ASA and Activities

As a passionate advocate for the field of statistics and its importance in society, I have been actively involved in professional statistical societies, particularly the American Statistical Association (ASA), the largest and flagship organization of statisticians and data scientists. My involvement with the ASA has been incredibly rewarding and has helped me grow both personally and professionally. I began by volunteering in my local chapter and later became a district Vice Chair on the Council of Chapters Governing Board and a member of the ASA Board of Directors. I also served on the ASA accreditation committee, the ASA Task Force on Sexual Harassment and Assault, the inaugural JEDI Outreach Group, and the ASA representative group for the Joint Mathematical Meeting.

In addition to my work with the ASA, I have also been actively involved in other professional statistical societies. In 2017, I served as president of the Caucus for Women in Statistics, an international organization that supports and advances female statisticians’ careers.  As a member of the Korean International Statistical Society, I served on the Board of Directors (2017 – 2022).  I was also the local chair for the International Chinese Statistical Association Annual Symposium, which was held in Gainesville, Florida, in 2022.

Updates, August 2025

My presidential theme is building strong bridges—both within the ASA and with external partners to seize opportunities in this AI era. In that spirit, I selected “Statistics, Data Science, and AI: Enriching Society” as the theme for JSM 2025.

Under this theme, we’ve put forward strategic efforts—particularly to enhance the visibility of our profession and to expand opportunities for our members. One example is the MOU we signed with Nature Medicine during my year as president-elect, which led to the creation of a Statistical Advisory Panel. Now, 49 statisticians are embedded in their editorial process, in areas of oncology, infection, metabolomics, and neuroscience. It’s a clear signal to the scientific community that statisticians must be at the table.

At the same time, we’re building bridges within our profession. I formed a working group to develop a Clinical Trials Certificate Program. It’s designed to give statisticians and data scientists practical, hands-on training to help them get started or move forward in clinical research sectors.  It’s specifically aimed at opening doors, especially for those who didn’t receive this kind of applied training in traditional academic settings.

Updates, April 2026

As Past President, my focus this year is on four areas: (1) Supporting the ASA Board of Directors, (2) working with members of Nature Medicine SAP, (3) Launching the clinical trials certificate program (CTCP), and (4) working with ASA award committees. The CTCP committee has been working hard, and the instructors and curriculum are now fully in place for a planned launch in September 2026.