Heather Janel Hoffman, PhD

Heather Janel Hoffman is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

• Phone: (202) 994-8587
• Fax: (202) 994-0082
• Email: sphhjh@gwumc.edu

"Exhaustive research, coupled with diligent experimentation, provides an abundance of data, but it is the interpretation of this knowledge that gives it a sense of purpose," says Professor Heather Hoffman. And it is in the realm of interpretation, perhaps as principal statistician in a study that one day leads to a new drug or medical procedure, where she hopes to make an enduring contribution.

Prior to joining SPHHS in the summer of 2006, Dr. Hoffman accumulated a stellar list of academic accomplishments.  As a doctoral student, she taught a graduate-level course in biostatistical computing, earned a 4.0 GPA as well as numerous scholarships, and was featured on the cover of her alumni magazine. As part of her biostatistics dissertation, Dr. Hoffman developed a tool for multivariate analysis. She is particularly interested in environmental epidemiology, especially the relationship between air pollution and mortality, and pharmacoepidemiology, notably the long-term effects of drugs and devices.

Education

Bachelor of Science (Mathematics), Christopher Newport University, 2001
Doctor of Philosophy Biostatistics), Virginia Commonwealth University, 2005

Teaching

PubH 249: Use of SAS for Data Management and Data Analysis, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Research

For her dissertation research in biostatistics, Dr. Hoffman developed an algorithm that provides the maximum likelihood estimates (MLEs) of mean and unstructured (co)variance parameters corresponding to a multivariate (log)normal distribution in the presence of left-censored and missing values. She also devised a more efficient bivariate MLE tool with comparable accuracy. Click here for a list of selected, recent publications.

Publications

• Alcohol withdrawal pharmacotherapy for inpatients with medical comorbidity.
  Weaver MF, Hoffman HJ, Johnson RE, Mauck K. Alcohol withdrawal pharmacotherapy for inpatients with medical comorbidity. J Addict Dis. In press 2006.
• Diagnosis of lower extremity deep vein thrombosis in outpatients with musculoskeletal disorders: A national survey study of physical therapists.
  Riddle DL, Hillner BE, Wells PS, Johnson RE, Hoffman HJ, Zuelzer WA. Diagnosis of lower extremity deep vein thrombosis in outpatients with musculoskeletal disorders: A national survey study of physical therapists. Phys Ther 2004; 84(8):729-36.
• Estimation in the presence of non-detectables: Imputation and maximum-likelihood approach with left-censoring.
  Johnson RE, Hoffman HJ. Estimation in the presence of non-detectables: Imputation and maximum-likelihood approach with left-censoring. ASA Proceedings of the Joint Statistical Meetings of the American Statistical Association; 2004 Alexandria, Virginia. p. 373-7.
• Symptom-triggered versus fixed-schedule dosing for alcohol withdrawal in general medicine patients [abstract].
  Weaver MF, Hoffman HJ, Johnson RE, Mauck KL. Symptom-triggered versus fixed-schedule dosing for alcohol withdrawal in general medicine patients [abstract]. J Addict Dis 2003; 22:138.