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Department names award in honor of Thomas R. Fleming

The Department of Biostatistics announced in June that its highest honor given to a senior PhD student will now be known as the Thomas R. Fleming Excellence in Biostatistics Award, honoring Professor of Biostatistics Thomas R. Fleming.

Previously known as the PhD Senior Student Award, the honor recognizes a PhD student who best demonstrates high achievement in coursework and exam performance, quality of thesis and publications, written and oral communication, and leadership.  Dr. Fleming presented the award bearing his name to Anna Plantinga during the department's graduation ceremony, June 10. The award includes a $2,000 cash prize.

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Anna Plantinga receiving award from Thomas Fleming
Dr. Thomas R. Fleming (right) presents Anna Plantinga with the award bearing his name during the department's 2018 graduation ceremony.

About Thomas R. Fleming

Dr. Thomas R. Fleming is a professor and former department chair of the UW Department of Biostatistics. He is also a member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and the former Director of the Statistical Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention Trial Network, NIAID.

Fleming has authored or coauthored several books and more than 250 research articles in peer-reviewed journals, many regarding the development of state-of-the-art methods for the design, conduct and analysis of clinical trials. His landmark research on the prevention of transmission of HIV appeared in NEJM in 2011. This research, on which he was senior author, was recognized by Science Magazine as the scientific “Breakthrough of the Year”.

Fleming has chaired or served on Data Monitoring Committees for more than 200 clinical trials. He currently serves as a Special Government Employee for the FDA, and for more than 25 years, has been a regular member of several FDA Advisory Committee. He’s been invited to serve as a voting member on more than 100 occasions.

Over the course of his career, Fleming has received numerous awards including the Outstanding Teaching Award from the School of Public Health at the University of Washington, and the FDA Commissioner’s Special Citation Award for Extraordinary Contribution to the Agency. He’s been recognized as the 2007 Greenberg Lecturer at University of North Carolina, the 2009 Distinguished Lecturer at the School of Public Health at the University of Washington and, in 2011, the Ross Prentice Endowed Professor of Biostatistical Collaboration.

In 2012, he was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, and in 2015, to membership in the National Academy of Medicine.