Ji-Hyun Lee, DrPH, named associate director for cancer quantitative sciences

The UF Health Cancer Center is pleased to announce that Ji-Hyun Lee, DrPH, has been elevated to a new role as associate director for cancer quantitative sciences.

Lee
Ji-Hyun Lee, DrPH

In this role, she will provide high-level strategic leadership and administrative direction for Cancer Center researchers. This support aims to ensure high-quality data, rigorous and reproducible analyses, and effective reporting, fostering collaborative team-based scientific endeavors.

The appointment is part of the center’s continued development as a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer center.

“I am looking forward to collaborating closely with Cancer Center leaders to strategically develop services for members, in line with NCI, state and institutional requirements,” said Lee, a professor of biostatistics in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions and the UF College of Medicine.

Lee joined the UF Health Cancer Center as director of the Division of Quantitative Sciences in 2018. Since then, she has revolutionized the practice of biostatistics, adding scientific rigor to research across all programs and disciplines.

“Dr. Lee has played an essential role in the development of our Cancer Center, and her membership in the executive leadership indicates how seriously our center takes the role of quantitative sciences and scientific rigor, reproducibility and integrity as a key value of our mission,” said Jonathan D. Licht, M.D., director of the UF Health Cancer Center. “We are immensely proud of Dr. Lee’s contributions to collaborative quantitative sciences and biostatistical work as recognized by her leadership in the American Statistical Association.”

Lee’s accomplishments at the center include organizing a successful AI Day for Cancer Research for the past three years and creating and teaching the Biostatistics & Bioinformatics 101 course, which has educated hundreds of UF researchers and students on best practices for cancer data.

Lee has revamped the Biostatistics and Computational Biology Shared Resource by attracting top quantitative scientists from across the country, which has increased funding success for members involved in collaborative projects. She also launched a weekly virtual walk-in clinic through the shared resource, offering practical advice on conducting robust statistical and bioinformatical research.

A group of three people pose for a photo in front of a door with AI in blue letters.
Ji-Hyun Lee, DrPH, with the chairs of the UF Health Cancer Center’s AI Working Group during the third annual AI Day in Cancer Research on Oct. 24. Lee has organized the event for the past three years.

Lee has more than 20 years’ experience in various aspects of cancer research, including clinical trial designs, health disparity, cancer prevention interventions (including smoking cessation) and the application of artificial intelligence in cancer research. She is the author of more than 180 peer-reviewed articles. Her research interests include group randomized trials based on communities, methods for repeated measurements, Biomarker studies and best statistical practices.

In 2023, Lee was elected president of the American Statistical Association, or ASA, for the 2025 term, a momentous achievement that represented many firsts. She is the first Korean American statistician, the first woman statistician from Florida and the first cancer center applied biostatistician in the history of the ASA presidency. ASA is the world’s largest community of statisticians, with more than 19,000 members in more than 90 countries.

Lee is also an elected ASA fellow and a certified professional statistician through ASA. She has served on the association’s Council of Chapters governing board as a district vice chair, and on ASA’s Board of Directors for three years. In addition to her work with ASA, she has also been actively involved in several other professional statistical societies.

Before joining UF, Lee was director of the Biostatistics Shared Resource at the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center for four years and a full member of biostatistics at Moffitt Cancer Center for 11 years.

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