Just returning from JSM 2025, and it was so much fun!
This year’s Joint Statistical Meetings saw thousands of statistics enthusiasts from all around the world converging at the Music City Center, Nashville, TN. The conference is organized annually by the American Statistical Association.
As a first-timer, I presented a poster on “Land Use Regression Models for Predicting PM2.5: A Comparative Analysis from the Accra Birth Cohort”, a collaborative work with Environmental Health Scientists that seek to predict the exposure of PM2.5 in epidemiological studies in Africa. I appreciate all the questions and insights shared by listeners that stopped by.
I also took the opportunity to take some short courses: Practical Considerations for Adaptive Clinical Trials Using Bayesian and Frequentist Methods; Causal Inference in Randomized Controlled Trials; and Statistical Considerations in Cell and Gene Therapy Development. These courses, taught by experts from global pharma companies like Novartis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, among others, largely covered some important statistical considerations in the area of drug development.
Finally, I partook in other activities like the JSM mixers, round-table discussions on statistical consulting, and the PStat/GStat reception. I also listened to numerous contributed talks throughout the period.
It was an awesome moment reconnecting with some old colleagues and friends from my undergraduate college, KNUST, Ghana, who’re currently pursuing graduate studies in various disciplines in other universities here in the U.S. and around the world.
Many thanks to Dr. Raji Balasubramanian, the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, and the Graduate School at the UMass-Amherst for their generous sponsorship. I also want to acknowledge Dr. Shirin Colchi (McGill University), Chair of the Contributed Poster Presentations: Section on Statistics and the Environment for the opportunity to present my poster.
Photo with other presenters/participants during the contributed posters
Selfie time with fellow first-time participants after the JSM first-timers orientation