The Section is pleased to announce that the following four proposals have been funded as part of the Section's Strategic Initiative, "Developing the Next Generation of Biostatisticians" :
- Stacia DeSantis, Medical University of South Carolina, "Illustrating Biostatistical Research: An Audiovisual Vignette";
- Jane Monaco, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, " North Carolina High School Students: Learning About Biostatistics, the Discipline and the Job Opportunities";
- Jacob Oleson, The University of Iowa , "Iowa Field of Dreams Conference 2009";
- Page Moore and Songthip Ounpraseuth, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, "A Continued Effort to Recruit Future Biostatisticians in Arkansas High Schools".
Congratulations to all winners in this important initiative . Many thanks to the Strategic Initiatives Subcommittee, chaired by Bonnie LaFleur, for their excellent work.
Time to Submit Abstracts for the JSM!
Abstract submission opens December 1 for regular contributed and topic contributed papers for the 2009 JSM, which will be held August 1 st through August 6 th in Washington , DC . All abstracts are due February 2. See www.amstat.org for more information.
The 2009 JSM Biometrics Section Program Chair, Wensheng Guo, is collecting proposals for topic contributed sessions 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 wguo@mail.med.upenn.edu directly. The deadline for submitting topic contributed session proposals is December 20th.
The Biometrics Section is pleased to sponsor the following invited sessions at the 2009 Joint Statistical Meetings in Washington , DC :
- Nonparametric approaches for high dimensional data, Organizer: Annie Qu (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).
- Recent developments in dimension reduction, Organizer: Wensheng Guo (University of Pennsylvania ).
- Statistical issues and second code of life: epigenomics, Organizers: Rebecca Doerge ( Purdue University ) and Jaya Satagopan ( Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center ).
- The issues of high dimensionality and missing data in complex epidemiological studies, Organizer: Samiran Sinha ( Texas A&M).
- Statistical Challenges in Personalized Medicine and Genetic Guided Clinical Trials, Organizer: Colin Wu (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute).
NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR 2009 BYAR YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD AND BIOMETRICS SECTION TRAVEL AWARDS
Do you know a young investigator who is planning to submit an abstract for the 2009 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM)? If so, you may wish to alert that individual that the ASA Biometrics Section is seeking nominations for the 2009 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 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 $1,000 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.
Applicants must meet the following criteria:
• Having 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 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.
• Being first author of the paper submitted for consideration for the Award. 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 2009.
• Being scheduled to present the same paper submitted for the Award at the 2009 Joint Statistical Meetings in Washington , DC as either a talk or poster presentation.
Applicants are encouraged but not required to submit their abstract to the Biometrics Section.
For the 2009 competition, the application materials should consist of, in electronic format:
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 email address below.
The 2009 Awards Committee, chaired by Dr. Jeremy Taylor, is composed of the 2009 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, 2009 .
Applications and questions should be sent to Jeremy Taylor at jmgt@umich.edu .