Happy September! As the campus comes back to life today and a new academic year kicks off, I’m getting ready to head back into the classroom this term to teach a linear regression course tailored for non-stats majors.

It has been a long time since I last attended a conference, so it was wonderful to see so many familiar faces at the ICSA-Canada Chapter Symposium last week! While many sessions were packed with exciting theory, my favourite moments happened in the hallway.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been featuring an exciting student series on our Instagram page! As part of my statistical consulting course, students translated core survey methodology into practical, visually engaging tips for crafting effective questionnaires.

I am incredibly excited to share a brand-new initiative coming out of my statistical consulting course! This term, I’ve challenged my students to translate complex methodological concepts into highly accessible, practical insights by designing social media posts focused on tips for questionnaire design.

A new publication in JMIR Aging co-authored by two of our wonderful SCSRU graduate consultants, Ph.D. candidate Minzee Kim and Sidharth Bajaj! This project marks an exciting milestone for the SCSRU, as it is the first time we have had two student consultants join forces on a single project, each bringing their own distinct expertise to the table.

I am thrilled to highlight another interdisciplinary work by SCSRU graduate consultant and fourth-year Ph.D. student Jeremy VanderDoes! Collaborating with an interdisciplinary team from the School of Public Health Sciences and the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, Jeremy applied advanced analytical skills to explore the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare utilization and mortality rates in Ontario.

I am incredibly proud to celebrate a new publication in Vaccine co-authored by SCSRU graduate consultant and second-year Ph.D. student Xisi Zhang! In a wonderful interdisciplinary collaboration with researchers from the School of Public Health Sciences and the School of Pharmacy, Xisi provided vital statistical expertise to investigate how COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy shifts between mandatory primary doses and optional booster doses among university students.

I am incredibly proud to share that SCSRU graduate consultant and Ph.D. student Kyu Min Shim has recently published his exploratory research in the journal Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy!

I have been familiar with the phrase “journal impact factor” for a long time. So, when the librarians reached out to understand more about the impact of librarians’ involvement in research projects on journal impact factors, I jumped at the opportunity.