Dena Asta

About

Dena Asta is an Associate Professor of Statistics at The Ohio State University, having joined the faculty in 2015. Her research focuses on bringing geometric methods to non-parametric and non-Euclidean statistical inference, particularly in the context of network analysis and applications involving data with interesting geometric properties. She is interested in applying tools from differential geometry and analysis to extend non-parametric inference for data that either resides in spaces with complex geometry or describes objects like networks with inherent geometric structure. Her work spans a range of applications, including imaging and social network analysis. Dena Asta holds a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University, earned in 2015. Her research has been funded by the NSF. She is also a member of the Translational Data Analytics group. Her professional contact information includes her office at Cockins Hall, her email (dasta@stat.osu.edu), and her phone number (614-292-8112). She is actively involved in the academic community at Ohio State, contributing to the Department of Statistics and its related initiatives.

Research topics

• Statistics
• Computer Science
• Mathematics
• Mathematical analysis
• Artificial Intelligence
• Pure mathematics
• Geometry
• Applied mathematics
• Medicine
• Clinical psychology

Selected publications

• The influence of social relationships on substance use behaviors among pregnant women with opioid use disorder

  Drug and Alcohol Dependence · 2021 · 20 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Geometric Network Comparison

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2014-11-05 · 15 citations

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Network analysis has a crucial need for tools to compare networks and assess the significance of differences between networks. We propose a principled statistical approach to network comparison that approximates networks as probability distributions on negatively curved manifolds. We outline the theory, as well as implement the approach on simulated networks.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Kernel density estimation on symmetric spaces of non-compact type

  Journal of Multivariate Analysis · 2020 · 10 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The Geometry of Continuous Latent Space Models for Network Data

  Statistical Science · 2019-08-01 · 9 citations

  preprintOpen access

  We review the class of continuous latent space (statistical) models for network data, paying particular attention to the role of the geometry of the latent space. In these models, the presence/absence of network dyadic ties are assumed to be conditionally independent given the dyads' unobserved positions in a latent space. In this way, these models provide a probabilistic framework for embedding network nodes in a continuous space equipped with a geometry that facilitates the description of depe…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Consistency of Maximum Likelihood for Continuous-Space Network Models.

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2017-11-06 · 7 citations

  preprintOpen accessSenior author

  Network analysis needs tools to infer distributions over graphs of arbitrary size from a single graph. Assuming the distribution is generated by a continuous latent space model which obeys certain natural symmetry and smoothness properties, we establish three levels of consistency for non-parametric maximum likelihood inference as the number of nodes grows: (i) the estimated locations of all nodes converge in probability on their true locations; (ii) the distribution over locations in the latent…

  Publisher

Frequent coauthors

• Catherine A. Calder

  The University of Texas at Austin

  11 shared

• Anna L. Smith

  University of Kentucky

  10 shared

• Cosma Rohilla Shalizi

  7 shared

• Elizabeth E. Krans

  Magee-Womens Research Institute

  3 shared

• Leah C. Klocke

  Magee-Womens Research Institute

  2 shared

• Walitta Abdullah

  University of Pittsburgh

  2 shared

• Alex Davis

  Jet Propulsion Laboratory

  1 shared

• Tamar Krishnamurti

  1 shared

Labs

• Dena AstaPI

Similar researchers at Ohio State University

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