University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Who We Are

PTraC Staff	About
	Bill Vandivier, MD Dr. Vandivier is Professor of Medicine, Director of the Pulmonary Translational Core (PTraC) and Associate Head for Clinical Research in the Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine. He also is Director of the COPD Clinic at University of Colorado Hospital. His research program uses clinical and translational approaches to study the root causes of susceptibility to Early COPD and COPD exacerbations, and the long-term effects of secondhand tobacco smoke exposure on respiratory disease. His passion for science, medicine and family is only rivaled by his love of a good fishing story.
	Fernando Holguin, MD, MPH Dr. Holguin is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine and a senior advisor to PTraC. He is also Director of the Asthma Clinic and Research Center in the Center for Lungs and Breathing at the University of Colorado Hospital. Dr. Holguin’s area of research is studying the role of obesity as an asthma co-morbidity and has more recently he has been studying mechanisms of disease. Whenever possible, Dr. Holguin may be seen on the slopes with his two boys or exploring the great outdoors on his bike.
	Max McGrath, MS Max McGrath is a Research Instructor Department of Biostatistics and Informatics at the Colorado School of Public Health and at the Center for Innovative Design and Analysis (CIDA).
	Christopher Mancuso, PhD Dr. Mancuso is a Research Associate in the Department of Biostatistics and Informatics at the Colorado School of Public Health and at the Center for Innovative Design and Analysis (CIDA). Dr. Mancuso specializes in large-scale data driven modeling, and in particular incorporating genome-wide molecular network information into these models. At PTraC, he consults with researchers on various omic-based projects, from mapping raw sequencing data to downstream analysis such as differential expression and enrichment. He is passionate about helping researchers find answers in their data that could translate to a clinical setting.
	Sierra Niemiec Sierra Niemiec earned her Master’s in Biostatistics from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in 2022. She particularly enjoys applications to omics analyses and completed the minor in Statistical Genetics and Genomics. She currently has experience with genetic, methylation, transcriptomic, and metabolomic analyses, and is continually exploring new approaches and analyses.
	Ryan Peterson, PhD Ryan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Informatics at the Colorado School of Public Health. He works jointly with the Center for Innovative Design and Analysis (CIDA) and the Pulmonary Translational Core (PtraC). He has a passion for biostatistics and using his expertise to collaborate with clinicians and other scientists. Prior to his current appointment, Ryan received his PhD from the University of Iowa where he won numerous awards for his research and service contributions. His methodological research interests include model selection in the context of ranked sparsity (interactions & polynomials), clinical trials with multiple complex endpoints, optimizing study design, and statistical computation. His applied research experience is broad, including pulmonary sciences, forecasting the flu, investigating seasonality of various infectious diseases, and predicting the progression of Parkinson’s disease (just to name a few). When he can, Ryan enjoys attending live concerts, going out for pizza, and burning off the pizza calories while hiking in the mountains.
	Raymond Pomponio Ray Pomponio is a doctoral student and statistician for the University of Colorado – Anschutz Medical Campus. He has worked previously as a data analyst for the University of Pennsylvania, where he also completed his bachelor’s degree in economics. Ray enjoys rock climbing and attending concerts along Colorado’s Front Range. His current publication list can be found here.