Alumni Profile: Jennifer Beaumont, MS
Jennifer Beaumont, MS
Profession
Statistical Analyst/Programmer 2 and Manager, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Medical Social Sciences
Describe your current position.
In my current position, I provide statistical support to the research scientists in my department. This includes writing analysis plans for proposals, advising on study design, data management, statistical analysis, and report and manuscript writing. Much of the work in our department involves the development and application of patient-reported outcome (PRO) questionnaires. There is also research in psychosocial interventions, developmental psychology, and more traditional medical observational studies and randomized trials.
We also collaborate with colleagues in the pharmaceutical industry, who use our questionnaires in their clinical trials. I manage a small staff of other master’s-level analysts. In addition to facilitating mentoring and professional development opportunities, I link staff to project needs based on workload balance, statistical skills, experience, and general personality fit.
List your career highlights.
– Presenting my first poster at JSM in 2004
– Published my first lead-author publication in 2006
– Served as statistician and coauthor on the first study of universal inpatient surveillance for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and widely publicized in the media
– Invited speaker at the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Symposium in 2010
– Annual guest lectures on statistics and research methods for the Graduate Program in Genetic Counseling
Why did you choose UNC?
I was attracted by the high caliber of the department and the fact that the master’s program was advertised as a true applied program rather than a “PhD drop-out” path.
Describe your relationship with the faculty and/or staff during or after the program.
Larry Kupper was my traineeship adviser and Amy Herring was my academic adviser. Both were fantastically engaged in my progress, open to questions, and honest with feedback. It was really a pleasure to work with both of them.
One of my favorite memories was of Anastasia Ivanova inviting our entire cohort over for pasta to celebrate our surviving the first semester of stat inference. It was brutally hard work but it felt great to have that work recognized. Do I even need to say how great the staff are? I think everyone learns that within the first 10 seconds of contact.
What was your first memory of UNC or the Department of Biostatistics?
My campus visit prior to selecting a grad school was so memorable. It was the end of a multi-leg trip where I had also visit another university that I was considering. It was my first time flying alone. My visit at the other university had been unpleasant in so many ways. I had to take a long shuttle ride from the airport, stayed in student’s home with a cat (I am allergic), instructors seemed surprised and annoyed by my presence even though I had been scheduled to meet with them or sit in their class, there were large chunks of time where I was just left on my own to figure out where to go next, the students I had lunch with were not at all friendly, it just went on and on.
When I flew in to NC, [one of the student services managers] and her husband picked me up at the airport, meeting me at the gate (yes, this was that long ago). They then drove me to my hotel, made sure I got into my room OK, and gave me hug before leaving. Faculty and students who I met with the next day were so welcoming and friendly. People who saw me sitting alone, stopped to chat about the department. Every aspect of the entire visit was the exact opposite of what I had experienced at the other university–it completely won me over.
