My Life (So Far) as a Biostatistician by Prof. Leila Zelnick, University of Washington

Biomarkers, Blossom, and Bias: My Life (So Far) as a Biostatistician, by Prof. Leila Zelnick, University of Washington, Wednesday October 16, 1:00 – 1:50pm, North Science Building 015, Wachenheim, Statistics Colloquium

Abstract: Biostatistics has sometimes been (unfairly, in my opinion) stereotyped as a rather dusty discipline; this talk will give biostatistics a “glow-up” and argue that a career in biostatistics is a natural extension to a liberal arts education. I will share how I became a collaborative biostatistician, and what I actually do day-to-day. Furthermore, I will highlight several projects I have worked on in the last decade at UW Medicine using methods such as survival analysis, latent class analysis, and prediction, and in the diverse therapeutic areas of nephrology, endocrinology, and critical care.

Bio: Leila (“Lee-la”) Zelnick ’00 is Research Associate Professor of Medicine (Nephrology) at the University of Washington and the Director of Biostatistics at the Kidney Research Institute. Dr. Zelnick received her PhD in Biostatistics from the University of Washington in 2015, and serves as Statistical Editor for the American Society of Nephrology Portfolio of Journals. Dr. Zelnick has helped design and analyze numerous observational studies and clinical trials, and has published over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts, primarily in the areas of nephrology, cardiology, endocrinology, and critical care.