The University of Michigan Medical School’s Office of Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development has named Ananda Sen, Ph.D., a recipient of the 2023 Research Recognition Award. The award is intended for research track faculty at any level, whether an investigator, research scientist or research professor, and recognizes individuals for excellence in research and/or leadership.
Sen is the Lee A. Green Collegiate Research Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and holds the research professor title in the Department of Biostatistics within the School of Public Health at U-M. He is also a fellow of the American Statistical Association and an elected member of the International Statistical Institute. Sen also serves as director of the Quantitative Training, Research and Analysis Core (QTRAC) in the Department of Family Medicine, a working group that provides quantitative research and analysis support for department faculty members.
“I enjoy my role as a biostatistician and believe I contribute significantly to the research environment at the University of Michigan through my leadership and mentoring activities,” Sen said. “The most important part of my career is that I help advance medical sciences. The fact that I can collaborate and contribute to a research project that can help answer a scientific question, as well as train and mentor future scientists, is what I enjoy most.”
Sen has an established career record as a statistician, with over 190 publications in peer-reviewed journals and invited book chapters. He has methodological expertise in survival analysis, Bayesian methods, and correlated agreement -- topics that have a range of applications in the bio-medical sciences. He also has extensive collaborative experience in cancer prevention and biomarker research with diet and disease endpoints.
In the past, Sen has served as the director of the Biostatistics Core in the NCI-funded Specialized Program on Research Excellence in GI Cancer at the University of Michigan. He has served as the Book Review Editor for the journal, International Statistical Review and brought in significant operational changes to the journal’s book review section. Additionally, he has had multiple editorial responsibilities, serving as editorial board member of Computational Statistics and Data Analysis, International Statistical Review, Communications in Statistics and has worked as statistics co-editor for the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. He has been involved in writing practice guidelines for the Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT), in the National Academy of Sciences, and for the Society for Integrative Oncology.
Sen has received numerous academic and professional accolades during his career, including a Service Award in 2021 by the International Statistical Institute; the University of Michigan School of Public Health Teaching Excellence award in 2016; and the election as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association in 2013 for outstanding research contributions in reliability; exemplary leadership in the dissemination of statistical practice in the medical sciences; mentorship of junior clinical researchers; and service to the profession.
“Ananda Sen is an outstanding University of Michigan faculty member and a highly valued research team member in the Department of Family Medicine,” said James E. Aikens, Ph.D., associate chair for Research Programs and the Max and Buena Lichter Research Professor in Family Medicine. “He developed and directs the department’s Quantitative Training, Research and Analysis Core, which has widespread benefit to enable all our faculty members to reach their goals. He’s also extraordinarily accomplished, with a lengthy record of leadership skills and exceptional collaborative talents. I can’t imagine a better person to receive this award.”
Sen received the award at the Research Track Faculty Symposium held Thursday, March 23. During the event, he gave a presentation on his research titled, “Being a Biostatistician in a Medical School: A Story of Hats.”
