Clarice Weinberg, Ph.D., was awarded the 2024 Jeanne E. Griffith Mentoring Award — the highest honor of its kind to a statistician in federal, state, or local government. The annual award in recognition of a mentor’s support and development of junior staff is presented by the American Statistical Association.

Weinberg, a principal investigator in the Biostatistics and Computational Biology Branch, has mentored nearly 40 students and postdoctoral fellows, and served on the thesis committees of more than twenty Ph.D. students during her career at NIEHS. She also has published and worked with biostatistics and epidemiology trainees on nearly 200 scientific articles, including publications in high-impact journals that explore topics such as reproductive and hormonal risk factors in women, gene by environment effects on disease risk, and intimate care products and hormone-related cancers.

“One of her biggest contributions to the growth and development of her trainees is to teach them how to think about a problem by engaging in deep thought-provoking conversations, and working with them to identify and solve important scientific questions,” said Shyamal Peddada, Ph.D., an NIEHS senior investigator, who nominated her. “I cannot think of anyone who deserves this award more than Dr. Weinberg.”

Environmental Factor recently spoke with Weinberg about the award, the joy of working with junior staff, and influential mentors in her life.

EF: What does winning such a prestigious award mean to you?

Weinberg: The award is a great honor and means a lot because it is about helping others reach their full potential in biostatistics. I do appreciate the acknowledgement and owe a great deal of gratitude to Alison Motsinger-Reif, Ph.D., and to Shyamal Peddada, Ph.D., for nominating me.

EF: Why are you passionate about mentoring junior staff?

Weinberg: I love helping the younger generation of scientists find their path in their respective fields. I enjoy working with students and postdocs who are both flexible and critical thinkers, and the back-and-forth debates we have make me a better mentor and statistician.

EF: Which mentors played an important role in your career?

Weinberg: My dad was number one. He taught me calculus when I was too young to understand what it all meant. He used to give me math problems and logic puzzles to solve, and I still love logic puzzles. Noel Weiss, M.D., Dr.P.H., at the University of Washington, and Allen Wilcox, M.D., Ph.D., were instrumental in sparking my interests in epidemiology and reproductive epidemiology.

EF: What do you enjoy the most when it comes to your work?

Weinberg: I really love team science, which is more of a collaborative research method in science compared to just doing individual scientific research. I like the collaboration and the partnerships it builds upon, and I also feel that team science works best when there are complementary skill sets being brought to the table.

EF: What are your hobbies outside of work?

Weinberg: My husband and I are raising a 13-year-old. There are times that is challenging as we try and balance our lives, but I would not have it any other way.