Biostatistics

The Department of Biostatistics offers consulting services to a wide range of groups both within and outside of Columbia University. Consulting services may be free or require fee-for-service, depending on one’s needs and affiliations. Below is a breakdown of the three levels of consulting services provided by the Department of Biostatistics

The Biostatistics Consulting Service

Director: William T. Friedwald
Co-Director:Shing Lee

The Biostatistics Consulting Service (BCS) is a free service to public health and other CUMC health sciences faculty. Run by the Biostatistics faculty, BCS offers advice on data analysis and appropriate methods of data presentation for publications, and provides design recommendations for public health and clinical research, including preparation of grant proposals.

Utilization of the BCS early in the study design process is highly recommended. The BCS operates five days a week, and conducts hundreds of consultations each year. Participants are eligible for up to five hours of consultation over the course of a study.

All MS/TM, MS/APT, MPH, and doctoral students are required to participate in the BCS. Biostatistics faculty and research staff members conduct consultation sessions with students observing, modeling, and participating in the consultations. Working with diverse clientele provides students with invaluable experience as they apply the skills learned in the program to a variety of statistical problems.

To find out more information or to arrange a consultation appointment, contact the Department of Biostatistics at 212-305-5832.

Research and Data Coordination Centers

The Department of Biostatistics houses a number of centers that provide services for a fee. Centers offering consulting services are:

The Data Coordinating Center

Center Director: Howard Andrews, PhD, associate clinical professor of Biostatistics and Neuroscience (in Psychiatry)

The Data Coordinating Center (DCC ) provides data management and project management support for many large-scale clinical trials and epidemiological studies at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, including The Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project, the Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease with Estrogens Clinical Trial, and the Columbia Child Environmental Health Center. DCC's staff also has extensive experience in the processing and analysis of secondary data sources, including vital statistics and other large public data sets.

The Statistical Analysis Center for Clinical Trials

Center Director: John L.P. (Seamus) Thompson, PhD, professor of clinical Biostatistics and Neurology

The Statistical Analysis Center for Clinical Trials (SAC) provides data management and statistical analysis for randomized clinical trials and other large projects. The SAC has coordinated and managed trials addressing some of the most pressing issues in public health and medicine, including prior and acute stroke trials, heart failure, and ALS. It has managed industry and NIH sponsored trials, with awards exceeding $17.5 million, enrolling more than 7500 subjects at 234 sites worldwide. Areas of expertise include biostatistics for clinical research; statistical inference, including sequential, longitudinal, and missing data analysis; data management; and trial organization and management.

Biostatistics Center for Clinical Trials Management

Center Director: Emilia Bagiella, PhD, associate professor of clinical Biostatistics

The Biostatistics Center for Clinical Trials Management (BCCTM) is dedicated to innovative statistical design and the analysis and management of data for clinical trials. Since its inception in 2007, the Center already manages six federally-funded, multi-center clinical trials in the areas of neurology, pulmonary medicine, and diabetes. Center staff include experienced software engineers who develop state of the art, secure, user-friendly web-based applications tailored to the specific requisites of individual trials.

Division of Statistical Genetics

Director: David Greenberg, PhD, professor of Biostatistics

The Division of Statistical Genetics provides assistance in all phases (design, storage, and analysis) of genetic studies, particularly for studies of common diseases such as epilepsy and schizophrenia. The Program also can develop specialized analysis techniques for individual studies. Faculty are leaders in statistical methods of population genetics, linkage and association studies, and genomics. Faculty also have developed a software/hardware facility to store and analyze genetic data using current analysis techniques that simplify the testing of genetic hypotheses.

Faculty

Biostatistics faculty also work on projects that require in-depth assistance from the planning phases through to implementation. In those cases, the faculty are put on the research grants to compensate them for their services. The Experts Guide offers a breakdown of the faculty’s expertise. Interested parties are encouraged to contact chair Bruce Levin to discuss a particular project and their needs, or may directly contact individual members of the Biostatistics faculty.