Transplant recipients may experience a variety of complications that affect their survival and the continued function of the transplanted organ. My current research is directed at developing statistical approaches to simultaneously evaluate the risks and probabilities for multiple transplant outcomes, including patient death, graft rejection and graft failures that result from mixed causes. We have begun to evaluate competing risk models to assess the impact of factors that exist prior to the transplant as well as events that occur after the transplant on the different possible outcomes. We have also begun to apply these approaches to assessing the progression of patients' illnesses before transplantation, which may provide new tools with which to evaluate the effectiveness of organ allocation policies. These new approaches to the analysis of transplant data recognize and incorporate the dynamic and progressive nature of disease.

Molecular techniques have identified nearly 1,000 HLA alleles, but knowledge of the worldwide distribution of these polymorphisms and means for assessing laboratories' capabilities for typing the growing number of HLA alleles are wanting. Here, my research interests include developing statistical techniques to estimate genetic frequencies from large volume, multi-center data sets. I oversee the data analysis for UCLA's International Cell Exchange and am expanding our reference program to include proficiency testing.

I also provide statistical support to the clinical faculty for a variety of projects within the Immunogenetics Center and for other research projects in the Medical School and the Department of Biostatistics.

I teach two areas of Biostatistics for the Department of Biostatistics: a) introductory courses that are prerequisites for School of Public Health graduate students and electives for science undergraduate students; and b) consulting courses designed to enrich Biostatistics majors with clinical and field work.