I am working as an associate professor in statistics in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Thompson Rivers University (TRU). Before joining TRU, I worked as an assistant professor (nontenure track) in the Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough. I have received my PhD in statistics with a specialization in statistical machine learning from the Department of Statistics, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver. I have two MSc degrees: (i) from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics (in Statistics) at the University of Windsor, and (ii) from the Department of Statistics (in Biostatistics) at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

My research interest is in statistical machine learning, Bayesian statistical inference and statistical ecology. The main focus of my research is in developing ensemble method to improve its prediction performance by exploiting the richness of useful variables in high-dimensional data and identify important models and variables to answer important research question. I have shown application of my ensemble/model in (i) drug discovery to detect drug like active bio-molecules for development and (ii) protein homology to detect homologous proteins and produce evolutionary sequences of proteins. These days, I am focusing more on developing Bayesian and computational models for ecology, health-care, housing market, and genetics data.

Highlighted Publications

  • Tomal, JH., Welch, WJ., and Zamar, RH. (2022). Robust ranking by ensembling of diverse models and assessment metrics. Journal of Statistical Computation and Simulation (Taylor & Francis). 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/00949655.2022.2093873
  • Tomal, JH., Khan, JR., and Wahed, A. (2022). Weighted Bayesian Poisson Regression for The Number of Children Ever Born per Woman in Bangladesh. Journal of Statistical Theory and Applications (Springer). 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44199-022-00044-2
  • Atkins, M., Howarth, C., Russello, M., Tomal, JH., and Larsen, K. (2022). Evidence of intrapopulation differences in rattlesnake defensive behavior across neighboring habitats. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology (Springer). 76(3): 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-021-03100-6
  • Tomal, JH., and Rahman, H. (2021). A Bayesian piecewise linear model for the detection of breakpoints in housing prices. METRON (Springer). 79(3): 361-381. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40300-021-00223-8
  • Tomal, JH., Rahmati, S., Boroushaki, S., Jin, L., and Ahmed, E. (2021) The Impact of COVID-19 on Students’ Marks: A Bayesian Hierarchical Modeling Approach. METRON (Springer). 79: 57-91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40300-021-00200-1
  • Tomal, JH., and Ciborowski, JJH. (2020) Ecological Models for Estimating Breakpoints and Prediction Intervals. Ecology and Evolution (Wiley). 10:13500– 13517. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6955
  • Evans, M., and Tomal, JH. (2018). Measuring Statistical Evidence and Multiple Testing. FACETS. 3: 563-583. https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2017-0121
  • Tomal, JH., Welch, WJ., and Zamar, RH. (2016). Exploiting Multiple Descriptor Sets in QSAR Studies. Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling. 56(3):501-509. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jcim.5b00663
  • Tomal, JH., Welch, WJ., and Zamar, RH. (2015). Ensembling Classification Models Based on Phalanxes of Variables with Applications in Drug Discovery. The Annals of Applied Statistics, 9(1): 69-93. https://doi.org/10.1214/14-AOAS778

Education

Employment History

  • Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Thompson Rivers University (Jul 2023 - Date)
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Thompson Rivers University (Dec 2018 - Jun 2023)
  • Mendelzon Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough (2014 - 2018)
  • Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Statistics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver (Jan 2014 - Jul 2014)
Full Resume