Benchmarking Kendall's Tau in R and Rcpp
Implement and benchmark a fast Kendall’s tau-a in C++ via Rcpp against base R, discuss tie handling (tau-b), and when to move from R to C++.
About Me
I am Thiago de Paula Oliveira, a statistician at AbacusBio. My work spans statistical modelling across agriculture, genetics, and sports analytics. I design and implement advanced mixed‑model and Bayesian methods, develop economic and sustainability selection indices, and build reproducible, interactive data‑visualisation dashboards. I also develop production‑quality code in R, C++, Bash, and other languages, including package development and workflow automation, to ensure scalable, transparent analyses. My focus is on delivering decision‑ready outputs that improve agricultural productivity, accelerate genetic gain, and enhance athletic performance.
Interests
- Statistics and biostatistics
- Concordance analysis
- Multilevel and forecast models
- Generalized mixed-effects models
- Longitudinal data
- Agriculture
- Sports (athlete performance)
- Dashboard app development
- Economic selection indexes
Education
PhD in Statistics
University of São Paulo
MSc in Statistics
University of São Paulo
BSc in Agricultural Engineering
University of São Paulo
📈 Expertise and Research
I am a seasoned statistician with over 14 years of
experience in experimental statistics and statistical
modelling.
I also specialise in the development of economic and
sustainability selection indices to support breeding and
systems optimisation.
My research interests include statistical modelling, selection indeces, agriculture, genetics, and sports.
Currently, I am Consultant Statistician at AbacusBio, where I leverage my expertise in statistical methods and data analysis to drive impactful research and innovative solutions.
My career has been marked by the application of both qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the role of science and technology across various sectors.
I am passionate about using data to uncover insights and support decision‑making. Whether it is improving agricultural outcomes or enhancing athletic performance, my goal is to apply rigorous statistical techniques to solve real‑world problems.
Please review my publications and get in touch if you are interested in collaboration or have any enquiries.
Featured Publications
Recent Publications
(2025).
Breeding for sustainability: Development of an index to reduce greenhouse gas in dairy cattle.
The international journal of animal biosciences (animal).
(2024).
A Hierarchical Approach for Evaluating Athlete Performance with an Application in Elite Basketball.
Scientific Reports.
(2023).
Comparison of Markerless and Marker-based Motion Capture Systems using 95% Functional Limits of Agreement in a Linear Mixed-Effects Modelling Framework.
Scientific Reports.
(2023).
Pedigree-based Animal Models Using Directed Acyclic Graphs.
Under consideration in Livestock Science.
(2023).
A method for partitioning trends in genetic mean and variance to understand breeding practices.
Genetics Selection Evolution.
Recent & Upcoming Talks
Recent Posts
From prototype to production, choosing the right R and C++ tool in Rcpp
what each tool solves, when to reach for it, and ready-to-paste code.
Effects of compression techniques on data read/write performance
This post explores the performance of various compression techniques in R for reading and writing operations, highlighting file size, speed, and memory usage.
Comparing data read and write performance in R
This post explores the performance of various data formats in R for reading and writing operations, highlighting file size, speed, and memory usage.
Exploring polynomial, fractional polynomial, and spline models
1 Polynomial models 2 Fractional polynomial models 2.1 Finding optimal power Values in fractional polynomials 3 Spline models 3.1 Example 3.2 Challenges 3.3 Selection process for spline models 4 Citation The ability to accurately model and interpret complex data sets is paramount.
🎓 Connect with an expert statistician
My work focuses on advanced statistical modelling, the development of economic and sustainability selection indices, interactive dashboards, and reproducible pipelines (Docker), delivering decision‑ready insights in agriculture and sports performance.
Areas of impact:
- Agriculture: Designed and analysed agronomic and farm‑systems experiments, including multi‑environment trials and spatial models, to optimise yield, resource use, and sustainability.
- Genetics: Built genetic evaluation pipelines and economic and sustainability selection indices to maximise genetic gain and inform breeding objectives.
- Sports analytics: Developed tools and applications that enhance athlete performance through data‑driven insights.
Explore my publications, upcoming talks, and recent work. If you are interested in collaboration or would like to learn more, please get in touch.
Stay connected and follow my journey in statistical modelling and data analysis: