Congratulations to alumnus Nathaniel “Nate Dowd (MS 2024) on the publication of “An overview of methods for receiver operating character characteristic analysis, with an application to SARS-CoV-2 vaccine-induced humoral responses in solid organ transplant recipients” in Observational Studies 11(2):91-126. The peer-reviewed paper was co-authored by assistant professor of biostatistics Bryan Blette and associate professor Andrew Spieker, along with research professor James Chappell (lab director of the Vanderbilt Infection Surveillance and Prevention Research Program) and Craig Weaver Professor of Pediatrics Natasha Halasa.
Dowd also shares a byline with Dr. Spieker in Biometrics, having co-authored their review of ROC analysis for classification and prediction in practice by Christos T. Nakas, Leonidas E. Bantis, and Constantine A. Gatsonis (Chapman & Hall/CRC 2024).
Dowd graduated from Colby College with a degree in ecology and evolutionary biology, and interned at GSK and the Autism Impact Fund before enrolling in our program; his master’s thesis was titled “Strategies and Considerations for Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Regression Modeling.” He has worked as a research statistician at the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation since 2024.