Scarlett Bellamy, left, chair and professor of biostatistics at SPH, presents Nandita Mitra with the 2024 L. Adrienne Cupples Award.

biostatistics

Penn Professor Nandita Mitra Wins 2024 Cupples Award

Nandita Mitra, professor of biostatistics at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, is the recipient of the 2024 L. Adrienne Cupples Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research, and Service in Biostatistics.

The L. Adrienne Cupples Award is presented each year by the Department of Biostatistics at Boston University School of Public Health to recognize a biostatistician whose academic achievements reflect the contributions to biostatistics exemplified by the late L. Adrienne Cupples, an emeritus professor of biostatistics and epidemiology and the award’s first recipient. Mitra was selected for her substantial achievements in each of these areas; she is currently vice chair of education and co-director of the Center for Causal Inference in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics at Penn.

Cupples joined the SPH faculty in 1981 and later served as founding chair of the Department of Biostatistics and co-executive director of the graduate program in Biostatistics. During her tenure at SPH, she advanced the field of biostatistics through extensive publications in major journals and book chapters on collaborative and methodological research, development and effective teaching of a wide range of biostatistics courses, and mentorship of numerous graduate students and faculty. 

Mitra is internationally recognized for her work in statistical methods for health policy research, causal inference, instrumental variables, cost-effectiveness, spillover effects, and difference-in-difference methodologies, and her collaborations in various areas of public health and cancer research.

Additionally, she is chair of the Budget & Finance Committee for the International Biometrics Society, chair of the American Statistical Association (ASA) Statistics in Epidemiology Section, and secretary of the Society for Causal Inference and was recently awarded the American Statistical Association’s prestigious Mentorship Award. She is editor-in-chief of the journal Observational Studies and a fellow of the American Statistical Association.

While the Cupples Award Committee noted her significant contributions to teaching, research, and service, they felt that her nomination was particularly distinguished in the areas of teaching and mentoring, as evidenced by numerous teaching awards. The committee also noted that Mitra has played an influential role in guiding numerous PhD students who have gone on to make their own significant contributions to biostatistics, and she has provided instrumental enhancements to Penn’s graduate programs in biostatistics.