Dr. Yehenew Kifle
Associate Professor · Tenured
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences
He/Him/His/Himself
About
Dr. Yehenew Kifle is an Associate Professor of Statistics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), with over a decade of teaching and research experience across institutions in the United States, South Africa, and Ethiopia. His research focuses on advanced statistical modeling of complex data, particularly time-to-event (survival) analysis, frailty models, and their applications in public health and medical research.Dr. Kifle’s work emphasizes the development and application of statistical methods for analyzing clustered, censored, truncated, and longitudinal data commonly encountered in epidemiology and biomedical studies. He has contributed to interdisciplinary research on malaria epidemiology, vector control interventions, and environmental health, including studies examining the impact of hydropower dams on malaria transmission dynamics.
In addition to his methodological contributions, Dr. Kifle is actively engaged in collaborative international research, particularly through partnerships between UMBC and Jimma University in Ethiopia. His current projects include evaluating the efficacy of insecticide-treated materials and conducting spatio-temporal analyses of malaria risk.
Dr. Kifle has extensive teaching experience and is committed to mentoring students in statistics and data science. He has developed and taught a wide range of courses, integrating real-world data applications to enhance student learning. He is also actively involved in curriculum development and academic leadership.
Beyond research and teaching, Dr. Kifle contributes to global capacity-building initiatives in statistics, including leadership roles in international conferences such as the African International Conference on Statistics (AIC). His work supports the development of statistical education and research infrastructure in Africa through training, collaboration, and resource sharing.
Research interests
Dr. Kifle’s research focuses on developing and applying advanced statistical methods for complex time-to-event (survival) data, particularly addressing challenges related to clustered, truncated, and censored observations in longitudinal studies. His work also encompasses multivariate and hierarchical modeling, statistical meta-analysis, and time-series analysis. He has led and contributed to interdisciplinary research in public health, including studies on malaria, HIV/AIDS, and nutritional epidemiology, with collaborations across Africa and beyond. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals, and he actively contributes to the scholarly community as a reviewer and editorial board member for international statistical and biomedical journals.Teaching interests
Multivariate methods; time-to-event (survival) data analysis; time-series analysis; statistical meta-analysis; and design of experiments, with applications in public health and biomedical research.Education
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Ph D, Statistical Data Analysis
— University of Ghent (2013) Modeling the effect of distance from a hydro-electric dam on malaria incidence based on frailty and mixed Poisson regression models.
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MS, Applied Statistics
— Addis Ababa University (2006) Using VCT data as an alternative tool for trend analysis and monitoring of HIV/AIDS epidemic and its demographic impact in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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BS, Agronomy
— Alemaya University (2001) Intercropping of maize and soybean for better yield and low disease