8.8.2011

Julia Volaufova, PhD, former Head of the Department of Theoretical Methods at the Institute of Measurement Science, Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava, now Professor of Biostatistics at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health, has been selected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA) which is the world's largest community of statisticians. See more...

Julia Volaufova has been selected for her excellence in the application of statistics and collaboration on research in biomedical fields; solicitous and challenging training of graduate students and professionals; organization of multiple international conferences; and persistent, effective efforts to preserve and promote the statistics community in the former Czechoslovakia and Central Europe.

LSUHSC'S VOLAUFOVA HONORED AS MEMBER OF SELECT GROUP 

Official Information from LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans

Nominated by their peers, ASA Fellows are members of established reputation who have made outstanding contributions in some aspect of statistical work. Given annually, this is a great honor, as the number of recipients is limited to no more than one-third of 1% of the ASA membership.  

As one of the 58 ASA Fellows named worldwide this year, Dr. Volaufova becomes one of five ASA Fellows in Louisiana. Two are at LSUHSC’s School of Public Health (Drs. Volaufova and Lynn LaMotte), with one each in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and Ruston.            

In addition to her contributions to the scholarship and practice of the discipline locally, nationally, and internationally over her 37-year career, Dr. Volaufova is being recognized for her work on the LSUHSC faculty in developing the state's only PhD program in Statistics or Biostatistics at a public university.

Her early contributions were in her native Czechoslovakia. She was in the first generation of scholars in statistics in her country. Despite obstacles before 1989 (limitations on travel, communications, and hard currency, among others), Dr. Volaufova organized seminars and meetings in Czechoslovakia. She became quite influential as one of a few dedicated persons who founded, nurtured, and promoted the statistics community in Czechoslovakia and Central Europe. 

Although Dr. Volaufova had not been full-time on the faculty of a degree-granting institution before 2004, she authored or coauthored publications for the scientific literature, including a book. Dr. Volaufova’s 68 articles listed on Web of Science have been cited more than 750 times. She has maintained that activity and productivity in statistical research even while she has spent most of her workday time on collaborations related to obesity, nutrition, and other biomedical research.           

She has been active and influential in the Louisiana Chapter of the ASA; as President, Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer, she was effective at increasing participation of area statisticians. She regularly serves on the program committee of the International Workshops on Matrices and Statistics, which just completed its twentieth annual meeting. She has been involved since the beginning of the International Conference Probastat and she served on the program committee for the quadrennial meeting in July.

Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, the American Statistical Association is the world's largest community of statisticians and the second oldest continuously operating professional society in the United States. For 170 years, the ASA has supported excellence in the development, application, and dissemination of statistical science through meetings, publications, membership services, education, accreditation, and advocacy. Its members serve in industry, government, and academia in more than 90 countries, advancing research and promoting sound statistical practice to inform public policy and improve human welfare. For additional information about the American Statistical Association, please visit the ASA web site at http://www.amstat.org.

LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans educates Louisiana's health care professionals. The state's academic health leader, LSUHSC consists of a School of Medicine, the state's only School of Dentistry, Louisiana's only public School of Public Health, the only School of Nursing within an academic health center in Louisiana, and Schools of Allied Health Professions, and Graduate Studies. LSUHSC faculty take care of patients in public and private hospitals and clinics throughout the region. In the vanguard of biosciences research in a number of areas in a worldwide arena, the LSUHSC research enterprise generates jobs and enormous economic impact. LSUHSC faculty have made lifesaving discoveries and continue to work to prevent, advance treatment, or cure disease. To learn more, visit http://www.lsuhsc.edu.