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 and statistical computing specialist at AbacusBio with 14+ years of experience developing reliable analytical workflows, reusable R packages, dashboards, and reproducible reporting across agriculture, genetics, public health, and sports analytics. My work centres on data quality, traceable QC/ETL pipelines, structured computational workflows, and decision-ready outputs built with R, C++, Bash, SQL, Docker, GitHub, and high-performance computing. Whether the task is improving analytical reliability, standardising breeding workflows, or delivering practical tools for researchers and stakeholders, I focus on transparency, reuse, and production-ready analysis.
Interests
- Statistics and biostatistics
- Concordance analysis
- Multilevel and forecast models
- Generalized mixed-effects models
- Longitudinal data
- Quantitative genetics & breeding analytics
- Agricultural decision-support dashboards
- Reproducible analytics pipelines for agri-genomics
- Economic and sustainability selection indexes
Education
PhD in Statistics
University of Sao Paulo
MSc in Statistics
University of Sao Paulo
BSc in Agricultural Engineering
University of Sao Paulo
Expertise and Research
I am a statistician and statistical computing specialist with 14+ years of experience developing reliable analytical workflows, reusable R packages, dashboards, and reproducible reporting across agriculture, genetics, public health, and sports analytics. My work focuses on data quality, analytical reliability, and decision-ready outputs delivered through structured computational workflows, QC/ETL pipelines, and standardised analysis practices.
As a Consultant Statistician at AbacusBio, I deliver statistical and analytical solutions for plant and animal breeding programmes, lead cross-functional delivery of genetic-evaluation pipelines, and build traceable workflows that link raw data, cleaned datasets, model inputs, and final outputs. That work depends on production-grade code in R, C++, Bash, and SQL, Docker-based environments, and clear technical documentation.
Earlier, I held a Marie Sklodowska-Curie COFUND fellowship at the Roslin Institute, worked on public-health and sports analytics projects at the National University of Ireland Galway, and taught statistics and quantitative methods at the University of Sao Paulo. Across those roles I developed software, dashboards, and analytical pipelines designed for transparency, reuse, and auditability.
I combine advanced statistical modelling with reproducible analytical tooling to make complex data more usable for researchers, analysts, and stakeholders. Browse my recent publications and projects, and get in touch if you would like to collaborate.
Featured Publications
Recent Publications
(2025).
Breeding for sustainability: Development of an index to reduce greenhouse gas in dairy cattle.
Animal.
(2024).
A Hierarchical Approach for Evaluating Athlete Performance with an Application in Elite Basketball.
Scientific Reports.
(2023).
Developing best practices for genotyping-by-sequencing analysis in the construction of linkage maps.
GigaScience.
(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.
Cited by
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Recent & Upcoming Talks
Recent Posts
SQL for beginners: an example in field trials
As a statistician I teach SQL from zero using a realistic agriculture dataset with tables keys joins summaries quality checks and a simple treatment effect analysis.
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.
Connect with an expert statistician
I focus on data quality, statistical modelling, reusable analytical tooling, and reproducible workflows that turn complex datasets into reliable, decision-ready outputs.
Areas of impact
Data stewardship. Design reproducible analytical workflows, automated QC/ETL pipelines, and structured computational environments that support reliability and traceability.
Data quality and usability. Build dashboards, software packages, and decision-support tools that improve accessibility, consistency, and interpretability of complex data.
Technical leadership. Lead cross-functional teams, mentor colleagues, and translate quantitative work into practical outputs for researchers, analysts, and stakeholders.
Explore my publications, projects, and recent work. If you are interested in collaborating or would like to learn more, please get in touch.
Stay connected and follow my work in statistical modelling and data analysis: