E. Neely Atkinson

E. Neely Atkinson serves as Senior Lecturer in the Department of Statistics at Rice University. A dedicated educator and researcher, he earned his B.A. in English, M.A. in Mathematical Sciences, and Ph.D. in Mathematical Sciences from Rice University, completing his doctorate in 1981 under the advisement of James R. Thompson. His dissertation, titled "An Epidemiological Examination of the Effects of Asbestos on Lung Function," marked the beginning of his focus on statistical applications in health sciences. Following graduation, Dr. Atkinson embarked on a 39-year tenure at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he rose to the rank of Professor of Biostatistics before retiring.

Dr. Atkinson's research has primarily addressed early detection of cancer through innovative statistical algorithms and models. His contributions include foundational work on tumor growth estimation in "On Estimating the Growth Function of Tumors" (1983) and analysis of intracranial tumor growth rates in "Lack of Concordance of Growth Rates of Primary and Recurrent Intracranial Tumors" (1986). He has extensively collaborated on fluorescence and reflectance spectroscopy for cervical precancer screening, with key publications such as "Model-based analysis of reflectance and fluorescence spectra for in vivo detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia" (2009), "Repeatability of tissue fluorescence measurements for the detection of cervical neoplasia" (2010), "The effects of repeated spectroscopic pressure measurements on cervical tissue" (2004), and "Performance estimation of diagnostic tests for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia" (2001). Additional works encompass "An empirical model of diagnostic x-ray attenuation under narrow-beam geometry" (2011) and "Prediction using hierarchical data: Applications for automated fluorescence microscopy" (2015). These efforts have advanced statistical methodologies in bioengineering, oncology, and medical imaging. Presently, Dr. Atkinson teaches introductory courses like STAT 280 Elementary Applied Statistics and STAT 305 Fundamentals of Biostatistics at Rice, imparting practical insights from his career to underscore statistics' role in evidence-based decision-making.

Professional Email: enatk@rice.edu