The February 2025 issue of the American Statistical Association's (ASA) Chance magazine features the Collaborative Undergraduate Biostatistics Experience (CUBE) program on the front cover and dedicates three articles to student projects from summers 2023 and 2024. These projects highlight the intersection of biostatistics and public health through innovative research conducted by faculty members at Virginia Tech's Fralin Biomedical Research Institite, including Drs. Pearl Chiu, Brooks Casas, and Jeff Stein.

The first article, Examining the Mediating Effect of Delay Discounting on the Impact of Simulated Scarcity on Cigarette Craving, explores the psychological mechanisms underlying smoking behavior. This project focuses on how perceived scarcity influences cigarette craving and whether individual differences in delay discounting—the tendency to prefer smaller immediate rewards over larger delayed rewards—mediate this effect.

The second article, Examining the Effect of User Type, Price, and Nicotine Strength on E-Cigarette Demand Among Smoking Adults, investigates how different factors influence e-cigarette purchasing behavior using a behavioral economic framework. The study explores how price sensitivity, nicotine strength preferences, and user type (e.g., exclusive e-cigarette users vs. dual users who also smoke combustible cigarettes) impact demand elasticity.

The third article, GLP-1s Beyond Weight Loss: Insights from Social Media on Taste, Mental Health, and Public Discourse, leverages Reddit data to analyze public sentiment and discussions surrounding GLP-1 receptor agonists, a class of medications commonly used for diabetes and weight management. The study examines trends in user-reported experiences, including changes in taste perception, mental health effects, and broader societal narratives around these medications.

These projects showcase the depth of student research in CUBE and their contributions to understanding pressing public health issues through statistical analysis.  

See the full February 202 5 issue here.

To learn more more about CUBE, visit our webpage.

Chance Magazine