BIOMETRICS SECTION NEWSLETTER, DECEMBER 2009

BIOMETRICS SECTION NEWSLETTER, DECEMBER 2009
Edited by Page Moore , Biometrics Section Publications Officer

TIME TO SUBMIT ABSTRACTS FOR THE JSM!
Abstract submission opens December 1 for regular contributed and topic contributed papers for the 2010 JSM, which will be held July 31 st to August 5 th in Vancouver , B.C. All abstracts are due February 1 st . See www.amstat.org for more information.

Topic-contributed sessions are nice alternatives to regular contributed sessions because: the sessions are organized around a central topic, the talks are longer (20 minutes rather than 15), and one can have discussants as well as regular talks. Typically sessions consist of five speakers (i.e., four speakers and one discussant; three speakers and two discussants). The 2010 JSM Biometrics Section Program Chair, Hormuzd Katki , is collecting proposals for topic contributed talks. If you are interested in organizing a topic contributed session, please contact him at katkih@mail.nih.gov . The period for submitting topic contributed session abstracts is December 1, 2009 - February 1, 2010.

Also consider proposing a topic contributed panel session. These usually have 3-6 panelists, and this session format involves one abstract for all speakers. Note that if each speaker wishes to provide an abstract, speak on a specific topic and submit an individual paper for JSM Proceedings, then your session should be a paper session.

APPLICATIONS INVITED FOR 2010 BYAR YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD AND BIOMETRICS SECTION TRAVEL AWARDS
Do you know a young investigator who is planning to submit an abstract for the 2010 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM)? If so, you may wish to alert that individual that the ASA Biometrics Section is seeking applications for the 2010 David P. Byar Young Investigator Award. This annual award is given to a young investigator for best emerging work to be presented at the JSM. The award commemorates the late David Byar, a biostatistician who made significant contributions to the development and application of statistical methods and was esteemed as an exceptional mentor during his career at the National Cancer Institute. The winner will receive a $1,500 cash award.

In addition to the Byar Award, the Section may provide travel awards to the authors of other outstanding papers that are submitted to the competition.

Have held a doctorate in statistics, biostatistics or a related quantitative field for three years or less as of April 1 of the current year, or be currently enrolled as a student in a doctoral program in statistics or biostatistics and in active pursuit of a doctoral degree.
Be a current member of the Biometrics Section (applicant may join at the time of submission for a $5 annual membership fee). Please note that membership in ASA does not automatically confer Section membership; ASA members must join individual sections in addition to their generic membership.
Be first author of the paper. The paper may be unsubm itted, submitted or under review, b ut may not have already appeared in a journal either on-line or in print at the time of the application or have been accepted for publication as of January 1 of 2010.
Be scheduled to present the same paper submitted for the Award at the 2010 Joint Statistical Meetings in Washington , DC as either a talk or poster.
Not have submitted the paper to any other ASA section 2010 student/young investigator award competition.

Applicants must submit their JSM abstracts to the Biometrics Section, which will organize a series of Topic Contributed sessions to highlight the submitted papers.

For the 2010 competition, applicants should first submit a Topic Contributed abstract to the JSM by the usual abstract deadline of Feb. 1, 2010. Applicants should contact the Section JSM Program Chair, Hormuzd Katki ( katkih@mail.nih.gov ), prior to the abstract deadline.

Then by March 1, applicants should complete their application by submitting the following materials:

A cover letter certifying that the applicant meets the eligibility requirements and is not submitting the paper to any other ASA section student/young investigator award competition.
A current CV.
One copy of the finished paper.

All materials must be submitted electronically on or before March 1, 2010 . Applications and questions should be sent to Daniel Heitjan at dheitjan@upenn.edu .

The 2010 Awards Committee is composed of the 2010 current and past Section Chairs and Chair-Elect as well as three additional individuals to be appointed by the Section Chairs prior to the competition. Information regarding this award is also available on the Section webpage, easily accessed by clicking on the "Section" tab at the top of the ASA website ( www.amstat.org ).

TRANSITION BETWEEN CURRENT AND NEW SECTION OFFICERS
With the arrival of the New Year, we will have a new set of officers following in the footsteps of the current group of very effective officers. First, there are a number of transitions involving the Past Chair, current Chair, Chair-Elect, and Chair-Elect-Elect (the numerous chair positions are needed to distribute the workload of the overall chair position and hopefully the corresponding credit). To start the line of succession, the current Past Chair, Jeremy Taylor, retires from meritorious service for the Section. The current Chair, Daniel Heitjan becomes Past Chair while Barry Graubard replaces Daniel at the current Chair position, leaving the Chair-Elect slot to Jack Lee. The transition for the remaining Officer positions is a little less confusing: Mousumi Banerjee succeeds Diana Miglioretti as one of our three Council of Sections representatives, Liang Li replaces Jinbo Chen as Program Chair for ENAR, and Hormuzd Katki replaces Wensheng Guo as our Program Chair for the JSM.