Lurdes Inoue, professor of biostatistics at the University of Washington returns to the role of Biostatistics graduate program director beginning in the 2026-27 academic year.
Inoue previously served as director from 2017 to 2019 and as department chair from 2019 to 2025.She succeeds Ken Rice, who served as director from July 2021 through August 2026.
“I am extremely honored and grateful to be offered the position of graduate program director of the department of biostatistics,” said Inoue. “While I learned a lot when I first served in this role, a lot has changed and more challenges have come along. However, in strong collaboration with our faculty and students, I look forward to enhancing our ability to overcome any difficulty while expanding the ability of our graduate program to support the impactful research and teaching from members of our department!“
“Lurdes brings a wealth of experience, both as previous director and as department chair, that will be invaluable as we continue to improve our graduate programs to offer excellent training to our students, especially in light of the new opportunities and challenges arising with the increasing role of AI in health and medicine, said Ali Shojaie, interim department chair and professor of biostatistics. ”I would also like to express my gratitude to Ken Rice for his outstanding service as the graduate program coordinator over the past six years.
Inoue has been a member of the UW School of Public Health and Biostatistics department since 2002. She is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Pharmacy and an affiliate investigator at the Fred Hutch. Inoue is known in the field of Bayesian Statistics, and as a co-author of a leading decision theory textbook. Her work has led to a better understanding of the risks of certain cancers.
Among her many professional honors, she is an elected fellow of the American Statistical Association. Inoue also served as an editor for the journal Bayesian Analysis, an elected member of the Board of Directors for the International Society for Bayesian Analysis and a member of the NIH Biostatistical Methods and Research Design review panel.
