2023 Ancel Keys Memorial Lecturer - George Howard, DrPH, FAHA

Dr. George Howard is an Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He received his training in biostatistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His career has a dual focus of observational studies in cardiovascular epidemiology (with recent emphasis on understanding and reducing disparities in stroke) and in coordinating centers for multicenter randomized clinical trials.

He was the initial Principal Investigator for 19 years and remains one of several for the Reasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) project, a U.S. national study which developed a cohort of 30,239 people to provide insights about excess stroke mortality among African Americans and Southerners.

Regarding clinical trials, he was the initial PI of the Statistical and Data Management Center for the Carotid Revascularization for Primary Prevention of Stroke Trial (CREST-2), a pair of randomized trials, each with an anticipated sample size of 1,240 that assess the difference: A) between carotid endarterectomy versus intensive medical management and B) between carotid stenting and intensive medical management. He is also the initial PI of the Statistical and Data Coordinating Center for the Coordinated, Collaborative, Comprehensive, Family-based, Integrated, and Technology-enabled Care (C3FIT), a cluster-randomized trial assessing the efficacy coordination of post-stroke care.