Emma Benn facts for kids

Emma Katherine Tara Benn is a scientist who uses math and statistics to study health. She is a biostatistician. Her work helps understand why some groups of people have different health problems than others. This is called health disparities. She tries to find ways to fix these differences.

Emma Benn works at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is a professor there and helps lead a center for biostatistics. She also helps support other scientists and started a center to encourage diversity in science.

Her Journey in Science

Emma Benn is African American. She grew up in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Her mom worked at Bryn Mawr College. Emma was very good at math from a young age. She even met math professors like Helen G. Grundman there.

She went to Swarthmore College for her undergraduate studies. There, she found a mentor in Garikai Campbell, who was also an African American mathematician. In 2004, she earned her first degree in chemistry.

Later, she earned two more degrees in public health from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. While at Columbia, she helped start a special summer program. It was called the Biostatistics Epidemiology Summer Training (BEST) Diversity Program. This program helps encourage more diverse students to study biostatistics.

In 2012, after finishing her doctorate, she joined the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Making a Difference

Emma Benn's work is important for understanding health issues. She uses data to find out what causes health differences. This helps doctors and communities know how to make things better.

Because of her important work, Emma Benn has received special honors. In 2022, she was chosen as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association. This is a big honor for statisticians. In 2023, she was also named a fellow of the Association for Women in Mathematics.