored a new publication examining limitations in current cardiovascular disease risk prediction methods and the need for more precise approaches to improve accuracy and equity across diverse populations.

In this Faculty Spotlight video, Russell Taki Shinohara, PhD, shares insights into his research on multiple sclerosis, medical imaging, and the statistical methods used to better understand disease progression and advance precision medicine.

Jedrek Wosik, MD, MMCi, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine (Informatics) in the Division of Informatics in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics at the University of Pennsylvania. He […]

Aristeidis (Aris) Sotiras, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Radiology in the Division of Informatics in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics at the University of Pennsylvania. He is […]

Vishnu Potluri, MD, MPH is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Epidemiology, at the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, and a Senior Scholar at the Center […]

Andrea L. Jones, MD, MSCE, is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Epidemiology in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics at the University of Pennsylvania. She […]

Despite nationwide declines in blood lead levels, a new study by Aimin Chen, MD, PhD, finds that racial and socioeconomic disparities in childhood lead exposure persist, underscoring the need for continued prevention efforts.

Dr. Hanieh Razzaghi is an informatics researcher focused on advancing the quality as well as reproducibility and replicability of clinical data for research within learning health systems and multi-institutional research […]

Dr. Dominique Duncan is an Associate Professor of Neurology, Bioengineering, Informatics, and Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on biomedical data infrastructure and multimodal data integration for […]

DBEI is proud to congratulate Yong Chen, PhD, on being elected a 2026 Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics in recognition of his outstanding contributions to biostatistics and statistical science.

Drs. Qi Long and Robert Gross have received a $6 million NIH/NIMH R01 grant to develop multimodal AI tools that enhance HIV prevention, care, and clinical decision-making.

Qi Long, PhD, has been elected to the 2026 Class of AIMBE Fellows, one of the highest professional honors in medical and biological engineering.

Before joining Penn Medicine and CHOP as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Attending Neonatologist, Sarah Coggins, BA, MD, MSCE, completed her MSCE at the University of Pennsylvania, where she received advanced training in clinical epidemiology and biostatistics to support her career as a neonatal clinician-investigator.

Jeffrey Morris, PhD, was featured in a New York Times article discussing the FDA's decision to block publication of large COVID-19 vaccine safety studies and the importance of transparent scientific research.

Join Michael Harhay for a free online webinar, A Practical Introduction to Bayesian Methods for Clinical Research, hosted by NIHR RSS. This introductory session will explore how Bayesian methods can be applied in clinical research and is open to all participants.

Mingyao Li, PhD, has received the prestigious IMS Medallion Award and been selected as an IMS Medallion Lecturer for the 2028 Joint Statistical Meetings in Philadelphia.

In this Faculty Spotlight video, LauraEllen Ashcraft, PhD, shares insights into her research on implementation science, maternal health, and efforts to improve access to evidence-based care.

Dr. Beth Pineles finds federal data may miss many severe maternal morbidity cases, raising concerns about the accuracy of national statistics.

AWS recently highlighted work led by Joost Wagenaar on scalable cloud-native infrastructure for biomedical research, featuring the Pennsieve platform as a model for secure scientific data management and collaboration at scale.

In a new STAT First Opinion, Charles E. Leonard argues that access to air conditioning should be treated as essential preventive care as extreme heat increasingly threatens people living with chronic diseases.

DBEI is pleased to welcome Andrew J. King, PhD, as Assistant Professor of Informatics.

In this Faculty Spotlight video, Ricardo Castillo, PhD, shares insights into his research on rabies epidemiology, transmission dynamics, and efforts to improve vaccination coverage in endemic regions.

Before joining the Perelman School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor of Medicine, Stephen Bagley, MD, MSCE, completed his MSCE at the University of Pennsylvania, where he trained in clinical epidemiology through the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

Lin-Chieh Meng, BSPharm, MS, is a researcher in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics whose work centers on using causal inference methods to analyze real-world data and generate evidence for clinical decision-making and health policy. In this Q&A, Lin reflects on what inspired a research journey rooted in clinical practice and what is most valued about the collaborative DBEI community.

A study co-authored by Aimin Chen links early PFAS exposure to lower bone density in adolescents, raising concerns about effects on skeletal development.

Congratulations to Michael Harhay on being selected for the 2026–27 Penn Fellows cohort, recognizing his leadership and contributions as a mid-career faculty member.

Kyle Stanley, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics whose work centers on developing novel statistical methods to analyze wearable device data using functional data analysis, distributional modeling, and machine learning. In this Q&A, he reflects on what inspired his research journey and what he values most about the collaborative DBEI community.

Dr. Sharon Xie helped lead a study linking air pollution to worsened Alzheimer’s disease, published in JAMA Neurology and named a top 20 Penn breakthrough of 2025.

In a recent The Hill article, Sean Hennessy highlights the critical role of NHANES in shaping public health—and warns that the program now faces serious risk.

Congratulations to Mingyao Li on receiving the 2026 Michael P. Nusbaum Graduate Student Mentoring Award, recognizing her outstanding dedication to mentoring and supporting graduate students.

In this Faculty Spotlight video, Jordana Cohen, MD, MSCE, shares insights into her research on hypertension and efforts to improve blood pressure detection and care.

A new JAMA study by Dr. Jordana Cohen looks at how smartwatch alerts could impact the detection and understanding of high blood pressure.

Huilin Tang, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics whose work centers on advancing precision medicine for diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases through pharmacoepidemiology and data science. In this Q&A, he reflects on what inspired his research journey and what he values most about the collaborative DBEI community.

Anne Marie McCarthy, PhD, is featured on a new podcast discussing racial differences in background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) on breast MRI and how these findings may inform breast cancer risk assessment and screening.

Congratulations to Dr. Peter Merkel, who has been named a finalist for the Clinical Research Forum’s 2026 Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Awards for his New England Journal of Medicine publication on treating giant cell arteritis.

Kevin B. Johnson, MD, MS, co-authored a National Academy of Medicine report guiding the ethical use of AI in health and medicine.

Congratulations to Dr. Yong Chen on his RECOVER-EHR study being named a 2026 Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement.

A DBEI-led study found rising psychotropic medication use among U.S. youth, along with growing safety concerns such as polypharmacy and potential drug–drug interactions.

A study co-authored by PhD student Julia DiTosto analyzed data from more than 2.7 million individuals and found that uterine fibroids may be associated with a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

Before joining the Perelman School of Medicine as an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine, Cameron Baston, MD, MSCE, completed his MSCE at the University of Pennsylvania.

Zixuan (Eleanor) Zhang, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics whose work focuses on statistical and computational methods in statistical genetics. In this Q&A, she shares what inspired her research and what she values about the DBEI community.

Jeffrey S. Morris, PhD, analyzes the U.S. vaccine safety monitoring system and suggests improvements in a new APPC white paper.

Save the Date – March 17, 2026. Join Penn CFAR and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health for a workshop highlighting opportunities for collaborative HIV research and high-impact partnerships supporting Ending the HIV Epidemic in Philadelphia.

In a recent interview, Dr. Sean Hennessy highlights how scientific evidence and advocacy can drive FDA label changes that expand access to safe, effective medications.

Dr. LauraEllen Ashcraft has been named Co-Director of AMETHIST@Penn, where she will help lead efforts to support the NIH IMPROVE initiative and advance equitable maternal health research through implementation science.

Kyle Busse, PhD, MPH, is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics whose work focuses on how lifestyle factors influence reproductive and perinatal health. In this Q&A, he discusses the experiences that shaped his research interests and what he values about being part of the DBEI community.

A new paper led by DBEI faculty member Mingyao Li, PhD, introduces smart spatial omics (S2-omics), an automated workflow that improves the rigor and reproducibility of spatial omics experiments.

Kenneth M. Lee, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics whose work centers on palliative care and statistical methods for cluster-randomized trials. In this Q&A, he reflects on the motivations behind his research and his experience within the DBEI community.

A new study by Dr. Ricardo Castillo identifies stark rabies inequities in Arequipa driven by neighborhood socioeconomic status.

Penn researchers have received NIH/NIBIB funding to develop robust and interpretable multi-modal AI models that integrate genomics, imaging, and electronic health data to advance cancer and Alzheimer’s disease research.

Congratulations to Drs. Jason D. Christie and James P. Guevara on their election as Fellows of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, recognizing their impactful contributions to medicine and public health.

Penn researchers have received NIH/NIBIB funding to develop robust and interpretable multi-modal AI models that integrate genomics, imaging, and electronic health data to advance cancer and Alzheimer’s disease research.

Kwangmoon Park, PhD, is a researcher in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics whose work focuses on gene regulation using large-scale single-cell data. In this Q&A, he shares insights into his research and his experience in the DBEI community.

A new method helps prevent “preference collapse” in AI training, offering a fairer, more balanced approach to aligning large language models.

Before joining DBEI as an Associate Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, Joshua F. Baker, MD, MSCE, completed his MSCE at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Hongzhe Li’s team developed RCANE, an AI tool that predicts cancer copy-number aberrations from RNA-seq data, offering a faster, lower-cost alternative to DNA sequencing.

Natalia Irvine, MPH, is a Research Project Manager for the Center for Health Innovations in Reproductive and Perinatal Population Research (CHIRP). Her work supports studies focused on advancing reproductive and perinatal health. In this Q&A, she shares her experience joining the DBEI community.

Before joining Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. as a Director of Medical Affairs Biostatistics, Shaun Bender, MS, PhD, completed his PhD in Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania.

Penn researchers have developed an innovative approach for detecting AI-generated text that remains accurate even after human edits.

Jagadeesh Puvvula, PharmD, PhD, MPH, is a trainee in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, whose work explores how early-life environmental exposures impact human health. In this Q&A, he shares insights into his research, the real-world relevance of environmental health studies, and the value he finds in mentorship and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Nandita Mitra, PhD, was honored with two 2025 Penn Medicine Awards of Excellence for her outstanding contributions to research and education.

Dr. Qi Long and collaborators have received NIH/NIBIB funding to advance neurosymbolic AI for smarter, more trustworthy healthcare.

A new study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases shows that COVID-19 reinfection in children significantly increases the risk of long COVID and other serious health complications.

DBEI Chair Enrique Schisterman, PhD, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the most prestigious honors in health and medicine.

Michael Harhay, PhD, MPH, leads the newly launched Center for Clinical Trials Innovation, a hub dedicated to advancing clinical trial methods and improving research outcomes worldwide.

A new study by Dr. Hongzhe Li and AMCS PhD student Haoshu Xu introduces a machine learning framework that enables large-scale analysis of single-cell data, offering new insights into how gene co-expression networks shift with age.

Penn faculty Dr. Yong Chen and Dr. David Wolk have received a landmark NIH U24 award to lead national efforts to improve data quality and advance Alzheimer’s research.

Dr. Nandita Mitra has been elected President-Elect of ENAR, a leading professional society for biostatistics and quantitative research.

We're excited to share that Li Shen, PhD, has agreed to serve as Interim Director of the Division of Informatics.

DBEI proudly welcomes Sunni Mumford, PhD, as the new Director of the Division of Epidemiology.

Penn researchers developed a highly accurate model to predict who is most at risk of overdose from stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine—offering a promising tool to guide early intervention and prevention efforts.

Dr. Anne Marie McCarthy has co-authored a new article examining how body mass index (BMI) and breast density interact to influence breast cancer risk among Black and White women.

Laura Ellen Ashcraft, PhD, MSW, introduces GUIDE—a new tool that turns complex implementation science theory into practical steps for early-career researchers.

LauraEllen Ashcraft and collaborators outline a seven-step framework in BMJ Open Quality to strengthen evaluation planning and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Dr. Mingyao Li co-authored a study demonstrating iSCALE, a method that maps large human tissues at molecular and spatial resolution, uncovering disease features previously invisible.

Jordana Cohen, MD, MSCE, contributed to the 2025 AHA/ACC Hypertension Guideline–the first national update since 2017–introducing major changes in risk assessment, screening, and treatment. Her work was featured in an NPR interview highlighting these advances.

Drs. Nadir Yehya and Michael Harhay received a 5-year R01 grant from NICHD to lead the PARMA trial, a study advancing treatment strategies for pediatric ARDS.

Congratulations to Dr. Todd Miano, recipient of the American College of Epidemiology’s 2025 Early Career Epidemiologist Award. This honor recognizes his outstanding contributions to advancing drug safety research and shaping the future of acute care pharmacoepidemiology.

Dr. Samantha Piekos’ study shows how placental biology varies across pregnancy complications, highlighting the power of a systems biology approach to distinguish complex pregnancy syndromes.

Dr. Andrea Schneider’s study finds that vascular risks, particularly diabetes, are linked to slower cognitive recovery after traumatic brain injury.

Kenneth Lee is a Research Assistant Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to his faculty appointment, he was a […]

Dr. Mary Putt and her team contributed to new research exploring how sleep drive impacts seizure severity and identifies a potential way to reduce them.

Join us in congratulating Dr. Nandita Mitra on her appointment to Penn’s Academic Planning and Budget Committee, where she will help guide the University’s academic and financial planning.

Ricardo Castillo’s new study identifies critical barriers to mass dog rabies vaccination campaigns and proposes strategies to eliminate dog-mediated human rabies by 2030.

Congratulations to Dr. Adam Naj, honored with the Publication of the Year Award for a major study on PSP genetics published in Nature Communications.

Dr. Danielle Mowery’s new study explores how patients engage with SMS systems after hospital discharge and what those patterns reveal about future care needs.

Dr. Jeffrey Morris was featured in The Atlantic and New York Magazine’s Intelligencer, where he discussed major flaws in widely cited vaccine studies and the risks of bias in study design.

Sarah Schrauben, MD, MSCE, led a 7-year study showing how urine biomarkers may help noninvasively track kidney disease in diabetic patients.

LauraEllen Ashcraft, PhD, MSW, is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology whose research focuses on implementation science, equity, and translating evidence into sustainable practices in real-world health care settings.

Julia DiTosto, MS, is a PhD student in Epidemiology whose research explores how gynecologic conditions like fibroids and PCOS may impact long-term heart health. Using real-world data and causal inference methods, she aims to generate insights that improve care for reproductive-age populations.

A new study co-authored by Dr. Jordana Cohen explores the risks of white coat hypertension and emphasizes the importance of out-of-office blood pressure monitoring for accurate diagnosis and treatment.

Carmen Guerra, MD, MSCE, is launching a mobile mammography program on July 13 to expand access to mammography for communities in and around Philadelphia.

Congratulations to Dr. Ellie Caniglia on receiving the Brian MacMahon Early Career Epidemiologist Award in recognition of her outstanding contributions to epidemiology.