Continuing Education Courses at JSM 2007
Mahlet Tadesse , 2007 JSM Continuing Education Chair.
The Biometrics Section is proud to co-sponsor two short courses during the annual meeting in Salt Lake City.
Statistical Genetics
Kenneth Lange, Janet Sinsheimer, and Eric Sobel will present a one-day short course on Statistical Genetics. The course will be balanced between theory and applications with emphasis on methods for detection of genetic loci for complex traits. After a brief but thorough refresher of the biological principles underlying statistical genetics, statistical methods that underlie many pedigree-based gene mapping methods will be covered. This will be followed by statistical theory and implementation of methods for: allele frequency estimation, estimation of ethnic admixture, transmission distortion and gene mapping, penetrance estimation using generalized linear models, variance component models for quantitative trait mapping, and variance component models for inbred strains. The course is intended for statisticians interested in gene mapping and genetic epidemiology. Familiarity with basic statistical modeling and likelihood theory will be assumed. The book Mathematical and Statistical Methods for Genetic Analysis, 2 nd edition, by Kenneth Lange (Springer-Verlag, 2002) will be used.
Kenneth Lange is the Rosenfeld Professor of Computational Genetics, the Chair of the Department of Human Genetics and Professor of Biomathematics and Statistics at UCLA. Janet Sinsheimer is Professor of Human Genetics, Biomathematics, and Biostatistics at UCLA. Eric Sobel is Adjunct Professor of Human Genetics and Director of Bioinformatics in the Department of Human Genetics at UCLA. The instructors are experts in statistical genetics and have done extensive methodological and applied work in the area.
Dropout in Longitudinal Studies: Strategies for Bayesian Modeling and Sensitivity
Michael Daniels and Joe Hogan will present this one-day short course which provides a survey of modern model-based approaches for handling dropout in longitudinal studies. Models and methods will be illustrated throughout with case studies implemented in WinBUGS, using data from both randomized trials and observational studies. The course will begin with a brief review of models for longitudinal data and the basics of Bayesian inference. The second part of the course will focus on dropout and will present formal classifications of the dropout mechanism. Different classes of models to adjust for biases caused by dropout will be presented. The importance of model specification and the logistics of model fitting will also be discussed. The final part of the course will focus on non-ignorable dropouts. Principles that should guide assessment of sensitivity to missing data assumption and appropriate use of prior information will be described. Attendees should have a working knowledge of generalized linear models and statistical inference at the masters level. A research monograph, co-authored by the presenters, will be used for the course.
Michael Daniels is the Division Chief of Biostatistics and an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and in the Department of Statistics at the University of Florida. Joe Hogan is Associate Professor of Biostatistics and Biostatistics Graduate Program Director at Brown University. Daniels and Hogan have published extensively on statistical methods for longitudinal data and missing data, and have taught several courses on these topics.
ENAR 2008
It is time to think about invited sessions for ENAR 2008, which will be held March 16-19 in Crystal City, Virginia. Anyone who is interested in organizing an invited session or who has ideas for one, please contact our 2008 Program Chair, Tim Johnson, at tdjtdj@umich.edu
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 speakers/discussants by June 11. The more detailed the proposal, the better the changes that the proposal will be selected in this highly competitive process.
JSM 2008
It is also time to start thinking about invited sessions for next year's Joint Statistical Meetings, which will be held August 3 - August 7 in Denver, Colorado. Anyone who is interested in organizing an invited session or who has ideas for one, please contact our 2008 Program Chair, Debashis Ghosh, at ghoshd@umich.edu.
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 2007 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.
Vote for Officers of the Biometrics Section
There are two open positions for officers of the Biometrics Section: Chair-elect and Council on Sections Representative. You can cast your ballot online at the ASA website. The two candidates for Chair-elect are Daniel Heitjan, University of Pennsylvania and Naisyin Wang, Texas A&M University. The two candidates for council on sections representative are Annie Qu, Oregon State University and Mike Daniels, University of Florida. Section members can vote on these positions as well as other positions in ASA.