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

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”. The Biometrics Section's Mixer and Business meeting will be on Monday August 3rd. Come voice your opinion on what activities you would like the section to undertake.

The Biometrics Section is proud to co-sponsor four short courses during the 2009 JSM in Washington DC:

• “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. to 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.
  

The Biometrics Section is sponsoring an exciting program of invited sessions and talks spanning a broad range of topics in Biostatistics.  The titles and organizers of the invited sessions are given below.

• 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).
  

The Biometrics Section would like to thank Jerry Heatley, our JSM Continuing Education Chair, and Wensheng Guo, our JSM Program Chair for their wonderful job in organizing the course and sessions. 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.

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.  The Mixer is open to all JSM attendees.  We hope to see you there!  

ENAR 2010
It is time to think about invited sessions for ENAR 2010, which will be held March 21–24 in New Orleans, LA. Anyone who is interested in organizing an invited session or who has ideas for one, please contact our 2010 Program Chair, Liang Li, at lil2@ccf.org.

A typical session consists of three 30-minute talks followed by a 30 minute
discussion or four 30-minute talks.  June 11 is the deadline for proposals.  It is best if you have a well-defined topic and have commitments from participants by June 11. The more detailed the proposal, the better the chances that it will be selected as this is a highly competitive process.

JSM 2010
It’s also 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.

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 by the middle of June. 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 as well.

Please also submit ideas for short courses our 2009-2010 Continuing Education Chair Jerry Heatley at jerry.heatley@thoratec.com.