Ashenafi S. Cherkos (MPH, PhD)
Dr. Ashenafi S. Cherkos has over 17 years of expertise in teaching, research, biostatistics, data analysis, and data science. Holding a PhD in Epidemiology, he has taught graduate-level courses in epidemiology, biostatistics, and research methods. He has extensive data analytics and AI/ML training and is proficient in tools such as spreadsheets, SPSS, STATA, Epi Info, R, Python, and SQL. Dr. Cherkos has advanced expertise in survey and longitudinal analysis for observational and clinical trials. He has developed survey questionnaires for multiple studies and supervised and coordinated multiple data collection activities.
His experience encompasses excellent data management, advanced analytics, predictive modeling, and data visualization, particularly using R and Python. His work spans diverse public health challenges, with findings published in peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Cherkos’s research focuses on vulnerable populations such as pregnant women, lactating mothers, and HIV-exposed children in both the U.S. and developing countries. He is particularly interested in fetal origins, perinatal outcomes, maternal and infant nutrition, childhood obesity, growth and development, predictors and impacts of diarrhea, maternal and child health service utilization, family planning, reproductive health, and the effects of HIV infection, ART, and TB preventive therapy on children’s long-term growth and development.
Methodologically, Dr. Cherkos specializes in longitudinal analysis, causal inference, and the application of machine learning to public health research, leveraging these approaches to address critical health disparities and improve outcomes for underserved populations.
