% the acknowledgments section




First and foremost, I want to acknowledge my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Through Christ all things are possible--I have made it to where I am today because of His grace and strength.

I am deeply grateful to my wonderful advisors, Brent Coull and Linda Valeri, for their encouragement, guidance, and mentorship throughout my journey as a graduate student. I would like to give a special thank you to my committee members, Jarvis Chen and Paige Williams. Their insights, both academic and nonacademic, have contributed greatly to this dissertation and to my life. 

My journey as a biostatistician would not have started without the encouragement from my mentor and friend, Darcie Delzell. Her love for statistics inspired me to pursue this career, and I will be forever grateful for her advice over the years. 

I owe everything to the support of my family and friends. To my parents, Doug and Lynda, none of this would be possible without your love and encouragement. To my siblings, Olivia, Levi, Jake, and Emily Joella, and my honorary sister Alia, you are my best friends and I am inspired by each of you daily. 
To the incredible friends I have made on this journey, Olivia Maiefski, Gloria Han, Emily Slade, and the Ladies of Biostats, I cherish every memory we have made together and know I would not have made it through the last few years without you by my side. 


Lastly, to my number one fan and husband, Lucas. Your love and support have been a constant through my graduate school experience, and for that, I am eternally grateful.







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%First and foremost, I want to acknowledge my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Through Christ all things are possible, and I know it is through His grace and strength that I have made it to where I am today.
%
%I am deeply grateful to my wonderful advisors, Brent Coull and Linda Valeri, for their encouragement, guidance, and mentorship throughout my journey as a graduate student. %This work would not be possible without their 
%%This work would not be possible without the encouragement and guidance of my wonderful advisor Dr. Brent Coull. His care for teaching and mentorship are an inspiration and I am grateful for his
%I would like to give a special thanks to my committee members, Jarvis Chen and Paige Williams. Their insights both academic and nonacademic have contributed greatly to this dissertation and to my life. 
%
%My journey as a biostatistician would not have started without the encouragement from my mentor and friend Darcie Delzell. Her love for statistics inspired me to pursue this career, and I will be forever grateful for her advice over the years. 
%
%I owe everything to the support of my family and friends. To my parents, Doug and Lynda, none of this would be possible without your love and encouragement. %You have always modeled for me I can do anything I put my mind to and that .......%that the experiences are more%Mom, thank you for modeling to me that I can do anything I set my mind to. Dad, thank you for working hard to support my passions and always teaching me to value experiences over possessions. 
%To my siblings, Olivia, Levi, Jake, and Emily Joella, and my honorary sister Alia, you are my best friends and I am inspired by each of you daily. 
%To the incredible friends I have made on this journey, Olivia Maiefski, Gloria Han, Emily Slade, and the Ladies of Biostats, I cherish every memory we have made together and know I would not have made it through the last few years without you by my side. %your moral support and encouragement. 
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%% To everyone that h
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%Lastly, to my number one fan and husband, Lucas. Your love and support have been a constant through my graduate school experience, and for that I am eternally grateful. %You inspire to be a better person each day, and ..... for that I am  grateful. 
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% I have been extremely blessed to have meet incredible people on my journey as a biostatistician. From my summer in SIBS and throughout my five years ..... I cannot imagine this journey with 


%people - God, Lucas, Family 
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%Brent, Linda, Jarvis, Paige
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%Darcie, Terry Perciante 
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%Ladies of Biostats / Emily / Glo? 

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%In addition to what you will read on the following pages, along the way I have learned so much about mentorship as the mentee of incredible scholars. I am deeply grateful to my advisor Cory Zigler for his support, teaching, and guidance on life within and outside my dissertation. Sincere thanks also goes to Committee Member Giovanni Parmigiani, whose depth and breadth of knowledge I aspire to. I would also like to thank Committee Member Sherri Rose whose thoughtful questions trained me to think like a statistician, and to use my background as an asset. It is not possible to fully describe the immense support of Marcello Pagano, also a Committee Member, during my time as a graduate student, but I will forever be appreciative. Dr. Christine Choirat deserves a very special and sincere thanks for being the bridge between the content I learned in my courses and the skills \& considerations required of a software developer. 
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%My path to this point would not have been possible without the support of my undergraduate advisor Dr. Gregg Tucci. Another special note of thanks to Dr. Nicholas Horton, who has also been very supportive of my development as a biostatistician. Dr. Joe Blitzstein was also instrumental in my success. 
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%Finally, my family (Mom, Dad, Jane, brothers, JayBear), friends (309, PKB), and colleagues (Anders Huitfeldt, Jessica Gronsbell) have supported me throughout my time as a student, and I am very thankful. 
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