Mitchell awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowship for biostatistics

April 22, 2015

Shaina Mitchell

Shaina Mitchell is one of twelve statistics students in the United States to win a prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship in 2015.

The purpose of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program is to help ensure the vitality and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the U.S. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in science and engineering.

With this award, Mitchell, who studies in the biostatistics department at the UNC-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, has earned three years of support for her graduate education.

“I am thrilled to receive this award,” Mitchell shared. “It opens up exciting research opportunities for me, and I am happy to be considered a potential role model for female students in my field. Of course, this achievement is due in large part to the help I’ve had from incredible professors throughout my academic journey.”

Amy Herring, associate chair and professor of biostatistics at the Gillings School, commented on Mitchell’s award. “We are absolutely delighted Shaina is one of only three biostatistics graduate students nationwide selected for this fellowship.” she said. “Shaina is an outstanding young scholar, and we are honored to have her in our program.”

Mitchell is the fifth UNC-Chapel Hill biostatistics student to receive an NSF fellowship. She follows in the footsteps of Naomi Brownstein, Emily Butler, Erika Helgeson and Sheila Gaynor (who earned a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from the Gillings School, then carried her fellowship to Harvard).

“Above all, this grant will give me greater flexibility in my research, which will allow me to work on the projects I am most interested in,” said Mitchell. “My primary research interest is reducing the risk of noncommunicable diseases though modifiable risk factors like nutrition and physical activity.”

“The award will also allow me to worry less about finances, so I can spend more time on my passions of teaching and tutoring,” she added. “The end goal for me is to become a professor, since that would combine my dual loves of teaching and research. I want to show others that math has practical applications and can be used to help people.”