My research activities address complex statistical challenges found in the natural and physical sciences through the development of new statistical methodology.  I pursue interdisciplinary research investigating prevailing problems in the sciences with emphasis on statistical challenges in astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology.

Most of ongoing research focuses on methodological development for topological data analysis (TDA) and for the detection and characterization of exoplanets in the presence of stellar activity.  I have also worked in other areas such as approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) and generalized fiducial inference (my dissertation work), and more generally on statistical challenges in astronomy (astrostatistics).

My personal website is https://www.jjckehe.com/

What is your education/career background?

I completed my BS in mathematics from the University of Notre Dame, and then worked for a couple years as an actuary before pursing my PhD in statistics at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.  I then spent three years as a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Statistics at Carnegie Mellon University, followed by a few years as an assistant professor in the Department of Statistics at Yale University.  During the summer of 2020, I started my current position as an assistant professor in the Department of Statistics at UW-Madison.

How have you navigated a career in STEM as a woman/underrepresented minority?

I have been fortunate to be a part of several excellent statistics departments throughout my career and have had wonderful mentors, friends, and colleagues.  Throughout my career, I have generally tried to have a positive attitude and to stay focused on shaping my career path based on my vision and goals.

What advice do you have for women/underrepresented groups pursuing an education/career in STEM?

Work hard and do your best but take regular breaks and enjoy other aspects of your life.  You will encounter many different people across your education and career path…many will be helpful, encouraging, and supportive, and some will not be but don’t let it get you down.  Be OK saying no to (potentially) lots of great opportunities if it steers you away from your goals, and don’t feel badly about it.  Sometimes you may receive feedback or comments that can come across as harsh or unnecessarily negative.  In those circumstances, it can be helpful to give the best possible interpretation to what was communicated.

What do you enjoy most about your career/current role?

There are many things I enjoy about being a faculty member in statistics!  One thing I love about statistics is that you can learn about other domains through interdisciplinary collaborations. 

What does diversity, inclusivity, and equity look like to you in your job sector? How do you incorporate DEI in your position?

One great thing about being a faculty member is interactions with students with a variety of backgrounds.  I hope to be encouraging and supportive of students in my classes and research group.  For research opportunities, I seek to supervise students who are eager to learn, curious, and willing and able to work hard, even if their background on the topic is limited. Undergraduate students with limited backgrounds are often unfamiliar with opportunities around campus for getting involved in research.  In the statistics department, we have been trying to promote these sorts of research opportunities through our annual Faculty Quick Talks, where 7-10 faculty members from around campus give short presentations on data science research opportunities for undergraduate students.  Also, I have been serving on the statistics department’s Climate and Diversity committee, and we been working to promote geographic and economic diversity through a new initiative to provide PhD application fee waivers.  Paying for (often many) PhD application fees can be a significant roadblock for students seeking to pursue graduate degrees, so we hope to provide some mitigation.  

What is your favorite way to unwind?

These days it is a lot of playing with my young kids and husband!  I also enjoy board games, running, reading, arts and crafts, and sitting in coffee shops.

Anything else you would like to add:?

Find mentors/friends/colleagues who encourage and support you but will also give critical feedback (and you do likewise for them).  Figure out your own career path, even it is outside the norms of your field.  Before making big career decisions, talk to people you trust for input, but ultimately make your own decision.  And don’t be too good at things you don’t want to do

I’m in Drs. Lisa Barroilhet and Manish Patankar’s lab as part of the Cellular and Molecular Pathology program. My thesis project studies the effects of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) inhibition in solid tumors, including ovarian cancer and melanoma. I am particularly interested in characterizing the effects of OXPHOS-inhibitors on tumor immunogenicity to explore their potential as combination agents for immunotherapies

My research group works to develop statistical models to answer biological questions, balancing biological interpretability, theoretical guarantees, and computational tractability. We deal with modern big data which is highly interconnected through graphical structures: phylogenetic networks to study evolution, interaction networks to study microbial communities in soil and plants, neural networks to predict phenotypes from genotypes. Our work produces a collection of new statistical methods with solid theoretical guarantees and efficient computational implementations that are adaptable to analyze the complex characteristics of modern big biological data