Led by PI Nicholas Reich and based in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Reich Lab focuses on developing statistical methods and tools for data arising from infectious disease settings. In 2019, we were designated as a CDC-funded Influenza Forecasting Center of Excellence.
We use statistics, data science, and epidemiology to gain better understanding of the complexities of infectious disease dynamics. Our work has been featured in the New York Times, FiveThirtyEight, the Economist, and the Boston Globe, and on National Public Radio and PBS NewsHour.
With active funded projects from the NIH and CDC, the Lab is involved in independent and collaborative research efforts. Our collaborators include the Influenza Division at the US CDC, the Dengue Branch of the CDC in Puerto Rico, the Infectious Disease Dynamics Working Group and Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins, the Thai Ministry of Public Health and National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC), the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Children's Hospital Colorado, and the Veterans Health Administration branches in New York City and Iowa City.
Nick is a Professor of Biostatistics at UMass. He received his PhD in Biostatstics from Johns Hopkins, where he also did his post-doctoral training in infectious disease epidemiology. He also enjoys spending time outside with his family (hiking, camping, canoeing, gardening).
Evan is a Research Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at UMass-Amherst. He received his PhD in statistics from UMass-Amherst, developing methods to infer physical activity type and intensity from accelerometer data. A former post-doc in the Reich Lab, he also works on developing methods for predicting infectious disease outbreaks.
Nutcha is pursuing her PhD in Biostatistics. She is interested in infectious disease forecasting, causal inference, and ensemble methods.
Ariane is a PhD student in biostatistics. She received her undergraduate degree in Mathematics from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is interested in infectious disease forecasting. In her free time she likes to play bridge (a card game).
Minsu is a PhD student in Biostatistics. Her research interest is infectious disease forecasting, ensemble methods, and machine learning. She enjoys programming. She usually go hiking in her free time.
Aaron is pursuing a degree in biostatistics after a previous career lecturing in the UMass-Amherst math department. He is especially interested in how the public health needs of populations with low social or political visibility should inform forecasting and risk assessment methodologies.
Li is an Undergrad Mathematics major with a Statistics and Data Science concentration. Li is also a part of the Biostatistics 4+1 program and has an interest in model accuracy. In her free time, she enjoys dancing and writing.
Álvaro is a PhD student in epidemiology. He is interested in science communication, economic inequality, gambling, and infectious diseases. He received his MD from Universidad Internacional del Ecuador, and a BSc in Biochemistry from McGill University.
Quinn is currently a senior at Smith College majoring in Statistical and Data Sciences. She is interested in statistical methods related to infectious disease and causal inference.
Matt is the lab's research software engineer. His M.S. is in Computer Science from UMass/Amherst, and his B.S. is in E.E. Before grad school he worked for NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Space Shuttle operations. Since then he's worked for decades in various AI research labs, writing all types of software.
Martha has worked as a biostatistician and data manager in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, Amherst since 1987. She likes doing anything outside and garland dancing.