Future Needs ‘Public Health Workforce with Expertise in Genetic Data’.

For Josée Dupuis, biostatistics is a discipline that touches every part of public health. “You get to participate in everyone else’s research, play in everyone’s backyard,” she says—even if biostatistics doesn’t always enjoy the highest profile.

“Someone once commented that ‘biostatisticians are like garbage collectors; you only notice them when they are not doing their job,’” says Dupuis, now chair of the Department of Biostatistics after more than a year as interim chair. “I want to change that and to make sure that we get noticed, especially when we are doing our job!”

Dupuis develops and implements new methods in statistical genetics. In her work with the Framingham Heart Study and several consortia in areas like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular health, these methods have been applied to help reveal the “genetic architecture” of different conditions. Her recent work includes developing new approaches to detect how genes interact with the environment and each other, and integrating multiple sources of genetic and non-genetic information, “so that we can get a better understanding of how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together,” she says.

In addition to her research, Dupuis teaches and advises students in BU’s Graduate Program in Bioinformatics. She has also mentored more than 35 students, fellows, and faculty both in and beyond the early-career faculty development program.

A native of Québec, Dupuis holds a doctorate from Stanford University. She previously taught at Northwestern University, and was a senior statistical geneticist at Genome Therapeutics Corporation, an industry leader in genomic mapping and sequencing. Dupuis served as president of the International Genetic Epidemiology Society in 2016, and is a fellow of the American Statistical Association and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

She spoke with SPH about her work, her new role at the School, and the future of genetics in public health.

What brought you to your particular area of research?

I was a graduate student in the department of statistics at Stanford University in the early 1990s when Dr. Patrick Brown, the inventor of DNA microarray, came to seek advice on the analysis of data generated from a new laboratory approach to detect related segments of DNA between two samples. The complexity of the statistical analysis led to a few statistics PhD theses, including my own.

I was fascinated by the field of genetics. The rapidly evolving technologies required new statistical approaches to handle the increasing amount of genetic and genomics data being generated, and I thought this would be a great area of research that would allow me to continue to learn, not only about genetics, but also about the disease areas where my statistical work is applied.

What brought you to SPH?

The great opportunities for collaboration. I was trained as a theoretical statistician, but I craved to see the statistical methods I was developing applied to real-world situations to improve our understanding of complex diseases such as asthma, type-2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

I had met many of the SPH biostatistics faculty working in the area of statistical genetics at conferences, and was impressed with the work that was ongoing at BU. I was excited about being in an environment with such a large number of biostatisticians interested in genetics.

How do you see the relationship between gene-level work and the rest of the public health field?

I think that a lot of tension has centered around the concept of “personalized medicine.” Finding the best treatment based on a person’s genetic and personal profile seems very much at odds with public health.

However, I see the two as necessary and complementary approaches. We are far from determining treatment for each person based on their genetic profile, at least in the non-cancer fields. But use of genetics data can lead to the identification of a subset of individuals at increased risk of developing a disease, who might benefit from a particular intervention or increased follow-up.

Another area of public health benefit from genetic research is in drug development. My colleagues working in the pharmaceutical industry have shared data indicating that use of genetic information in drug development can save billions and lead to more effective treatments, with potential to improve health and decrease cost for all involved. Finally, knowledge of the underlying disease genetic architecture, and how genes interact with other risk factors like behavior and the environment, can lead to better diagnosis, prevention, and new treatments.

Genetics and genomics are here to stay. There is direct-to-consumer marketing and lots of data that is complex to interpret. Genetics is being incorporated into clinical trials, drug development, and health care. And as the public health impact of genetic research grows, it will be critical to have a well-trained public health workforce that includes individuals with expertise in the study design, analysis, and interpretation of genetic data. Hence, it is important to provide educational opportunities in these areas to SPH students.

You’ve been at SPH for a while now, but how do you feel about stepping into your new role?

I feel very excited about this new role. The excitement at the School is tangible since the arrival of Dean Galea, and it is great to be part of such a vibrant and forward-looking school of public health.

Nevertheless, I was a little apprehensive when I first stepped in the interim chair role. I am following in the footsteps of a great chair—Lisa Sullivan, associate dean of education—and she left pretty big shoes to fill. But the support from the faculty has been wonderful, with faculty knocking on my door a few minutes after the announcement to ask how they could better support me in my new role. I feel that it is a privilege to serve as chair of the biostatistics department at SPH, and I look forward to continuing to work with the faculty to elevate the work that we have been doing.

I absolutely love what I do, and I enjoy sharing this passion with my collaborators, colleagues and students. I look forward to witnessing the career growth of current and newly hired faculty in Biostatistics, and to being part of the SPH agenda for a better tomorrow.

—Michelle Samuels