Bhramar Mukherjee is an

Indian-American Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from India. The terms Asian Indian and East Indian are used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States, who are also referred to as "Indians" or "Am ...

biostatistician Biostatistics (also known as biometry) is a branch of statistics that applies statistical methods to a wide range of topics in biology. It encompasses the design of biological experiments, the collection and analysis of data from those experimen ...

data scientist Data science is an interdisciplinary academic field that uses statistics, scientific computing, scientific methods, processing, scientific visualization, algorithms and systems to extract or extrapolate knowledge from potentially noisy, struct ...

, professor and researcher. She is the Anna MR Lauder Professor of Biostatistics at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. Mukherjee's research has been focused on the development and application of statistical methods in

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

environmental health Environmental health is the branch of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural environment, natural and built environment affecting human health. To effectively control factors that may affect health, the requirements for a hea ...

and disease risk assessment. Mukherjee is a fellow of the

American Statistical Association The American Statistical Association (ASA) is the main professional organization for statisticians and related professionals in the United States. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 27, 1839, and is the second-oldest continuous ...

, the

Institute of Mathematical Statistics The Institute of Mathematical Statistics is an international professional and scholarly society devoted to the development, dissemination, and application of statistics and probability. The Institute currently has about 4,000 members in all parts ...

and the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

. She is an elected member of the

International Statistical Institute The International Statistical Institute (ISI) is a professional association of statisticians. At a meeting of the Jubilee Meeting of the Royal Statistical Society, statisticians met and formed the agreed statues of the International Statistical ...

and the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

Education

Mukherjee was born and raised in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. She received her B.Sc. in statistics from Presidency College in Kolkata in 1994 and her M. Stat from

Indian Statistical Institute The Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) is a public research university headquartered in Kolkata, India with centers in New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Tezpur. It was declared an Institute of National Importance by the Government of India und ...

in 1996. In the late 1990s, she moved to the United States, where she received her M.S. in mathematical statistics in 1999 and then her Ph.D. in statistics in 2001, both from

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

Career

After completing her Ph.D., Mukherjee joined

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

as an assistant professor of Statistics and taught there until 2006, when she left to join the University of Michigan as the John G. Searle Assistant Professorship. She became associate professor in 2009, full professor in 2013 and was awarded the John D. Kalbfleisch Collegiate Professorship at the University of Michigan in 2015. She was appointed the associate chair of Department of Biostatistics at University of Michigan in 2014 and became the first woman chair of the department in 2018. In 2016, Mukherjee was appointed the associate director of cancer control and population studies at University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center. She became the newly appointed associate director for Quantitative Data Sciences in 2019. In 2024, Mukherjee left University of Michigan to join Yale University, where she was appointed the Anna MR Lauder Professor of Biostatistics and the inaugural Senior Associate Dean of Public Health Data Science and Data Equity at the

Yale School of Public Health The Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) was founded in 1915 by Charles-Edward Amory Winslow and is one of the oldest public health masters programs in the United States. YSPH is both a department (established in 1915) within the school of medic ...

. Mukherjee was announced as president-elect for Eastern North American Region (ENAR) of the

International Biometric Society The International Biometric Society (IBS) is an international professional and academic society promoting the development and application of statistical and mathematical theory and methods in the biosciences, including biostatistics. It sponsors t ...

(IBS) in 2025.

Research and work

Mukherjee's research has primarily focused on the development and application of statistical methods in epidemiology, analysis of observational data and disease risk assessment. One of the focal points of Mukherjee's research is to understand how the interaction between genes and environment increases or decreases cancer risk. In this area, she has studied how lifestyle factors such as diet and physical activity coupled with the genetic makeup of an individual impact their cancer risk. In 2018, Mukherjee and her colleagues conducted a phenome-wide association study to see if the polygenic risk scores for different cancers are associated with multiple

phenotype In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology (physical form and structure), its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological propert ...

s. Their study showed that polygenic risk scores can help in stratifying the risk of different cancers in patients. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mukherjee and her study team worked on modeling the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in India.

Awards and honors

*2011 – Elected member, The International Statistical Institute *2012 – Fellow, American Statistical Association *2016 – Gertrude Cox Award,

Washington Statistical Society The Washington Statistical Society (WSS), based in Washington, D.C., is a chapter of the American Statistical Association (ASA). The first American Statistical Association (ASA) meeting in Washington took place on December 31, 1896, for "members li ...

*2017 –

Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowship of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (FAAAS) is an honor accorded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to distinguished persons who are members of the Association. Fellows are elected ...

*2022 – Elected member, The National Academy of Medicine. *2023 – Karl E Peace Award for statistical contribution towards betterment of society awarded by the American Statistical Association *2023 – Jerome Sacks award for outstanding cross-disciplinary research awarded by the National Institute of Statistical Sciences *2023 – John D Kalbfleisch Distinguished University Professorship, University of Michigan *2024 – Marvin Zelen Award for Leadership in Statistical Sciences, Harvard Biostatistics *2024 – Overseas Fellow,

Churchill College Churchill College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. It has a primary focus on science, engineering and technology, but retains a strong interest in the arts ...

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. *2025 – Elected fellow,

*2025 – Elected member,

Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE) is a 501(c)3 non-profit institution patterned after the National Academy of Sciences to identify, study, and provide expert guidance on science and technological advancements that are or ...

Selected articles

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mukherjee, Bhramar American people of Indian descent University of Michigan faculty Purdue University alumni Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Presidency University, Kolkata alumni Indian Statistical Institute alumni American statisticians Women scientists from West Bengal Fellows of Churchill College, Cambridge Fellows of the American Statistical Association Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics Elected Members of the International Statistical Institute Members of the National Academy of Medicine Yale University faculty Women data scientists American data scientists