As part of ENAR's education initiative, our webinars promote continuing education for professional and student statisticians by disseminating cutting-edge knowledge to our membership. An ENAR webinar (or "WebENAR") can strengthen your background in methodology and software, provide an opportunity to learn about a topic outside of your primary area of specialization, or deepen your understanding of an area in which you already work. We invite you to participate and benefit from the expertise of some of North America's leading statisticians and biostatisticians.
The Webinar Committee of the ENAR Regional Advisory Board (RAB) is coordinating this ongoing series of 1- to 2-hour webinars given by renowned experts. Registration is free for current ENAR members. The webinars are planned to be broadly available and we encourage groups at your institution or workplace to participate together. WebENARs provide excellent learning opportunities for students and professionals alike.
Registration fees are waived for ENAR members, however, advance registration is still required for all attendees. Please email enar@enar.org if you have any questions.
WebENAR: What is Biostatistics
Friday Oct 2, 2026 11:00 AM ET
Speaker:
Erin Lake (Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health)
Lead/Moderator:
Anarina Murillo (Brown University)
Description: This webinar is targeted for undergraduate students and persons interested in learning more about the field of biostatistics. Dr. Lake will provide an introductory overview of the field and its critical place in today’s rapidly evolving landscape involving data, AI, and health which impacts nearly every facet of life. She will discuss different disciplines and areas of research within the field, and the wide breadth of career paths possible.
Speaker Bios:
Dr. Erin Lake (Speaker) is primary faculty and Lecturer on Biostatistics at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Co-Director of the Master of Science in Biostatistics programs, and Director of Student (career) Development in the Department of Biostatistics (where she is also a graduate). Trained in theoretical math and biostatistics, her research has centered around learning from data in order to improve public health and medicine, including disease mapping, cluster-randomized trials, repeated time-to-event outcomes, and with recent focus on bridging classic statistical modeling and machine learning in correlated outcome and missing data scenarios. Dr. Lake received Harvard’s 2025 Roger L. Nichols Excellence in Teaching Award and the 2022 Dean’s Award for Scientific Advancement (pedagogy). Before joining Harvard’s faculty, she worked as a statistician at Massachusetts General Hospital and the biotech Alkermes, where she helped lead the Phase III trial of Vivitrol for the treatment of opioid and alcohol dependence.
Dr. Anarina Murillo (moderator) is an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics on the Teaching Scholar Track at the Brown University School of Public Health. Prior to joining Brown in her current role, she served as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Biostatistics at the NYU School of Global Public Health. She previously held appointments at Brown as an Assistant Professor (Research) in the Department of Pediatrics and as a Senior Biostatistician in the Center for Statistical Sciences. She earned her PhD in Applied Mathematics with a concentration in Statistics from Arizona State University and subsequently completed NIH T32 postdoctoral training in statistical genetics and obesity research through the Department of Biostatistics and the NIH-funded Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
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WebENAR: De-mystifying the Graduate Application Process
Friday Nov 6, 2026, 11:00 AM ET
Panel Speakers:
Daphna Harel (NYU), Raphiel Murden (Emory), Annie-Green Howard (UNC-CH), Loni Tabb (Drexel)
Lead/Moderator:
Briana Stephenson (Harvard)
Description: This webinar is targeted for undergraduate students and anyone interested in returning to school to pursue a graduate degree in biostatistics. Our panel consists of faculty who have served on or chaired admissions committees at their respective institution. Panel speakers will provide an overview of the graduate application process, discuss the current landscape, distinguish differences between programs offered, provide tips and strategies for prospective applications, and conclude with an open discussion.
Speaker Bios:
Dr. Daphna Harel (she/her) is a Professor of Applied Statistics at New York University. She directs the Applied Statistics for Social Science Research Masters program and has conducted admissions for the program for the past 12 years. She believes in removing the hidden curriculum from the application process and making sure everyone's application has a fair chance.
Dr. Loni Philip Tabb is Associate Dean for Faculty Advancement and Professor of Biostatistics at Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health. She was also the biostatistics Graduate Program Director in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics (2023-2026). Dr. Tabb received her MS and BS in Mathematics from Drexel University, and her PhD and AM degrees in Biostatistics from Harvard University. Her research has focused primarily on Bayesian statistical methods in the presence of complex data structures, with specialization in spatial and spatio-temporal models in the application of health and social disparities, violence, and toxicity studies.
Dr. Raphiel Murden is an assistant research professor and Director of Graduate studies of the master’s program in the department of biostatistics at Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. His methodological research focuses on data integration methods and functional data analysis, with applications in neuroimaging statistics and an emerging focus on spatial data methods. He has a growing profile in collaborative research spanning HIV/AIDS,health disparities, social determinants of health, cardiovascular health, children's health, and arts & health. Dr. Murden volunteers as chair of the ENAR Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) Committee, on the ENAR Regional Advisory Board, and on the Advisory Board for Out of Hand Theater. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics with a music minor from Morehouse College and a Master of Arts in Statistics from Washington University in St. Louis. His passion for teaching quantitative sciences to traditionally underrepresented groups has been a driving force throughout his career.
Dr. Annie Green Howard is a clinical research associate professor in the Department of Biostatistics at UNC-Chapel Hill with more than 10 years of experience serving on the admissions committee. Her research specializes in using longitudinal models and latent variables to study the integration of biology, behavior, and environment in relation to obesity and cardiometabolic disease.
Dr. Briana Stephenson (moderator) is an Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She received her B.S. in Mathematics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While working as a statistician for the U. S. Food and Drug Administration and Department of Defense, she earned a MPH in biostatistics at George Washington University. She went on to continue her education at UNC Chapel Hill, where she earned a PhD in biostatistics from the Gillings School of Public Health and her postdoctoral training at the UNC Collaborative Studies Coordinating Center. At Harvard, she has developed a comprehensive research program that centers on Bayesian statistical methods to analyze high-dimensional exposures and methods that improve our understanding of the overall health and lived experiences of understudied populations in the areas of nutrition, cancer patient care, maternal health, and cardiovascular disease epidemiology.
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