Edited by Feifei Wei, Biometrics Section Publications Officer

Do you want to get more involved in JSM? Consider volunteering to chair a session. Chairing a session is an important responsibility and a great way to meet your colleagues. If you are interested, contact our section’s 2014 program chair, Jonathan Schildcrout, at jonathan.schildcrout@vanderbilt.edu.

JSM 2014 Program

The Biometrics Section is pleased to sponsor the following six CE courses and five invited sessions at the 2014 Joint Statistical Meetings in Boston, Massachusetts:

CE Courses

• Cure Models and Their Applications in Biomedical Research, taught by Jeremy Taylor and Yingwei Peng (1/2-day)
• Adaptive Methods in Action: How to Improve Pharmaceutical Drug Development, taught by Guosheng Yin, Byron Jone, and Frank Bretz (1-day)
• Analysis of Genome-Wide Sequencing Association Studies, taught by Xihong Lin and Mike Wu (1-day)
• Quantile Regression, taught by Roger Koenker and Huixia Judy Wang (1-day)
• Missing Data Methods for Regression Modeling, taught by Joe Ibrahim (1-day)
• Applied Longitudinal Analysis, taught by Garrett Fitzmaurice and Nan Laird (1-day)

Invited Sessions

• Statistical Methods for Modern Complex-Structured Imaging Data, organized by Veera Baladandayuthapani
• Recent Developments in the Analysis of Semi-Competing Risks Data, organized by Sebastien Haneuse
• Recent Development in Variable Selection Methods, organized by Zhangsheng Yu
• Emerging Statistical Methods for Complex Data, organized by Lan Xue
• New Challenges in Survival Analysis, organized by Yichuan Zhao

2014 David P. Byar Young Investigator Award Winners

The David P. Byar Young Investigator Award is given annually to a new researcher in the Biometrics Section who presents an original manuscript at the Joint Statistical Meetings. The award commemorates David Byar, a renowned biostatistician who made significant contributions to the development and application of statistical methods during his career at the National Cancer Institute.

Through a comprehensive review of 42 submissions, members of the award committee chose the following eight travel award winners in addition to Byar Award winner Peisong Han of the University of Waterloo for “Multiply Robust Estimation in Regression Analysis with Missing Data”:

• Ting-Huei Chen of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for “Prediction of Cancer Drug Sensitivity Using High-Dimensional Genomic Features”
• Fang Han of The Johns Hopkins University for “Sparse Median Graphs Estimation in a High Dimensional Semiparametric Model”
• Zheng-Zheng Tang of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for “Meta-Analysis of Sequencing Studies with Heterogeneous Genetic Associations”
• Nabihah Tayob of the University of Michigan for “Nonparametric Tests of Treatment Effect for a Recurrent Event Process That Terminates”
• Jarcy Zee of the University of Pennsylvania for “Nonparametric Discrete Survival Function Estimation with Uncertain Endpoints Using an InternalValidation Subsample”
• Shanshan Zhao of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for “Covariate Measurement Error Correction Methods in Mediation Analysis with Failure Time Data”
• Yize Zhao of Emory University for “Hierarchical Feature Selection Incorporating Known and Novel Biological Information: Identifying Genomic Features Predictive of Cancer Recurrence”
• Jose Zubizarreta of Columbia University for “Stable Weights That Balance Covariates for Causal Inference and Estimation with Incomplete Data”

Peisong Han received $2,000, and each travel award winner received $1,000 to offset the cost of presenting their paper in two Biometrics-sponsored topic-contributed sessions at JSM.

New Strategic Initiatives Grant Opportunity

The Biometrics Section invites applications for funding to support projects developing innovative outreach projects that enhance awareness of biostatistics among quantitatively talented U.S. students. Of interest are projects that will encourage students to pursue advanced training in biostatistics. We anticipate funding up to three projects this year, with total funding of $3,000–$5,000 per project. The project timeline is 1–1.5 years. All investigators are encouraged to apply.

Award recipients must be both an ASA and Biometrics Section member before project initiation.

A three-page application is due by April 21 that should be in the following format: Title, Objectives and Specific Aims; Background, Significance, and/or Rationale; Design and Methods; Deliverables/Products, and Budget. A project period with a start date no earlier than May 1and an end date no later than December 31, 2015, also should be specified.

Allowed expenditures include supplies, domestic travel (when necessary to carry out the project), professional expertise (e.g., instructional designer or webmaster), and cost of computer time. Expenditures that are not allowed include secretarial/administrative personnel, tuition, foreign travel, faculty salaries, research expenses, and honoraria and travel expenses for visiting lecturers to the investigator’s home institution.

Applications should be submitted electronically to the Strategic Initiatives Subcommittee chair, Roslyn Stone, at Roslyn@pitt.edu. Funded investigators will be expected to submit a brief report at the conclusion of the project to the subcommittee chair. Questions should be addressed to either Stone or the subcommittee co-chair, Page Moore, at PMoore@uams.edu.