Edited by Sheng Luo, Biometrics Section Publications Officer

The Biometrics Section will sponsor two Continuing Education courses and six invited sessions at the 2015 Joint Statistical Meetings in Seattle, Washington. To view the list of courses and invited sessions, as well as the winner of the travel awards and Byar Young Investigator Award. Make sure to check the JSM online program for Biometrics Section–sponsored sessions.

Travel Award

The section is also accepting applications for an award to cover up to $3,000 in travel costs to attend a workshop for imagers in La Jolla, California, January 9–15, 2016.

The workshop is for PhD-level biostatisticians interested in conducting methodological or collaborative research in radiology/imaging clinical trials. It presents an opportunity for a biostatistician to gain experience collaborating with radiologists and imaging specialists.

The intensive one-week workshop held by the Radiology Society of North America (RSNA) provides hands-on training in the design, conduct, analysis, and interpretation of clinical trials in radiology and imaging through didactic sessions, one-on-one mentoring, small discussion sessions, self-study, and protocol development workgroups. A special curriculum infused with statistical and methodological concepts and examples was developed for the workshop, which is led by 20 MD and PhD faculty members (including five PhD biostatisticians) with extensive experience in radiology clinical trials, providing a student to faculty ratio close to 1:1. The biostatistician attendee will shadow biostatistics faculty members to observe the collaborative process of developing clinical trials in radiology in addition to learning the methodological aspects of this field.

Interested applicants should email a one-page letter of interest, CV, and letter of support from their department head to Diana Miglioretti at dmiglioretti@ucdavis.edu with “RSNA CTMW Biostatistics” in the subject line. The deadline for receipt of applications is August 15; an announcement of the award will be made by October 1.

JSM 2016

It’s also time to start thinking about invited sessions for next year’s Joint Statistical Meetings, which will be held July 30 to August 4 in Chicago, Illinois. Anyone who is interested in organizing an invited session or who has ideas for one should contact the section’s 2016 program chair, Dipankar Bandyopadhyay, at dbandyop@umn.edu.

A typical invited session consists of three 30-minute talks followed by a 10-minute invited discussion and 10 minutes of floor discussion. However, other formats are possible. The 2015 program is a good source for examples.

Remember, the most mature ideas will have an advantage in competing for the limited number of slots, so it’s best to have your ideas in final form now. The Biometrics Section will have at least four invited sessions, but if we generate enough good ideas, we will be able to compete for additional slots.

Also, if you have ideas for short courses, submit them to the section’s 2015–2016 Continuing Education chair, Andrea Troxel, at atroxel@mail.med.upenn.edu.