Makram Talih

I hold a PhD in Statistics (2003) from Yale University. From 2003 to 2012, I was Assistant Professor and subsequently Associate Professor (with tenure) in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and the Program in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Hunter College of the City University of New York. From 2011 through May 2018, I was affiliated with the US National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), where I developed statistical methods for measuring and tracking health-related inequalities and ultimately served as Associate Director for Science (ADS) for the Division of Analysis and Epidemiology (DAE). As ADS, I was responsible for the initiation, monitoring, and oversight of DAE and NCHS research projects.

At ISPUP since late 2018, I presently conduct cross-cutting scientific research. For example, I provide statistical expertise in support of funded research projects to study pediatric roots of amplified pain response and uncover musculoskeletal pain susceptibility profiles since childhood, using the Porto metropolitan area’s Generation XXI birth cohort and the Portuguese Rheumatic Diseases Registry; as well as social isolation and functional health in older adults using the EPI Porto study, a population-based cohort of Portuguese adults. In addition to my research at ISPUP, I work as a statistical consultant and continue to serve NCHS on selected contractual projects. I also enjoy teaching some of the statistics classes within the online graduate programs in applied statistics at The Pennsylvania State University.