Hilary Placzek of Westfield received a PhD from the Clinical and Population Health Research Program of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Medical School on Sunday, June 3, 2012, at ceremonies held on the University campus in Worcester. She is the daughter of Kathleen MacLean and Vincent Placzek of Westfield.
Placzek graduated from Westfield High School in 1998 (salutatorian). She earned her undergraduate degree from Colgate University in 2002, and a Master’s in Public Health from Boston University School of Public Health in 2007.
Placzek’s dissertation work focused on the development of advanced biostatistical methods to describe 2009 pandemic influenza (H1N1) epidemiology in MA using an administrative statewide hospital discharge database. This research involved substantial analysis of a vast database with more than 400,000 hospital discharges spanning several years. This work resulted in a first-authored publication in PLoS Currents Influenza, and two other manuscripts currently in press. Following graduation, Placzek will be a Senior Research Analyst for HealthCore, Inc. in Andover, MA. There, she has access to a nationwide database of integrated administrative claims of medical, outpatient, laboratory, pharmacy, and diagnostic data to conduct population-based vaccine effectiveness and pharmacoepidemiologic research.
