ITHACA, N.Y. -- Serena Suewei Chan, a Cornell graduate student in statistical science, has been awarded a grant to research bioterrorism for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The announcement was made by U.S. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Science, whose district includes parts of Cornell.

Chan, who was chosen by the agency from among 2,500 applicants, will work with her adviser, Gennady Samorodnitsky, professor of operations research and industrial engineering, to develop an epidemiological computer model of how terrorists could create an epidemic, such as smallpox.

To do this they will use probability calculations, called stochastic processes. This area of statistical science refers to any process involving randomness, making such a model ideal for the calculation of the elements that contribute to the rapid spread of virulent disease.

Chan, who is from Los Angeles, is among 101 initial recipients nationwide of the highly competitive awards from the new agency's Scholars and Fellows Program.

The fellowship will pay all of Chan's tuition and fees in her doctoral studies at Cornell and provide her with a $2,300 monthly stipend for 12 months. The fellowship is renewable for three years.

The fellowships, funded by up to $2 million in fiscal 2003, are aimed at supporting study of ways to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce the nation's vulnerability to terrorism and minimize the damage and recovery efforts from any attacks that occur.

Chan's field in her doctoral research is both stochastic processes and a forecasting technique known as times series. She obtained her bachelor's degree, with distinction, from the University of California - Berkeley. She hopes to become a professor of statistics.