Engaging, Inspiring, and Preparing the Next Generation of Biostatisticians

? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Biostatisticians play a fundamental role in health sciences research. The design, conduct, and analysis of clinical trials and observational studies; the setting of regulatory policy; and the conception of laboratory experiments have been shaped by the fundamental contributions of biostatisticians for decades. Advances in genetics, genomics, and other -omics, medical imaging technologies, and computational biology; the increasing emphasis on precision and evidence-based medicine; the widespread adoption of electronic health records; and the facility to collect massive data resources demand the skills of biostatisticians trained to collaborate effectively in a multidisciplinary environment and to develop new methods to address the challenges presented by this revolutionary era of health sciences research. Biostatisticians with advanced training will be essential to ensure that methods critical to uncovering new insights from such big biomedical data are developed and that the potential pitfalls of confounding and bias are recognized and addressed. Indeed, the demand for highly qualified biostatisticians will continue to escalate more generally in both traditional and new roles across all facets of the nation's biomedical and public health research enterprise. There is thus an urgent need to encourage US Citizens and Permanent Residents to pursue graduate training in biostatistics. Quantitatively talented students have a variety of career options competing with biostatistics, and many are unaware of the existence of this field and the opportunities it presents. The six week research education program proposed in this application, to be held in the summers of 2016-2018, will enroll up to 20 such participants from across the nation and, through lectures, field trips, and opportunities to analyze data from real health sciences studies using statistical software, introduce them to biostatistics and the myriad opportunities the field offers and inspire them to pursue graduate training. The program will draw upon the considerable and complementary resources of North Carolina State University's Department of Statistics and the Duke University Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics to provide participants with an unparalleled view of the field, including award-winning instructors internationally known methodological and clinical researchers, and a local area rich in opportunities to showcase biostatistical careers. Special efforts will be made to enroll participants from underrepresented groups. Participants will be followed after completion, and the numbers attending graduate school in biostatistics/statistics and pursuing biostatistics careers will be documented.