BIOMETRICS SECTION NEWS, AUGUST 2009
Edited by Page Moore, Biometrics Section Publications Officer

2009 David P. Byar Young Investigator Award Winners
The David P. Byar Young Investigator Award is given annually by the Biometrics Section 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.  This year, there were 18 papers submitted to the Byar Award Committee, which consisted of Katie Kerr (University of Washington), Kathy Cronin (National Cancer Institute), Paul Vos (East Carolina University), Jeremy Taylor (University of Michigan), Daniel Heitjan (University of Pennsylvania), and Barry Graubard (National Cancer Institute). The committee chose one travel award winner in addition to the Byar award winner.

Sonja Greven, a post-doctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University Department of Biostatisticis, is this year’s winner of the David P Byar Young Investigator Award.  She will receive a $1000 cash award for her paper “On the Behavior of Marginal and Conditional Akaike Information Criteria in Linear Mixed Models,” which she will present at this JSM.

This year's travel award winner is Xiaoxi Zhang from Pfizer for the paper titled, “Longitudinal Image Analysis of Tumor/Brain Change in Contrast Uptake Induced by Radiation”.

Our travel award winner will receive a $500 cash award to present her paper at the JSM.  Winners will receive a check, a certificate and a plaque commemorating their awards at the Biometrics Section Mixer and Business Meeting on Monday, August 3, 2009 at the JSM in Washington DC.  The committee was very enthusiastic about the response and the exceptional quality of the applications.  The Section thanks all of the applicants and the committee members for their excellent work.

Congratulations to the award winners on their notable accomplishments!

Biometrics Section Mixer & Business Meeting at JSM 2009
Please join us for drinks, appetizers, and mingling at the Biometrics section Mixer & Business Meeting at the 2009 JSM in Washington, DC!  It’s a great networking opportunity and an excellent way to meet other Biometrics Section members.  In addition, the recipient of the 2009 David P. Byar Young Investigator Award will be presented at the Mixer. It will be held on Monday, August 3rd from 5:30-7:00 p.m in Meeting Room 6 at the Renaissance Hotel.  The Mixer is open to all JSM attendees.  We hope to see you there!  

EXCITING PROGRAM AT THE 2009 JSM
The theme of this year's Joint Statistical Meetings, August 2 – August 6 in Washington DC is "Statistics: From Evidence to Policy”.  Be sure to check out the following events sponsored by the Biometrics Section.

Continuing Education Courses
•     “Missing Data in Longitudinal Studies: Strategies for Bayesian Modeling and Sensitivity Analysis”, by Michael Daniels and Joseph Hogan on Saturday, August 1st from 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
•    “Longitudinal Data Analysis: Semiparametric and Nonparametric Approaches”, by Annie Qu and Peter Song on Saturday, August 1st from 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
•    “Methodology for Competing Outcomes: The Analysis of Multiple Mutually Exclusive Endpoints in a Clinical Trial”, by David Naftel on Monday, August 3rd from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
•    “Absolute Risk Prediction” by Mitchell Gail and Ruth Pfeiffer on Tuesday, August 4th from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Invited Sessions
-    The issues of high dimensionality and missing data in complex epidemiological studies, Organizer: Samiran Sinha (Texas A&M). (Sunday, August 2nd from 4:00-5:50 p.m).
-    Recent developments in dimension reduction, Organizer: Wensheng Guo (University of Pennsylvania). (Monday, August 3rd from 2:00-3:50 p.m).
-    Nonparametric approaches for high dimensional data, Organizer: Annie Qu (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). (Tuesday, August 4th from 10:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m).
-    Statistical Challenges in Personalized Medicine and Genetic Guided Clinical Trials, Organizer: Colin Wu (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute). (Wednesday, August 5th from 8:30-10:20 a.m).
-    Statistical issues and second code of life: epigenomics, Organizers: Rebecca Doerge (Purdue University) and Jaya Satagopan (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center). (Thursday, August 6th from 10:30 a.m.-12:20 p.m).

Check the online program at the 2009 JSM web site (available through the ASA web site www.amstat.org) for updates on locations and times.

JSM 2010
It's also already time to start thinking about invited sessions for next year's Joint Statistical Meetings, which will be held August 1-5 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Anyone who is interested in organizing an invited session or who has ideas for one, please contact our 2010 Program Chair, Hormuzd Katki, at katkih@mail.nih.gov.
 
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 2009 program is a good source for examples.   Final program decisions must be made by the Program Chair by September 9, so please submit your ideas no later than September 2.
 
In addition to session proposals centered on biometrical methodology, session proposals on biometrical applications to non-traditional topics are also encouraged.  Some examples might include: biometry in health and human rights; biometry and global health issues; and biometry and aspects of comparative effectiveness research.