The Frist Center for Autism and Innovation at Vanderbilt University is pleased to welcome back Nathaniel “Nate” Dowd as FCAI’s Resident Statistician. In this role, Dowd will support FCAI staff, fellows, and affiliates by providing statistical and data analysis support across a wide range of projects advancing autism and neurodiversity inclusion in education, employment, and research.
Dowd returns to FCAI with deep expertise in biostatistics, research design, and applied analytics. He brings a practical, collaborative approach to strengthening studies from start to finish, including clarifying research questions, selecting appropriate methods, preparing analysis plans, organizing and cleaning datasets, conducting analyses, and translating results into clear, decision-ready insights.
Dowd is a Research Statistician at FCAI and a Master of Science in Biostatistics graduate of Vanderbilt University. During his graduate training, he completed a master’s thesis and authored a peer-reviewed publication, “An Overview of Methods for Receiver Operating Characteristic Analysis, with an Application to SARS-COV-2 Vaccine-induced Humoral Responses in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients,” published in Observational Studies (2025). His work reflects both methodological strength and an applied focus that aligns with FCAI’s mission to translate evidence into meaningful change.
In addition to his statistical background, Dowd has extensive experience working with RStudio and Python for data processing, visualization, and reproducible analysis. At FCAI, he has contributed these skills to diverse collaborations and is eager to re-engage with teams across the Center.
Learn more about our staff at the Leadership and Staff page.