Bo Xie, PhD, FGSA, professor at The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing and School of Information, has received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to support her research project titled, “StatWiseAI: An AI-Powered Educational Tool for Enhancing Methodological Rigor in Large-Scale Data Analysis.”
“This award reflects the power of true interdisciplinary collaboration,” said Bo Xie, Lee and Joseph D. Jamail Endowed Professor in Nursing. “We are bringing together nursing, medicine, psychology, human development, information science, computer science and biostatistics to transform the way researchers are trained to use AI responsibly and rigorously in health and social sciences.”
At the core of this achievement are two research centers established under the strategic leadership of UT Austin School of Nursing Dean Eun-Ok Im, PhD, MPH, RN, CNS, FAAN:
- the Center for Healthcare Innovation and Technology Advancements (CHITA), directed by Xie, and
- the Center for Applied Data Science (CADS), directed by Shelli Kesler, PhD, Mary Louise Adams Endowed Professor.
These centers offer vital resources for nursing researchers and cultivate the interdisciplinary partnerships that were key to earning this award.
“CHITA and CADS are central to our vision for innovation at the School of Nursing,” Dean Im said. “This award demonstrates the impact of investing in cross-disciplinary infrastructure to advance nursing research and training.”
The StatWiseAI project brings together an exceptional team of scholars across multiple disciplines and academic stages:
- Nazan Aksan, PhD, senior biostatistician at UT Austin Dell Medical School, who specializes in biomedical data science
- Alexandra L. Clark, PhD, assistant professor at UT Austin College of Liberal Arts Department of Psychology, who specializes in the early detection and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias
- Shaunna Clark, PhD, associate professor at the Naresk K. Vashisht College of Medicine at Texas A&M University, a statistician with expertise in addiction and statical genetics
- Ken Fleischmann, PhD, professor at UT Austin School of Information, whose work focusing on AI ethics bridges information, technology, and society
- Sae-Hwang Han, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at UT Austin College of Natural Sciences School of Human Ecology, who specializes in social relationships and health in middle and later adulthood
- Shelli Kesler, PhD, professor at the UT Austin School of Nursing with expertise in neuroimaging, neuropsychology, biostatistics, machine learning and computer programming
- Juan Li, PhD, professor, in the Department of Computer Science at North Dakota State University, who specializes in AI and data systems
- Bo Xie, PhD, FGSA, Lee and Joseph D. Jamail Endowed Professor in Nursing at The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing and School of Information, who serves as principal investigator of the StatWiseAI project.
“StatWiseAI will be designed to serve as a sophisticated resource for researchers across all career stages interested in working with complex, large-scale datasets by providing them with nuanced, reliable guidance to refine their well-fleshed-out research designs and analyses,” Xie explained.
Xie also said StatWiseAI is not meant to replace foundational training in statistical analysis or research design. Instead, it will serve as a transformative educational tool, providing researchers with the resources and skills needed to navigate the complexities of large-scale data analysis with rigor, reproducibility and ethical integrity.
“By reducing barriers to expertise, StatWiseAI will foster a research culture of enhanced methodological excellence, making a lasting contribution to the advancement of biomedical, behavioral and clinical research,” she added.
The project also emphasizes mentorship, engaging senior investigators, mid-career faculty and early-stage researchers to ensure continuity across academic generations. Through StatWiseAI, UT Austin is positioning itself as a national leader in AI-enabled methodological training, equipping researchers across the country to harness large-scale data while maintaining the highest standards of rigor.