Michael D. Swartz is a professor and vice chair of the Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, the School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTSPH). He received his B.S. in Math and B.A. in Psychology from Trinity University in San Antonio, in 1997, his M.A. in 2002 and his Ph.D. in 2004 in Statistics from Rice University, with a postdoctoral fellowship at Texas A&M. He was a research faculty member at MD Anderson during 2006–2010, before joining his current institution. His research interests relate to three main areas: 1) developing Bayesian and hierarchical models for multi-factorial traits or outcomes; 2) novel methodology for observational data/causal analysis; 3) statistical genetics. He has substantial expertise in applying statistical models to analyze/identify genetic, environmental, nutritional, and/or behavioral factors associated with cancer/cancer-related outcomes, birth defects and other birth outcomes, smoking addiction, health services, trauma care and survival, and infectious disease through both observational studies and randomized trials. He is a member of the American Statistical Association.