Jamie Joseph wins Anchor Award
PhD candidate Jamie Joseph is a 2023 recipient of Vanderbilt University’s Graduate Leadership Anchor Award. Having recently completed her fourth year in the graduate program, Joseph impressed department members with her skills in connecting and inspiring other students even before her studies began (at an open house for prospective students, she organized a get-together for all the recruits to enjoy after the formal activities). As an officer (most recently as president) of the Biostatistics Graduate Student Association, she has organized annual faculty lightning talks to help students find research projects, informal events with other departments to connect students in different disciplines, and department events to facilitate better communication among faculty and students. She is currently working on an initiative to partner our students with other Vanderbilt departments or local organizations, in an education outreach program that will help both Vanderbilt undergraduates and local middle/high school students.
Joseph’s leadership extends to the training and education of fellow graduate students. She has served as a teaching assistant for several courses, including one offered to first-year biostatistics, epidemiology, and biomedical informatics students. She received effusive praise from the students in all three departments for her availability and willingness to help students with challenging concepts. In addition, she went above and beyond the call of duty when asked to run lab sections with minimal guidance from the instructor. She also assists with a yearly Stata Bootcamp for the Master of Public Health (MPH) department and has helped tutor numerous students in our department for low or no cost the past four years.
Outside of Vanderbilt, Joseph is a dedicated volunteer. She is a Red Cross caseworker, assisting home fire victims daily, as well as weekly shifts with the Nashville Red Cross facility team. She is also a member of the Nashville Humane Association’s Community Outreach team, assists with a weekly food bank, fosters animals, helps unhoused people through People Loving Nashville, and canvasses for Open Table Nashville.
In choosing Joseph for the 2022 Commodore Award, the selection committee heard from nominators testifying that Joseph “has a reputation for being the go-to person and department Wikipedia” and “is caring, thoughtful, and gives her time to everyone.” The department congratulates Jamie Joseph on this well-earned recognition by the wider Vanderbilt University community.
