Experience

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  University of North Dakota School of Medicine a...

  • Grand Forks, ND

  • Adjunct Professor

    • Jul 2019 - Present
    • Grand Forks, ND
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  Self-employed

  • Fairfax, VA

  • Consultant

    • May 2019 - Present
    • Fairfax, VA
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  Defining the NHLBI’s research priorities in the...

  • Bethesda, Maryland

  • Workshop Participant

    • Sep 2018 - Sep 2018
    • Bethesda, Maryland

    The objectives of the workshop were:1. Identify ELSI research priorities for NHLBI’s portfolio of heart, lung, blood, and sleep (HLBS) genomics research.2. Identify the top ELSI needs for the NHLBI that need immediate, near-term attention (i.e., assign relative priorities to each ELSI topic).3. S...

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  Committee on the Return of Individual-Specific ...

  • National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and...

  • Member

    • Jul 2017 - Aug 2018
    • National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and...

    This committee was formed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine to review and evaluate the ethical, social, operational, and regulatory issues regarding the return of individual-specific research results generated in laboratories involved in research on human biospecimen...

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  George Mason University

  • Fairfax, VA

  • Adjunct Faculty

    • Jan 2015 - Jul 2018
    • Fairfax, VA

    I taught GCH435 Applied Health Statistics for one semester before it was changed to GCH 335 Applied Health Statistics, which I taught for two semesters in the Department of Global and Community Health . This is an intermediate-level statistics course that emphasizes statistical concepts and proc...

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  National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

  • United States
  • Research Services
  • 700 & Above Employee

  • Deputy Chief, Epidemiology Branch

    • Jul 2006 - Dec 2014

    As Deputy Chief, Epidemiology Branch, I supervised the Genetics component of the Branch which included three PhD scientists and one MPH level program specialist. The team managed a large grant and contract portfolio focused on the genetic epidemiology of cardiovascular disease and included multiple large genetics projects. These projects included SHARe (Snp-Health Association Resource); CARe (Candidate gene Association Resource); GeneLink; Life After Linkage; PROGENI (Programs in Gene-Environment Interactions); STAMPEED (Snp Typing for Association of Multiple Phenotypes from Existing Epidemiologic Data); Next Gen – a project to develop and share iPS cells to facilitate functional studies; Ola (Omics in Latinos) – application of GWAS to the Hispanic Community Health Study – Study of Latinos(HCHS/SoL); and the Whole Genome Sequencing in NHLBI Cohorts (yet to be named). Additional staff projects were primarily trans-NIH projects focused on proteomics, metabolomics, microbiome, gene expression and miRNA. In addition to supervising the genetics team, I personally served as the Project Officer for the CARe Project, and as the Program Official for the Strong Heart Study (a cardiovascular study of two cohorts of American Indians) and the GOCADAN (Genetics of Coronary Artery Disease in Alaska Natives) Study (a cardiovascular study of Alaska Natives living in and around Nome, AK). My interests also stretched into the issues surrounding the return of genetic research results to study participants and to the application of metrics to science management. I directed the NHLBI Metrics Group which attempted to educate staff on the use of metrics to evaluate science and the management of science. During this time I also served as the Executive Secretary for the Framingham Heart Study Observational Study Monitoring Board.

  • Leader, Genetic Epidemiology Scientific Research Group, Epidemiology Branch

    • Jun 1997 - Jun 2006

    As SRG Leader, I directed a group responsible for managing the NHLBI-directed genetic epidemiology projects in cardiovascular disease, serving as consultants to Institute staff in genetic epidemiology, administering the grant portfolio of investigator-initiated genetic studies, and providing in-house statistical analysis of genetic epidemiology data generated from NHLBI-directed studies. These studies included family studies, population genetic screening programs, longitudinal cohort studies, isolated population studies, and twin cohort studies. As SRG leader, my duties included assigning personnel to Institute managed studies, overseeing project management activities of the staff, assigning grants management responsibilities, coordinating training, and managing internal budgets. The GESRG consisted of two PhD level scientists, one MS level scientist and one health technical assistant. The grant portfolio of the GESRG was approximately 60 grants. The project management portfolio for the most recent year included approximately twenty contracts and eleven cooperative agreements with an annual budget of over $19 million. In addition I served as Executive Secretary for the Observational Study Monitoring Boards of two major studies, represented the Division on an inter-divisional initiative on nanotechnology and an inter-divisional committee on small business innovation research, and continued to serve as a Project Scientist on the Strong Heart Study as described below and GOCADAN, a family study of cardiovascular disease in Alaska Natives living in western Alaska. I also served as Deputy Project Officer on a randomized clinical trial of aggressive treatment of blood pressure and lipids among American Indians with diabetes, and a project focused on community interventions in American Indians and Alaska Natives.

  • Senior Collaborative Research Investigator, Field Studies and Clinical Epidemiology SRG. Epi Branch

    • Jun 1988 - Jun 1997

    Over this period I have directed two major epidemiology grant programs: the Cardiovascular Diseases in American Indians (Strong Heart Study), and the Primary Prevention of Obesity in Young American Indians/Alaska Natives (Pathways). The Strong Heart Study was a cooperative agreement for a multi-center longitudinal study to survey morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases and to measure cardiovascular risk factors among geographically diverse American Indian communities. The Pathways Project was a randomized controlled clinical trial to prevent the development of obesity in 8-10 year old American Indians. It was a five-center school-based program that included a four component intervention: classroom curriculum, food service, physical activity and family support. Successful completion of the planning and feasibility study led to the initiation of a 5-year full-scale study. With the transition to the full-scale study, direction of the Pathways Project was moved to the Prevention Program. Earlier in this period I had responsibility for the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. The Vietnam Era Twin Registry Survey was an interagency agreement with the Cooperative Studies Program of the Veterans Administration to survey approximately 7400 pairs of Black, White and Hispanic twins for baseline data on behavioral and lifestyle characteristics related to cardiovascular diseases. Generally, my responsibilities in the administration of scientific programs included the initiation and design of the program concept, implementation and management of the appropriate funding mechanisms, oversight of the scientific progress, and dissemination of results. I represented these programs by presentations of initiatives and progress reports to the NHLBI Director and Advisory Committees and in publications and presentations to the scientific community. I was also responsible for the coordination of these programs with the interests of other agencies and special interest groups.

  • Project Officer, Clinical and Genetic Epidemiology Branch

    • Jun 1978 - Jun 1988

    My primary responsibility was to serve as Project Officer for the NHLBI Twin Study and the NAS-NRC Twin Registry. These studies represented, respectively, the largest direct examination study of twins in the United States and the largest registry of twins in the United States. My major duties were to initiate and manage contracts with universities and foundations throughout the United States to study cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases in middle-aged male twins. I was responsible for development of study initiatives; review and award of contracts; design of study protocols; quality control of data acquisition; management of data analyses; and publication and presentation of results to the scientific community. I also was called upon to consult and collaborate with investigators outside the federal government on the use of twins in medical research. In addition to my responsibilities for twin studies, I collaborated on the planning and data analyses of other studies in the Epidemiology and Biometry Program including the CARDIA study of young adults and a study of genetic markers for obesity in the Framingham Heart Study.

  • Statistician, Epidemiology Branch

    • Jul 1972 - Jun 1978

    I was responsible for the collection, tabulation and analyses of data from epidemiological studies of cardiovascular risk factors and disease. These studies included a cross sectional study of cardiovascular disease in Framingham, MA, studies of the geographical distribution and environmental correlates of cardiovascular disease in cities and counties in the United States, and studies of the genetic and environmental influences on cardiovascular disease risk factors.

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  National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

  • Bethesda, MD

  • Statistician, Computer Systems Branch

    • Aug 1969 - Jun 1972
    • Bethesda, MD

    I served as the primary consultant to Institute researchers on the use of statistical methods and computers in the analysis of mental health data and took direct responsibility for implementation of those analyses. Consultations focused on appropriate statistical design and analytical technique...

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  University of Missouri, Columbia

  • Columbia, MO

  • Instructor, Statistics Department

    • Sep 1967 - May 1969
    • Columbia, MO

    I taught two courses in Elementary Statistics and later two courses in Intermediate Statistics to sophomore, junior and senior level students. Curricula included descriptive statistics, probability theory, inference and hypothesis testing. I served as a grader for senior level courses in sampli...