Estelle Russek-Cohen (also published as Estelle Russek) is an American

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 ...

and expert on

biometrics Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics and features. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used t ...

. Formerly a professor at the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

and division director in the

Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research The Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) is one of six main centers for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The current Director of CBER is Vinay Pras ...

or the

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

, she has retired to become a statistical consultant.

Education and career

Russek-Cohen graduated from

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

in 1972, with a double major in biology and mathematics. She completed her Ph.D. in biostatistics at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in 1979. Her dissertation was entitled ''Overspecification in linear discriminant analysis''. She joined the faculty of the University of Maryland as an assistant professor in 1978, affiliated with the university's Department of Animal Sciences and Department of Microbiology. She eventually became full professor and director of the university's program in biometrics. She moved to the

in 2004, initially with the

FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health The Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) is one of six product centers of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an agency that is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). CDRH is responsible for ensuring t ...

. In 2010 she became deputy division director for biostatistics in the

, and in 2014 she became division director. She left federal service in 2020 and has been principal of a consulting firm since.

Recognition

In 1997, the University of Maryland's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources gave Russek-Cohen their Excellence in Instruction Award. Russek-Cohen was named a

Fellow of the American Statistical Association Like many other academic professional societies, the American Statistical Association (ASA) uses the title of Fellow of the American Statistical Association as its highest honorary grade of membership. The designation of ASA Fellow has been a sign ...

in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russek-Cohen, Estelle Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American women statisticians American biostatisticians Stony Brook University alumni University of Washington alumni University of Maryland, College Park faculty Fellows of the American Statistical Association