Kosorok to take year's leave; Cai will serve as interim chair of biostatistics

May 10, 2016

Dr. Michael Kosorok

Michael R. Kosorok, PhD, W.R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor and chair of biostatistics at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, will take a one-year leave from his role as chair, effective July 1.

Kosorok plans to use the leave to study other biostatistics programs and to accelerate his own research in precision medicine, machine learning, data-driven decision making and big data science.

“Those activities will enable our department to make significant advances toward national leadership in big data education, research and health impact,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the opportunities this will present to us.”

Jianwen Cai, PhD, Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor and vice chair of biostatistics, will serve as interim chair from July 1 until June 30, 2017. Cai, who has been part of the department’s leadership team for many years, previously served as interim chair from January to April 2006.

Kosorok already has been appointed to a third five-year term as chair, which will begin July 1, 2017.

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Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: David Pesci, director of communications, (919) 962-2600 or dpesci@unc.edu