Ralph B. D'Agostino

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Ralph B. D'Agostino
Ralph B. D'Agostino, Sr.jpg
Born
Ralph Benedict D'Agostino

(1940-08-16) August 16, 1940 (age 83) [1]
Somerville, Massachusetts [1]
NationalityAmerican
Education Boston University (A.B. summa cum laude , 1962; A.M., 1964)
Harvard University (Ph.D., 1968)
Known for Biostatistics
Spouse
LeiLanie Carta
​
(m. 1965)​
[1]
ChildrenRalph Benedict [1]
LeiLanie Maria [1]
AwardsFellow of the American Statistical Association [1]
Food and Drug Administration Advisory Committee Service Award (2008) [2]
Scientific career
Fields Statistics
Epidemiology
Mathematics
Institutions Boston University
Thesis Estimation of Percentiles of Continuous Populations  (1968)
Doctoral advisors Frederick Mosteller [3]
William Gemmell Cochran [3]
Doctoral students Lisa M. Sullivan

Ralph Benedict D'Agostino Sr. (born August 16, 1940) is an American biostatistician and professor of Mathematics/Statistics, Biostatistics and Epidemiology at Boston University. He was the director of the Statistics and Consulting Unit of the Framingham Study and the executive director of the M.A./Ph.D. program in biostatistics at Boston University. [2] He was elected a fellow of the American Statistical Association in 1990 and of the American Heart Association in 1991. [1]

Contents

His son, Ralph B. D'Agostino Jr., is also a biostatistician and fellow of the American Statistical Association (elected 2013).

Education and Career

D'Agostino graduated from Boston University (A.B. summa cum laude ) with a major in mathematics in 1962 and with a masters degree mathematics in 1964. He completed his Ph.D. in statistics at Harvard University under the joint supervision of William Cochran and Frederick Mosteller in 1968. [4] He joined as faculty in the Department of Mathematics (now the Department of Mathematics and Statistics) at Boston University, where he served as department chair, director of the Boston University Statistics and Consulting Unit (1986–2015), and co-director of the biostatistics department's MA/Ph.D. program (1988–2021). [4]

D'Agostino is known for D'Agostino's K2 test, a goodness-of-fit measure of departure from normality. [5]

D'Agostino was a co-principal investigator and the director of data analysis and statistics at the Framingham Heart Study. [4] He co-authored 305 peer-reviewed papers involving the Framingham cohort between 1984–2019. [4] D'Agostino was instrumental in developing several risk prediction models including, a global cardiovascular disease risk function, a coronary heart disease risk assessment function, [6] an instrument for predicting acute ischemic heart disease, and a stroke health risk appraisal function. [7] He also played a key role in the development of guidelines for cholesterol. [8]

D'Agostino has played a pivotal role in the journal Statistics in Medicine since its inaugural volume in 1982. He contributed an article to the first edition titled "The Logistic Function as an Aid in the Detection of Acute Coronary Disease in Emergency Patients (a Case Study)". [9] He assumed the position of senior editor of the journal and served as lead editor for the Tutorials in Biostatistics segment of the journal from 1995 through 2019.

From 2007 through 2021, D’Agostino served as statistical consultant to the editor of The New England Journal of Medicine .

In addition to being a prolific researcher, Professor D'Agostino was a beloved statistics instructor. A selection of quotations from his students, collected when he was awarded the Boston University Metcalf Cup and Prize for Excellence in Teaching include the following: “Professor D’Agostino made it possible for me to understand statistics, something that I thought was impossible.” “Professor D’Agostino’s clarity, obvious intelligence, patience, and wry sense of humor has changed my attitude towards statistics from acceptance to enjoyment.” “I now enjoy, and enjoy using, statistics—something that I had never before imagined.” [10]

Writing

D'Agostino has 745 peer-reviewed papers and with over 305,000 citations in Google Scholar is among the top five most cited researchers in the fields of Statistics, Biostatistics, and Cardiovascular Disease. [11] His H Index stands at 246, among the best numbers in any field. D'Agostino has authored several books, including the following:

D'Agostino has also served as the editor of several books, including the following:

Recognition

Professor D'Agostino has received many honors. He received the Metcalf Cup and Prize for Excellence in Teaching from Boston University in 1985. [10] He was elected a fellow of the American Statistical Association in 1990 and of the American Heart Association in 1991. [1] He was honored with the FDA Advisory Committee Service Award in 2008, received a Special Citation from the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner in 1981 and 1995, and was named Statistician of the Year by the Boston chapter of the American Heart Association in 1993. Named one of the most influential researchers in clinical medicine since 2014, he was the recipient of the Achievement Award and the Award for Distinguished Service and Contributions from the American Public Health Association in 2014. [12]

Personal life

D'Agostino was born in Sommerville, Massachusetts to Benedetto D'Agostino and Carmela D'Agostino (Piemonte). He married LeiLanie D'Agostino (Carta) on August 28, 1965. LeiLanie played an instrumental role in both his family, helping raise their two children, LeiLanie and Ralph, and his research career. [13] His son, Ralph B. D'Agostino, Jr., is a biostatistics professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and fellow of the American Statistical Association (elected 2013). His granddaughter, Lucy D'Agostino McGowan is also a biostatistician and an assistant professor in the Department of Statistical Sciences at Wake Forest University. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coronary artery disease</span> Reduction of blood flow to the heart muscle due to plaque buildup in the hearts arteries

Coronary artery disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease (CHD), ischemic heart disease (IHD), myocardial ischemia, or simply heart disease, involves the reduction of blood flow to the heart muscle due to build-up of atherosclerotic plaque in the arteries of the heart. It is the most common of the cardiovascular diseases. Types include stable angina, unstable angina, and myocardial infarction. A common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may travel into the shoulder, arm, back, neck, or jaw. Occasionally it may feel like heartburn. Usually symptoms occur with exercise or emotional stress, last less than a few minutes, and improve with rest. Shortness of breath may also occur and sometimes no symptoms are present. In many cases, the first sign is a heart attack. Other complications include heart failure or an abnormal heartbeat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cardiovascular disease</span> Class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases, heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, valvular heart disease, carditis, aortic aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, thromboembolic disease, and venous thrombosis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Framingham Heart Study</span> Cardiovascular cohort study

The Framingham Heart Study is a long-term, ongoing cardiovascular cohort study of residents of the city of Framingham, Massachusetts. The study began in 1948 with 5,209 adult subjects from Framingham, and is now on its third generation of participants. Prior to the study almost nothing was known about the epidemiology of hypertensive or arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Much of the now-common knowledge concerning heart disease, such as the effects of diet, exercise, and common medications such as aspirin, is based on this longitudinal study. It is a project of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, in collaboration with Boston University. Various health professionals from the hospitals and universities of Greater Boston staff the project.

Naihua Duan is a Taiwanese biostatistician specializing in mental health services and policy research at Columbia University. Duan is a professor of biostatistics with tenure in the Departments of Psychiatry and Biostatistics at Columbia University Medical Center, and a senior research scientist at NYSPI.

HeartScore is a cardiovascular disease risk assessment and management tool developed by the European Society of Cardiology, aimed at supporting clinicians in optimising individual cardiovascular risk reduction.

The Framingham Risk Score is a sex-specific algorithm used to estimate the 10-year cardiovascular risk of an individual. The Framingham Risk Score was first developed based on data obtained from the Framingham Heart Study, to estimate the 10-year risk of developing coronary heart disease. In order to assess the 10-year cardiovascular disease risk, cerebrovascular events, peripheral artery disease and heart failure were subsequently added as disease outcomes for the 2008 Framingham Risk Score, on top of coronary heart disease.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seven Countries Study</span>

The Seven Countries Study is an epidemiological longitudinal study directed by Ancel Keys at what is today the University of Minnesota Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene & Exercise Science (LPHES). Begun in 1956 with a yearly grant of US$200,000 from the U.S. Public Health Service, the study was first published in 1978 and then followed up on its subjects every five years thereafter.

Marvin Zelen was Professor Emeritus of Biostatistics in the Department of Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH), and Lemuel Shattuck Research Professor of Statistical Science. During the 1980s, Zelen chaired HSPH's Department of Biostatistics. Among colleagues in the field of statistics, he was widely known as a leader who shaped the discipline of biostatistics. He "transformed clinical trial research into a statistically sophisticated branch of medical research."

James Hutchinson Ware was an American biostatistician and the Frederick Mosteller Professor of Biostatistics and Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Science at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He had been Academic Dean for 19 years (1990-2009) under Deans Harvey Fineberg and Barry Bloom and served as Acting Dean from 1997 to 1998, as Harvey Fineberg assumed the position of Provost of Harvard University. During Ware's 19-year tenure as academic dean (1990-2009), the student the School's student body doubled in size and its research budget grew at an annual rate of eight percent. Ware was a co-investigator in the landmark Six Cities Study of Air Pollution and Health, which has had a profound effect on Clean Air Act regulations in the U.S. and efforts to limit air pollution around the world.

Louise Marie Ryan is an Australian biostatistician, a distinguished professor of statistics in the School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney, president-elect of the International Biometric Society, and an editor-in-chief of the journal Statistics in Medicine. She is known for her work applying statistics to cancer and risk assessment in environmental health.

Rebecca A. Betensky is a professor of biostatistics and chair of the department of biostatistics at New York University's School of Global Public Health. Previously, she was a professor of biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where she directed the biostatistics program for the Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center. She was also a biostatistician for Massachusetts General Hospital, where she directed the biostatistics core of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

Vicki Stover Hertzberg is an American biostatistician, who is currently professor in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing of Emory University, where she founded and continues to direct its Center for Data Science. Previously she worked as a professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics in the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University between 1994 and 2015, serving as the department chair 1994-2001.

Rongwei (Rochelle) F. Fu is a biostatistician who uses meta-analysis to understand disease incidence, detection, and treatment. She is a professor of biostatistics, medical informatics and clinical epidemiology at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), and the director of biostatistics education at OHSU. She has also worked as lead biostatistician for the OHSU Center for Policy and Research in Emergency Medicine (CPR-EM), at the Pacific Northwest Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC), and at the OHSU Research Center for Gender-Based Medicine.

Sharon-Lise Teresa Normand is a Canadian biostatistician whose research centers on the evaluation of the quality of care provided by physicians and hospitals, and on the health outcomes for medical devices and medical procedures. She is a professor in the Department of Health Care Policy at the Harvard Medical School and in the Department of Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Liming Peng is a Chinese biostatistician who works as a professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics at the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, where she is also affiliated with the Winship Cancer Institute. The topics of her statistical research include survival analysis, quantile regression, and nonparametric statistics; she applies these methods to the study of chronic diseases including diabetes and cystic fibrosis.

Josée Dupuis is a Canadian biostatistician. She is a professor in the Boston University School of Public Health, where she chairs the department of biostatistics. Her research interests include genome-wide association studies, gene–environment interaction, and applications to diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Lisa Marie Sullivan is a biostatistician associated with the Framingham Heart Study. She is a professor of biostatistics at Boston University, where she is associate dean for education in the School of Public Health and the former chair of the biostatistics department.

Alexa S. Beiser is an American professor of biostatistics and public health researcher.

William Peter Castelli is an American physician, epidemiologist and former director of the Framingham Heart Study.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Ralph Benedict D'Agostino Sr., PhD". Marquis Who's Who . Retrieved 2018-11-25.
  2. 1 2 "Ralph D'Agostino Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-11-25.
  3. 1 2 "Ralph D'Agostino". The Mathematics Genealogy Project . Retrieved 2018-11-25.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Ralph D'Agostino: Editor, Adviser, Researcher, Professor | Amstat News". 2020-05-01. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
  5. ↑ D'Agostino, Ralph B.; Belanger, Albert; D'Agostino, Ralph B. (November 1990). "A Suggestion for Using Powerful and Informative Tests of Normality". The American Statistician. 44 (4): 316. doi:10.2307/2684359. JSTOR   2684359.
  6. ↑ Wilson, Peter W. F.; D’Agostino, Ralph B.; Levy, Daniel; Belanger, Albert M.; Silbershatz, Halit; Kannel, William B. (1998-05-12). "Prediction of Coronary Heart Disease Using Risk Factor Categories". Circulation. 97 (18): 1837–1847. doi: 10.1161/01.CIR.97.18.1837 . ISSN   0009-7322. PMID   9603539.
  7. ↑ Wolf, P A; D'Agostino, R B; Belanger, A J; Kannel, W B (1991). "Probability of stroke: a risk profile from the Framingham Study". Stroke. 22 (3): 312–318. doi:10.1161/01.STR.22.3.312. ISSN   0039-2499. PMID   2003301. S2CID   710974.
  8. ↑ Stone, Neil J.; Robinson, Jennifer G.; Lichtenstein, Alice H.; Bairey Merz, C. Noel; Blum, Conrad B.; Eckel, Robert H.; Goldberg, Anne C.; Gordon, David; Levy, Daniel; Lloyd-Jones, Donald M.; McBride, Patrick; Schwartz, J. Sanford; Shero, Susan T.; Smith, Sidney C.; Watson, Karol (2014-06-24). "2013 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Treatment of Blood Cholesterol to Reduce Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Risk in Adults: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines". Circulation. 129 (25_suppl_2). doi: 10.1161/01.cir.0000437738.63853.7a . ISSN   0009-7322. PMID   24222016.
  9. ↑ D'Agostino, Ralph B.; Pozen, Michael W. (1982). "The logistic function as an aid in the detection of acute coronary disease in emergency patients (A case study)". Statistics in Medicine. 1 (1): 41–48. doi:10.1002/sim.4780010107. PMID   7187082.
  10. 1 2 "1985 Metcalf Cup & Prize | Office of the Provost". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 2023-08-13.
  11. ↑ "Ralph B. D'Agostino". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2023-08-13.
  12. ↑ Moderator, Marquis Who's Who (2018-10-22). "Ralph Benedict D'Agostino Sr". Marquis Who's Who Top Educators. Retrieved 2023-08-13.
  13. ↑ D'Agostino, Ralph B.; Kannel, William B.; Stepanians, Miganush N.; D'Agostino, Leilanie C. (1993). "Efficacy and tolerability of lovastatin in hypercholesterolemia in patients with systemic hypertension". The American Journal of Cardiology. 71 (1): 82–87. doi:10.1016/0002-9149(93)90715-o. ISSN   0002-9149. PMID   8093585.
  14. ↑ "Rising Star Talks About Statistics Journey, Future of the Profession | Amstat News". 2018-09-01. Retrieved 2023-08-13.
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