One of the most exciting developments has been to build research groups, work with students and collaborators in very close collaborations, and integrate education, personal learning, methods development and data analysis. In particular, I have co-founded the Statistical Methods and Applications in Research Technology (SMART, www.smart-stats.org) research group, which, in turn, led to the creation of several other research groups including the Wearable and Implantable Technology (WIT) and MAGIC (Methods and Applications Group for Imaging in the Clinic). I enjoy discovering new areas guided by my collaborators, teaching my students about the most exciting scientific problems, and building the methodological and computational infrastructure for the research. At this point we have developed a strong research infrastructure designed to empower students, encourage truly inter-disciplinary research, and foster peer-to-peer collaborations. many Universities and Departments strive for this and I think that I have found one of the secret sauces for making it work. It is relatively simple, it just requires real and sustained work.
