Dr. Qiang Wu received his BS in Finance from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2002. He went on to receive his MA and PhD degrees in statistics from the University of Pittsburgh in 2007. He immediately joined the Faculty at East Carolina University as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biostatistics. He taught biostatistics methods for 15 years at the ECU Department of Biostatistics before joining the ECU Department of Public Health. His research interests in statistical methodology are permutation inference for regression models, Kullback–Leibler risk and parameter-free estimation, and mixture models and model-based clustering. His work has included novel regression methods providing permutational inference, a general parameter-free estimation framework using Kullback–Leibler risk, and a semiparametric mixture of regression models for clustering and parameter estimation. His collaboration research interests are broad and include dental care utilization and disparities, HPV cancer prevention, and nutrition and general health interventions.
Dr. Lucía Mendez (PHD, CCC-SLP) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she directs the Early Language and Literacy for Diverse Children Lab. Her research focuses on early child language and literacy development in bilingual and culturally diverse preschoolers. Her current research investigates literacy-based approaches to vocabulary instruction for Latino preschoolers and the role of language in promoting school readiness skills, including early math, sciences, and literacy. She received a bachelor’s degree in linguistics from York University in Toronto, Canada, a master’s degree in speech and hearing sciences from Purdue University, and a Ph.D. in speech and hearing sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA), and the Early Care, Education, and Head Start Research Scholars Grant Program funded by the Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE). She has several years of clinical experience as a Bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist and has practiced in acute care, educational, early intervention, and family-based settings.
