2024 Elections

President – Elect

Cara Frankenfeld, Maine Health

Candidate Statement:

It is an honor to be nominated as a candidate for President of the Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER). My journey to epidemiology began with a love of numbers and patterns, leading me to explore nutritional sciences, research design, and data analysis to improve human health. This foundation has shaped my career, guiding me through diverse roles with a continuous desire to make a positive impact. Read more

My academic and professional journey includes many experiences relevant to leading SER. My doctoral training at the University of Washington and Fred Hutch Cancer Center, and postdoctoral work at the U.S. National Cancer Institute laid the groundwork for my research endeavors. Following government contracting and consulting, I joined George Mason University, a research-intensive institution, where I succeeded not only as a researcher but also as a educator, Graduate Programs Director, and leader in developing new public health programs and faculty mentoring initiatives. Later, at the University of Puget Sound, a small liberal arts college, I had the privilege to serve as Department Chair and led the launch of a new MPH program. I deeply value the interconnectedness of education, research, advocacy, and practice within our discipline and envision SER continuing to capitalize on these synergistic relationships. Currently, as a Faculty Scientist (Full Professor) at MaineHealth Institute for Research and member of the Center for Interdisciplinary & Population Health Research leadership team, I continue to lead an active research program in nutritional epidemiology and cancer health disparities. I also mentor a team of professional research data analysts and provide research support to clinical investigators. My career path has provided me with leadership experiences in bringing our many epidemiologist voices to diverse spaces where we can have meaningful impact on public health, and I would be honored to bring these leadership experiences to SER.

SER plays a critical role in fostering exchange of ideas and advancing epidemiological research methods. I remain impressed by the ongoing efforts to enhance accessibility and application of our work to public health and clinical areas. As a member of the SER Diversity & Inclusion committee, I am actively involved in accessibility improvements for the Annual Meeting and evaluating data to guide further progress. My commitment extends to presenting DEI workshops and professional development sessions. I also value the opportunities to contribute to mentoring within SER. I was a Mentoring Team Lead in the inaugural year of the mentoring program in 2020, participated as a panelist in a mentoring webinar in 2022, and gave a professional development session at the 2023 Annual Meeting. If provided with the privilege to lead SER, I want to continue to bring mentoring opportunities to SER members and continue to support and expand initiatives, like SERvisits, webinars, and professional development opportunities, that broaden and diversify SER’s impact.

From leading research in nutritional epidemiology and cancer health disparities to nurturing the next generation of epidemiologists, I am consistently contributing to improving epidemiology. As an advocate for inclusivity and diversity within our field, I believe my experiences and vision strongly position me to lead SER towards even greater impact. I appreciate your consideration and look forward to collaborating with SER members to strengthen our organization together.

President – Elect

Wendy N. Nembhard, University of Arkansas

Candidate Statement:

It is truly an honor to be nominated as a candidate for President of the Society for Epidemiology Research (SER). I was first introduced to SER as a graduate student, almost 30 years ago and became a member in 2001. It has been my intellectual home, where I meet current and past colleagues, friends, past trainees, and also introduce my current trainees to this exciting society of epidemiology professionals. Read more

The very first class on my very first day as a student in the Masters in Public Health (MPH) program changed my life forever. It was Introduction to Epidemiology and I became absolutely captivated – hooked! And as they say, “the rest is history.” I received my MPH in International and Family Health and my PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Texas Houston Health Science Center, School of Public Health.
As I reflect on my career, I am so glad I chose this path; my passion, enthusiasm and excitement for Epidemiology has not faded. I bring that passion and enthusiasm for epidemiology to my teaching, research, advocacy, and service, and I will bring that to my Presidency if elected. My passion for epidemiology is evident in my research. I am a tenured Professor of Epidemiology and the Chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Fay W Boozman College of Public Health. Throughout my career, my research has focused on elucidating health disparities in the etiology and outcomes of birth defects in children and adults and other adverse pregnancy outcomes. I am currently the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded Arkansas Center of Excellence for Birth Defects Research and Prevention. As Center Director I am also the Principal Investigator (PI) of the Birth Defects Study of Exposures in Pregnancy (BD-STEPS), which is a large multi-site, population-based birth defects study, and its sister study BD-STEPS Stillbirth. More recently my research interests expanded to include health disparities in COVID-19 and I am now the PI of a National Cancer Institute (NCI) funded project, which is part of the NCI Serological Sciences Network for COVID-19 (SeroNet), the nation’s largest coordinated effort to study immune responses to COVID-19. My receipt of the Faculty Award for Excellence in Research from our college is a further testament to my passion for epidemiology and my research.
I also bring my passion and commitment to epidemiology to training the next generation. I have taught a variety of epidemiology methods courses, as well as topical courses for undergraduate, graduate, medical, and nursing students. I have also had the privilege of mentoring predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty including supporting trainees to attend the SER annual meetings and student events. I also served as a mentor for the SER Student Dissertation Workshop. I also co-sponsored an SERTalk in 2021 on “#MeToo and Epidemiology” to discuss the important issue of sexual harassment of trainees (and faculty) in our field.
Our post-COVID-19 world presents numerous challenges for epidemiology and public health. The widespread availability of artificial intelligence software and its significant implications for research and teaching, loss of public trust in academia and the value of higher education, increasing skepticism of science, medicine and public health, the decline in the number of graduates choosing to pursue careers in academia, and the ongoing need to increase diversity within our organization and field are just a few of the challenges that we each face. If elected I will use my experience from a career dedicated to equity and disparities research to build upon the current momentum within SER to increase diversity, including increasing the diversity of members from non-academic settings and more networking opportunities. I am excited about bringing our community together to discuss strategies to address many of the emerging issues facing our community today.
Thank you for considering me to serve you as President of SER. I look forward to working with you next year.

Member at Large
Communications

Peter Tennant

I am extremely excited and honored to be nominated once again to stand for the SER committee, this time to focus on communications. The Society has been a huge source of inspiration and fellowship for me over the past few years, as I know it has for others. Many epidemiologists, around the world, work in small teams or specialist areas that make the Society extremely important to our professional growth and sense of belonging. Fostering healthy and inclusive communication is hence important not just for the Society, but for the wellbeing of epidemiology and epidemiologists more widely. Read more

Unfortunately, the communications landscape has become much more challenging since the start of the pandemic. In the past, many of us enjoyed a vibrant community on Twitter, that I was proud to see maturing into a more diverse and inclusive space. The pandemic, and Twitter’s new leadership, changed that forever. Since then, some of us have struggled to find a new space to call home, while others have sought to transition beyond social media.
As the Member-at-Large for Communications, I recognize my main role will be helping to find new ways for the Society to communicate effectively with members and, in turn, foster healthy and inclusive networking. This will require quite a bit of exploration, experimentation, and – most importantly – listening. Whatever we do must work equally well for all members, and that means active and ongoing evaluation of everything we do.
To provide some background on myself, I started my career pursuing a PhD in Perinatal Epidemiology at Newcastle University (UK), which I completed in 2016. Since then, at the University of Leeds (UK), I have shifted focus towards helping people understand and use causal inference methods. Despite this, I remain a passionate advocate for descriptive research, which I believe forms the bedrock of everything we do.
I have a long history of trying to support and represent epidemiologists, serving for many years (in several roles) on the main committee of the (British and Irish) Society for Social Medicine and Population Health. Because I live and work in England, it took many years until I finally made my first trip ‘across the pond’ to attend my first SER conference (in 2019). I expected to hear some amazing science. I was surprised to also discover a friendly, energetic, and welcoming Society, with a clear commitment to justice and belonging. I have long searched for a Society that celebrates both epidemiology and epidemiologists. Having found that home in SER, I am determined to help make sure that everyone can feel equally at home in a welcoming a supportive culture.

Member at Large
Communications

Nrupen Bhavsar

I am a quantitative epidemiologist with methodological expertise in the design and analysis of observational studies that leverage data from cohort studies, registries, and the electronic health record (EHR). My background, training, and research is in the measurement and characterization of biomarkers, risk factors and treatment outcomes for chronic disease using real-world datasets. My primary research interests are in the use of novel sources of data, including the EHR, to conduct chronic disease research at the intersection of informatics, biostatistics, and epidemiology. Read more

Member at Large
Education

Kosuke Inoue

I am thrilled and deeply honored to be nominated for the Member-at-Large position on the SER Executive Committee. I am an associate professor at the Department of Social Epidemiology, Kyoto University, Japan, and have been a member of SER since 2018. Since my Ph.D. training at UCLA after clinical practice as an endocrinologist in Japan, I have dedicated myself to chronic disease epidemiology, particularly focusing on hypertension and diabetes. I am especially excited to advance our field through applying causal inference methods and machine learning algorithms. Read more

My recent research interest is identifying mechanisms through evaluating mediating effects and heterogeneous treatment effects. For example, in my recent work with Dr. Onyebuchi Arah and Dr. Beate Ritz, I generalized the front-door formula, a causal inference approach, and applied it in clinical epidemiology to evaluate the mediating role of physicians’ opioid prescription in the pathway from chronic disease to death. This paper not only provided evidence on potential ways to address the opioid crisis, but also advanced the use of such an underutilized causal inference approach, thus was selected as a Runner-up for the Rothman Epidemiology Paper Prize in 2023. In another recent work using hypertension trial data, I also proposed a new treatment strategy, called the “High-benefit approach,” that prioritizes people with high estimated benefit by evaluating heterogeneity in the individualized treatment effects. This approach has received substantial attention from various academic societies and media worldwide, resulting in the recognition as an awardee of the MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 Japan.

SER has been an exciting community where I learn cutting-edge methodology, deeply discuss research, and meet people whom I admire. As a session chair at SER 2023 in Portland, I had the great opportunity to organize two sessions on “Epidemiology in Japan: Evidence from Super-Aging Society Preparing for the Future” and “Big Data/Machine Learning/AI.” These sessions were not just about sharing knowledge; they were platforms for fostering international collaboration and bringing diverse perspectives to the future of epidemiology. Additionally, serving as an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Epidemiology since 2023 has been a tremendous honor, allowing me to contribute to the diversity of our field of epidemiology.

If elected as a Member-at-Large, I plan to use my experiences as a researcher and educator to help lead the SER Executive Committee. I will strive with other members to make SER an even more active and exciting community for a broader range of researchers: a community where innovative research, methodological advancements, and collaborative efforts across borders are the norm. My goal is to contribute to an educational environment where diversity in thought and background is welcomed, ensuring that SER remains at the forefront of advancing epidemiological science and practice. I am incredibly excited about the possibility of serving on the Executive Committee and contributing to the future of SER. I look forward to the opportunity to give back to a community that has given so much to me, fostering a space where all members, new and old, can thrive and contribute to the field of epidemiology in this unprecedented time.

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Kosuke Inoue, MD, PhD
Associate Professor | Department of Social Epidemiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University
E-mail: inoue.kosuke.2j@kyoto-u.ac.jp

Member at Large
Education

Brenda Heaton

SER has long been my disciplinary home; the place I return to every year for renewal, fresh perspectives, longstanding friendships, and to celebrate scientific achievements. I welcome the opportunity to dig in and give back to my epidemiology colleagues as a Member-at-Large, focused on education. The most rewarding aspect of my career to date has been the opportunity to work with students and trainees. They are bright, energetic, and they bring fresh perspectives on the world and the ways in which the world and our lived experiences shape population health. Read more

They challenge the status quo, demand excellence in teaching and mentoring practices, and they motivate growth and progress. How we educate, and who we educate, will determine the future of our profession and the impact of our contributions on the world.
My research program is primarily focused on advancing oral health equity through studying the generative mechanisms underlying population disparities in oral health. This includes work that aims to demonstrate and clarify the relationship between oral health and overall health, such as the role of oral health in relation to reproductive health and chronic disease outcomes, for example. Additionally, I apply complex systems science methods, including agent-based modeling and social network analysis, to develop a more nuanced understanding of how population disparities and inequities in oral health emerge from a complex system. Much of my work focuses on the social and structural causes of oral health outcomes among marginalized and minoritized populations, such as residents of public housing in Boston, MA, survivors of sexual violence in Utah, American Indians and Alaska Natives in Northern California, and the Black Women’s Health Study.
Given my primary interest in studying oral health inequities, I am committed to investing in employees and supporting trainees who reflect backgrounds and identities that are underrepresented in dentistry and scientific disciplines more broadly. As a result, many of my mentees come from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the health sciences. In support of this commitment, I also strive to develop, identify, and/or secure funding sources that will support the training activities of people from all backgrounds and perspectives.
I currently serve as the Associate Dean of Research and Associate Professor of Epidemiology & Health Services Research at the University of Utah School of Dentistry and as an Associate Professor in the Department of Population Health Sciences at the University of Utah School of Medicine. My engagement with SER dates back to my own time as an epidemiology doctoral student at Boston University School of Public Health. I have enjoyed serving on committees, judging posters, chairing symposia, and I’m looking forward to supporting the growth and development of a current cadre of doctoral students participating in the dissertation workshop.

SPC President Elect

Ruby Barnard-Mayers

For those who don’t know me, my name is Ruby Barnard-Mayers and I am an epidemiology PhD candidate at Boston University School of Public Health. I hold a BA in Mathematics & Statistics and Anthropology from Grinnell College and an MPH in Epidemiology & Biostatistics and Maternal & Child Health from Boston University School of Public Health. I am one of the current SPC media co-chairs and am coming to the end of my second (and last) term. Being a part of the SPC has been such a wonderful experience and I would be delighted to continue serving on the board as SPC president. Read more

During my time at Boston University School of Public Health I have conducted research in causal inference methods, perinatal health, pregnancy medication use, and survey development. I am a strong proponent for conducting research that is meaningful and relevant to the study population, not just the researchers. I have worked on research projects utilizing group model building to design a simulation model to ensure that community leaders were involved in the model design. During the past three years in my program, I have co-lead monthly PhD student seminars in the Epidemiology Department at Boston University and, as part of this, liaise with faculty on behalf of the student body.

I’ve been a member of SER since 2020. My first SER conference was in 2021 and was completely virtual. I didn’t really understand the hype of SER until the Chicago meeting in 2022, when I was blown away by 1) being around people again and 2) the amount of different types of epidemiologic research being conducted. The highlight of that meeting, for me, was when I attended the SPC social and stayed up until 1am (way past my bedtime) chatting with other epi trainees and eating pizza.

I have enjoyed my involvement with SER and I think there’s more that can be done to foster community. I grew up in Vermont, raised by family and friends who underscored the importance of fostering community, and this is a core value that I carry with me every day. Experiencing the demise of #epitwitter and navigating the challenges of fostering community as media co-chair has made me more motivated to continue to work to regain what we lost and bring our members together through our events at the annual conference and between meetings. I want to ensure the engagement of people who are often overlooked: trainees who are first-generation, low-income, who are disabled or who identify as a racial, ethnic, or sexual minority. I will work to ensure that all SPC members not only feel welcome but feel they have a voice, that they matter. I hope to find a way to engage in constructive discourse regularly throughout the year, not only through the SPC annual survey.

I would be honored to be elected as SER-SPC president. I would love to hear any suggestions or thoughts you may have on how the SPC can best serve you, so if you are at the 2024 meeting in Austin, TX, come find me and say hi! Thank you for considering me as SPC president and I look forward to collaborating with you.

SPC President-Elect Candidates

Anthony Nixon

Anthony J. Nixon, Jr.
Society of Epidemiologic Research
Candidate Statement – President-Elect (Student & Postdoc Committee)

My name is Anthony J. Nixon, Jr., and I am a dedicated perinatal epidemiologist committed to advancing the field of public health. It is with great enthusiasm that I announce my candidacy for the position of President-Elect of the SER Student & Postdoc Committee (SPC). Read more

My academic journey began with a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Morehouse College, where I graduated honors. I then pursued a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from The Ohio State University, furthering my passion for understanding and addressing public health disparities and inequities. Currently, I am pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, where I continue to deepen my expertise in epidemiology and public health research. I have also had the opportunity to gain international experience through educational abroad projects focused on global health issues. My participation in educational abroad programs in Brazil and India provided me with valuable insights into different cultural and public health systems, as well as the opportunity to engage with innovative solution-building. My professional journey has been guided by a commitment to public health and a desire to make a difference in the lives of individuals and communities. As a Senior Epidemiologist at Cradle Cincinnati – Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, I have provided crucial maternal and infant health data and epidemiological support for various projects, helping to inform programmatic decisions and drive community health initiatives. My role has also involved collaborating with stakeholders and community partners to address maternal and infant health disparities. Prior to my current role, I served as an Epidemiologist at the City of Cincinnati Health Department, where I played a key role in the management of COVID-19 cases, contact tracing, and outbreak investigations. I also led projects related to health disparities and community engagement, demonstrating my ability to effectively communicate complex public health issues and mobilize resources to address them. Also, as a former Public Health Advisor at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Public Health Associate Program (PHAP), I gained valuable experience in
project management, technical assistance, and public health program evaluation. If elected as President-Elect of the SER SPC, my vision is to create a vibrant and inclusive community that supports the professional development and success of trainees in epidemiology. I am committed to expanding access to SER resources and opportunities, especially for those at institutions with limited SER presence, to ensure that all members have the tools and support they need to thrive in the field of epidemiology. I believe in the power of collaboration and communication to drive positive change. As PresidentElect, I will work closely with SPC members, SER leadership, and other stakeholders to ensure that the needs and interests of students and trainees are prioritized. I will seek feedback and input from
members to shape our initiatives and ensure that we are meeting the evolving needs of our community.
Anthony J. Nixon, Jr.
Society of Epidemiologic Research

I am dedicated to continuous learning and professional growth, and I am committed to bringing this mindset to my role as President-Elect of the SER SPC. I recognize the importance of staying informed about emerging trends and best practices in epidemiology and public health, and I am committed to fostering a culture of learning and innovation within the SPC. Staying connected with SER members and stakeholders, I will work to ensure that the SPC builds valuable and meaningful professional connections. I am excited about the opportunity to serve as President-Elect of the SER Student & Postdoc Committee. I am passionate about advancing the field of epidemiology and supporting the next generation of public health leaders. I look forward to working with you all to achieve our shared goals and make a meaningful impact on public health. Thank you for considering my candidacy.

President – Elect

Cara Frankenfeld, Maine Health

President – Elect

Wendy N. Nembhard, University of Arkansas

Member at LargeCommunications

Peter Tennant

Member at LargeCommunications

Nrupen Bhavsar

Member at Large Education

Kosuke Inoue

Member at Large Education

Brenda Heaton

SPC President Elect

Ruby Barnard-Mayers

SPC President-Elect Candidates

Anthony Nixon

Member at Large
Communications

Member at Large
Communications

Member at Large
Education

Member at Large
Education