Complex data structures made up of many interconnected elements play a large role in a variety of public health topics, including environmental epidemiology and climate science. Columbia University biostatistician Kiros Berhane will explore the issue of complex data structures at this year’s J. Warren Perry Lecture on Nov. 8.

The lecture, titled “Modeling Complex Data Structures in Environmental Epidemiology and Climate Science: A Transdisciplinary Approach in the Era of Data Science,” will take place at noon in146 Diefendorf Hall. The lecture will also be available via Zoom. Registration is required.

Berhane is a widely published international expert on the development of statistical methods with a focus on complex and correlated data structures, as well as their application into a wide range of public health topics. He currently serves as the Cynthia and Robert Citron-Roslyn and Leslie Goldstein Professor and chair of the Department of Biostatistics at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia.

Berhane served as a professor at the University of Southern California from 1997 to 2019 and later director of graduate programs in biostatistics and epidemiology from 2013-20. He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at John Hopkins University after completing his PhD in biostatistics at the University of Toronto

The J. Warren Perry Award and Lectureship honors the founding dean of UB’s School of Health Related Professions, now the School of Public Health and Health Professions. Perry was a prolific and accomplished scholar, administrator, author and lecturer.