Dr. Charmaine Dean has been named the 2026 recipient of the Award for Impact of Applied and Collaborative Work presented by the Statistical Society of Canada (SSC) and Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute (CANSSI).
The award recognizes outstanding contributions to collaborative research and applied statistical work that have had a significant impact beyond the statistical sciences. Dean is being recognized for her influential research and longstanding commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration.
Throughout her career, Dean has developed innovative statistical methods motivated by important challenges in public health, environmental science, and natural resource management. Her contributions in areas such as disease mapping, survival analysis, longitudinal data analysis, and spatiotemporal modelling have helped researchers and decision-makers better understand complex biological and environmental systems.
Working closely with clinicians, environmental scientists, and resource managers, Dean has applied statistical science to address real-world challenges, including health outcomes following coronary bypass surgery, wildfire occurrence and fire-season dynamics, and environmental risk assessment.
In addition to her research contributions, Dean has provided distinguished leadership to the statistical and academic communities. A former President of the Statistical Society of Canada, she currently serves as Vice-President, Research & International at the University of Waterloo and has mentored generations of students, researchers, and collaborators throughout her career.
Learn more about Charmaine Dean and the award on the SSC website.
SSC Citation Accompanying the Award
“To Charmaine Dean, for outstanding contributions to applied statistical methodology, influential collaborative research addressing important challenges in health, environmental science, and natural resource management, and exemplary leadership in the statistical and broader academic communities.”