We are pleased to announce the promotion of Dr. Andrew Spieker to associate professor of biostatistics (investigator track, with tenure), effective as of June 1. A graduate of Northeastern University (BS, mathematics) and the University of Washington (PhD, biostatistics), with postdoctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Spieker joined our department in 2018. His primary research interests involve the development of causal inference approaches in observational studies and randomized trials. He has sought to address a wide array of causal inference challenges in his research, including endogeneity bias, censoring of cost outcomes in health policy studies, within-subject correlation in studies of immunological markers, and sensitivity analyses for instrumental variable approaches. His methodological contributions are motivated by real-world challenges encountered in public health. His accomplishments include extending the joint modeling framework for observational studies of cardiovascular biomarker outcomes, with the R package endogenous to support this approach; developing new methods suitable for analysis of cost outcomes, particularly for population-level health policy guidance and resource allocation; and providing leadership in methods development and manuscript preparation for high-impact trials of mobile health interventions to support disease management and medication adherence.
Dr. Spieker is also in demand for cancer-related studies and other investigations, and he is an active commentator and committee member both in causal inference circles and the wider statistical community. He was appointed associate editor of Observational Studies in 2021 and Biometrics Section program chair for the American Statistical Association’s Joint Statistical Meetings in 2022, and he serves on the Eastern North American Region (ENAR) advisory board for the International Biometric Society.
A thoughtful, highly engaged educator, Dr. Spieker was named Outstanding Faculty Mentor by the biostatistics student body in 2020 and 2023, and they awarded him the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2021. A 2024 inductee into School of Medicine's Academy for Excellence in Education, he is a mainstay of the Center for Quantitative Sciences’ Summer Institute, founder/organizer of Vanderbilt’s Causal Inference Workshop, chair of the graduate program’s comprehensive exam committee, and co-chair of the faculty recruitment committee.
