Professor Cook notes that Zhong’s Prize winning paper was accepted for publication in one of the top journals in the field of biostatistics. “All of the research she conducted during her doctoral studies was of the very highest calibre. This particular work raises awareness of the limitations in current methods of modeling within-family dependence in family studies, and her creative advance has the potential to reshape the way family studies are designed and analysed in the future. Through application of her methods to a motivating study conducted by our collaborators in the University Health Network, insight has already been gained regarding excessive paternal transmission of psoriatic arthritis."
The Murray Martin Prize winning paper is selected by the University of Waterloo Faculty of Mathematics Research Advisory Committee. “The committee members were impressed with this year's nominated papers," said Tamer Özsu, associate dean research and committee chair, "but Dr. Zhong's was the clear winner."
The Prize, valued at $5,000, is presented annually to a graduate student or team of students enrolled in the Faculty of Mathematics who has authored or co-authored an outstanding research paper as of January 31 each year. Students must be nominated by their supervisor.
This fund is made possible by a donation from Pitney Bowes Inc. to honour Murray Martin, their retired chair, president, CEO and director whose continuous investment in research and development has ensured its industry leadership.
Dr. Zhong is now an Investigator Statistician working in the UK Medical Research Council Biostatistics Unit at the Cambridge Institute of Public Health.