BIOMETRICS SECTION NEWSLETTER, JANUARY 2008

The Section is pleased to announce the three proposals that have been funded as part of the Section's Strategic Initiative, "Developing the Next Generation of Biostatisticians":

Debbie Hydorn, University Mary Washington, "Promoting Biostatistics: Developing Materials for Linking Statistics and Biology Classes"
Roslyn Stone, University of Pittsburgh, "Developing a Web Site to House Outreach Materials for AP Statistics Students and Their Teachers: Case Studies in Collaborative Research"
Scott McNitt, University of Rochester Medical Center, "A Biostatistics Apprenticemship Outreach Program for Urban Magnet High School Students"

Congratulations to all winners in this important initiative. Many thanks to the Strategic Initiatives Subcommittee, chaired by Bonnie LaFleur, for the excellent work.

Time to Submit Abstracts for the JSM!
Abstract submission opens December 3 for regular contributed and topic contributed papers for the 2008 JSM, which will be held August 3rd to August 7th in Denver, Colorado. All abstracts are due February 4. See www.amstat.org for more information.

The 2008 JSM Biometrics Section Program Chair, Debashis Ghosh, is collecting proposals for topic contributed talks and seeks volunteers to chair contributed sessions. If you are interested in organizing a topic contributed session or would like to chair a session, please contact him at ghoshd@psu.edu directly. Deadline for submitting topic contributed session proposals is February 1st.

The Biometrics Section is pleased to sponsor the following invited sessions at the 2008 Joint Statistical Meetings in Denver:

Methods for the Analysis of Multivariate Dental Data, Organizer: Tom Braun, University of Michigan
Large p Small n Problems for High Dimensional Microarray Data, Organizer: Annie Qu, Oregon State University
New Statistical and Computational Methods for Analysis of Genomic Data with Graphical Structures, Organizer: Hongzhe Li, University of Pennsylvania
A New Paradigm of Statistical Data Analysis - Omics data, Organizer: Susmita Datta, University of Louisville
Time Series Analysis via Mechanistic Models, Organizer: Ed Ionides, University of Michigan

NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR 2008 BYAR YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD AND BIOMETRICS SECTION TRAVEL AWARDS

Do you know a young investigator who is planning to submit an abstract for the 2008 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM)? If so, you may wish to alert that individual that the ASA Biometrics Section is seeking nominations for the 2008 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 is in memory of David Byar, an internationally known 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 $1,000 cash award.

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

Having held a doctorate in statistics, biostatistics or related quantitative field for three years or less as of April 1 of the current year or being currently enrolled as a student in a doctoral program in statistics or biostatistics and in active pursuit of a doctoral degree.
Being a current member of the ASA Biometrics Section (applicant may join at the time of submission for only a $3 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. You must join the Biometrics Section to be eligible.
Being first author of the paper submitted for consideration for the Award. The paper may be unsubmitted, submitted or under review, but 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 2008.
Being scheduled to present the same paper submitted for the Award at the 2008 Joint Statistical Meetings in Denver as either a talk or poster presentation.

Applicants are encouraged but not required to submit their abstract to the Biometrics Section.

For the 2008 competition, the application materials should consist of, in electronic format:

A cover letter certifying that the applicant meets the eligibility requirements
A current CV
One copy of the finished paper (drafts are not acceptable) Applicants are also invited to submit one copy each of supplementary published or in-press papers if they compose a body of scientific work related to the paper to be presented. If these are not available electronically, please contact the Chair of the committee at the e-mail address below

The 2008 Awards Committee, chaired by Dr. Thomas Ten Have, is composed of the 2008 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).

All materials, including the paper, must be submitted electronically on or before March 1, 2008.

Applications and questions should be sent to Tom Ten Have at ttenhave@upenn.edu.