Alice S. Whittemore facts for kids

Alice Segers Whittemore is an American scientist. She is an expert in two main areas: epidemiology and biostatistics. Epidemiology is the study of how diseases spread and affect groups of people. Biostatistics uses math and statistics to understand health and medicine.

Alice studies how our genes and lifestyle choices can affect our risk of getting cancer. Before this, she was a pure mathematician, studying something called group theory. Today, she is a professor at Stanford University. She teaches about health research and how to use data in medicine. She also used to be the president of a big group called the International Biometric Society.

Alice's Journey in Science

Alice Whittemore first studied pure mathematics. She earned her first college degree in 1958 from Marymount Manhattan College. Later, she got her master's degree in 1964 from Hunter College.

In 1967, Alice finished her Ph.D. from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her special project for her Ph.D. was about something called Frattini subgroups. Her teacher for this project was Gilbert Baumslag.

While she was a math professor at Hunter College, Alice became very interested in health and statistics. She decided to change her focus. She took a special program at New York University to learn about these new fields. Her mentor there was Joseph Keller.

In 1978, Alice and Joseph Keller, who later became her husband, moved to Stanford. There, Alice became a professor in the Department of Health Research and Policy. She led the epidemiology section from 1997 to 2001. Later, she became a co-leader of the whole department. Joseph Keller passed away in 2016.

What Alice Discovered

One important study by Alice Whittemore looked at a possible link between certain medical treatments and ovarian cancer. Her research suggested a connection, especially for women who had these treatments but did not become pregnant.

Alice's Achievements

Alice Whittemore has received many important awards for her work. In 1992, she was chosen as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This means she is recognized as a leading scientist. She is also a fellow of the American Statistical Association. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, which is a very high honor.

In 2004, she won the Janet L. Norwood Award. This award celebrates amazing achievements by women in statistics. In 2010, she received the Nathan Mantel Lifetime Achievement Award. This award was given by a section of the American Statistical Association for her long and important work in health statistics.

She also received the Florence Nightingale David Award in 2005. In 2016, she was given the R. A. Fisher Lectureship. This award recognized her major contributions to understanding health data and diseases. It also honored her for guiding many young scientists.