The Section for Statistical Programmers and Analysts (SSPA) is pleased to announce its program for the 2011 Joint Statistical Meetings. Our program includes presentations and discussions focusing on R and SAS programming, Bayesian methodology, and CDISC, along with a variety of other topics of interest to statistical programmers. We are sponsoring or cosponsoring two continuing education courses, one invited session, two topic-contributed sessions, four contributed sessions, and four roundtable discussions. We also will hold our annual business meeting during JSM, which is open to all members and anyone who would like to learn more about what the SSPA has to offer.

As an addition to our program this year, SSPA is proud to sponsor the “Hindsight Is 20-20” poster competition. Contestants will present posters highlighting a difficult programming obstacle and detailing the solution(s) devised to overcome the challenge.

Back by popular demand, our full-day course on Bayesian computation will review the basic concepts of Bayesian inference and focus on the practical use of Bayesian computational methods. The course will demonstrate methodology through a series of examples using SAS software.

We also are bringing back the popular one-day course introducing the R programming language to SAS, SPSS, and Stata users. This course will compare various programming languages with R and demonstrate how R can be used to perform data management, analysis, and graphing tasks. A recurring component in this course will be the discussion of strengths and weaknesses of R relative to other statistical software.

Our invited session, which we are cosponsoring with the Section on Statistical Computing and the Section on Statistical Consulting, focuses on issues and problems faced in the work of statistical professionals. This applied session will include presentations from statisticians and programmers in academia, health care, finance, and government.

Our roundtable sessions allow for the discussion of specific topics in a less formal setting. The line-up of roundtable discussions includes topics such as the role of statistical programmers in the pharmaceutical industry and how this role is evolving, submitting SDTM data for FDA review, and methods for producing publication-quality graphs.

The Section for Statistical Programmers and Analysts wishes to see all of you at JSM. Please check the online program for session descriptions, locations, and times, and look for programs sponsored by the Section for Statistical Programmers and Analysts.