August 27, 2025 | Erin Bluvas, bluvase@sc.edu

The advent of physical activity trackers, heart monitors, and sleep sensors have transformed the possibilities of modern health care, but we have biostatisticians like Beniamino Hadj-Amar to thank for bridging the gap between data and impact. The assistant professor of biostatistics is one of the essential scientists working behind the scenes to make the most of wearable devices and the lifesaving neuroscience and neuroimaging information they provide.

“I am fascinated with the complex datasets we can now collect from wearable sensors, such as actigraphy, which measures sleep-wake patterns,” Hadj-Amar says. “Yet while these datasets present enormous scientific opportunities, they also pose significant methodological challenges.”

Hadj-Amar was first introduced to these challenges when he was a student at the University of Warwick and the University of Oxford. His Ph.D. in Statistics program placed a strong emphasis on methodological innovation, and Hadj-Amar found himself drawn to tackling biomedical and biological problems, particularly those with widespread public health implications.

His doctoral research – along with the projects he worked on as a postdoctoral fellow at Rice University in Texas – has revolved around both extracting data and developing novel methods for its analysis and application. His resulting expertise lies at the intersection of statistics, machine learning, and scientific application, with a particular focus on Bayesian methods for analyzing complex time series data.

In one study, Hadj-Amar developed tools to capture the data needed to model circadian rhythm stability for cancer patients undergoing chronotherapy treatment. From this foundation, he plunged into other areas of neuroscience, working with the rich, high-dimensional data that results from technical innovations such as sensors measuring neurotransmitter signals in the conscious human brain, circadian rhythms in individuals with epilepsy, and airflow patterns to better understand sleep apnea.

“These experiences confirmed for me that the most exciting problems often lie at the interface of methodological development and scientific discovery,” Hadj-Amar says. “That mission continues to motivate my work today.”

Following nearly a decade of research in these areas, Hadj-Amar joins the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics this fall to continue this work. He was drawn to the Arnold School due to its focus on interdisciplinary research and clear commitment to addressing major public health and environmental challenges.

“The school’s emphasis on translational science and community impact aligns deeply with my own research goals developing statistical methodologies that are both rigorous and relevant to real-world health problems,” says Hadj-Amar, who is committed to open-access science and regularly releases user-friendly software and tutorials to make his advanced methods accessible to researchers and practitioners. “I look forward to collaborating with interdisciplinary experts working on actigraphy, neuroimaging, behavioral interventions, and health disparities – areas where my work on Bayesian modeling of dynamic and wearable-derived data can make meaningful contributions.”

“We are fortunate to have recruited a faculty member with Beniamino’s passion for research that advances public health, his top-tier metholodologic expertise, and his enthusiasm for working with cross-disciplinary collaborators in the team science environment," says epidemiology and biostatistics chair Anthony Alberg. "For all these reasons and more, we are excited to welcome Beniamino to the department.”