After receiving a BS in Mathematics from Tennessee Wesleyan College and an MS in Mathematics from Tennessee Technological University, I attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill for my PhD in Biostatistics. My doctoral research proposed the marginalized zero-inflated Poisson model, focusing on providing marginal inference for count data with excess zeroes.
I joined the UAB Department of Biostatistics in July 2016. My research interests include categorical data analysis, selection bias in cohort studies, and more generally, the application of novel statistical methods to public health research. I have collaborated across many disciplines, most recently in stroke and diabetes epidemiology, psychology, and injury prevention.
I am the lead methodological statistician for the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study, a cohort of over 30,000 black and white US adults over 45 at enrollment targeting better understanding of the excess burden of stroke among black Americans. I am also the Deputy Director of the Statistical and Data Coordinating Center for a PCORI-funded group-randomized controlled trial assessing the effect of post-stroke coordinated care.
