News Digest: Honor: Daniela Witten

Posted under: For UW Employees , Honors and Awards , Research , Science , Technology , UW and the Community. Public health statistician one of Forbes' rising stars - What are the odds? A University of Washington statistician has made Forbes' list of top young researchers transforming science and health - for the second year in a row. Daniela Witten, assistant professor of biostatistics at the UW School of Public Health, was named to Forbes' "30 Under 30" list for 2012 in the field of science and healthcare. She was named to the 2011 list for science and innovation. Forbes calls Witten and the other standouts - 30 people each in 15 categories from art and style to sports and technology - "tomorrow's brightest stars." All are under 30 years of age and include names such as singer Adele, 24, Miami Heat forward LeBron James, 28, and Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, 28. Witten , 28, was recognized for her work developing statistical tools that can analyze large sets of data such as the human genome, work that could lead to better treatment and prevention of disease. "Witten became a professor at 26, and is now developing machine learning programs that convert vast amounts of data into useful knowledge," the magazine said in its online report.