Biostatistics Program

Interdepartmental Program

The following list reflects the 2006/2007 faculty.

Codirectors Howard Cabral, Anita DeStefano

Executive Directors Ralph B. D’Agostino, L. Adrienne Cupples

Faculty

Larry Atwood Associate Professor of Neurology, School of Medicine; Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. PhD, University of North Texas

Alexa Beiser Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. MA, University of California, San Diego; PhD, Boston University

Howard Cabral Codirector, Biostatistics Program; Associate Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. MPH, PhD, Boston University

Debbie Cheng Associate Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. ScD, Harvard University

Cindy Christiansen Associate Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health. MS, PhD, University of Texas at Austin

Theodore Colton Chairman Emeritus, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health; Professor of Epidemiology, School of Public Health. MS, University of North Carolina; ScD, Johns Hopkins University

L. Adrienne Cupples Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. MA, PhD, Boston University

Ralph B. D’Agostino Executive Director, Biostatistics Program; Director of Statistics and Consulting Unit; Chair and Professor of Mathematics, College of Arts and Sciences; Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health; Professor, School of Law. BA, MA, Boston University; PhD, Harvard University

Serkalem Demissie Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. MPH, PhD, Boston University

Anita DeStefano Codirector, Biostatistics Program; Associate Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. MS, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; BS, PhD, Cornell University

Gheorghe Doros Assistant Professor in Biostatistics, School of Public Health. MA, PhD, Yale University

Josee Dupuis Associate Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. MS, PhD, Stanford University

Susan Fish Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. MPH, Boston Unviersity; PharmD, University of Minneapolis

David Gagnon Associate Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. MD, Tufts University; MPH, PhD, Boston University

Ashis Gangopadhyay Associate Professor of Mathematics and Statistics. BS, MS, Indian Statistical Institute; PhD, University of California, Davis

Philimon Gona Research Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, College of Arts and Sciences. MPH, PhD, Boston University

Chao-Yu Guo Research Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, College of Arts and Sciences. MS, National Taiwan University (Taiwan); PhD, Boston University

Timothy C. Heeren Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. PhD, Boston University

Eric Kolaczyk Director, Statistics Program; Associate Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, College of Arts and Sciences. PhD, Stanford University

Martin Larson Research Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, College of Arts and Sciences. SM, ScD, Harvard University

Michael LaValley Associate Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. BA, American International College; MS, Ohio State University; PhD, Pennsylvania State University

Robert Lew Associate Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. MS, PhD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Elena Losina Associate Professor of Biostatistics. MS, Odessa University (Ukraine); PhD, Boston University

Kathryn Lunetta Associate Professor of Biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. MS, PhD, University of Michigan

Joseph Massaro Associate Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. MA, PhD, Boston University

Al Ozonoff Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. MA, PhD, University of California, Santa Barbara

Michael Pencina Research Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Statistics. PhD, Boston University

Paola Sebastiani Associate Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. MS, University College London; PhD, University of Rome

Lisa Sullivan Chair of Biostatistics; Associate Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health; Associate Professor of Mathematics, College of Arts and Sciences. BA, University of New Hampshire; MA, PhD, Boston University

Janice Weinberg Associate Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. MS, University of North Carolina; ScD, Harvard University

Daniel C. Weiner Associate Professor of Mathematics and Statistics. BS, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; MA, PhD, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Laura White Assistant Professor of Biostatistics. PhD, Harvard University

Qiong Yang Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, School of Public Health. PhD, Columbia University

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The Graduate Program

Students may pursue graduate study in biostatistics through the Biostatistics Program, jointly administered by the Department of Biostatistics of the School of Public Health and the Department of Mathematics/Statistics of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. As a joint effort, the program offers students the opportunity not only to gain expertise in mathematical statistics but also to specialize in the epidemiologic, medical, and bioscience applications of statistics. Students are required to take courses in both the Department of Mathematics/Statistics and the Department of Biostatistics.

The program offers a Master of Arts (MA) in Biostatistics and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Biostatistics. The requirements for these programs are described below. Students may pursue these programs on a part- or full-time basis, although they must complete their programs within a specified period of time as required by the Graduate School. The program offers students the opportunity to specialize in one of three areas: 1) clinical trials, 2) statistical genetics, and 3) observational studies.

The student who completes these programs will gain knowledge in probability, statistical inference and hypothesis testing, the design and conduct of experimental and epidemiological studies, statistical computation, and data analysis. Research interests of the faculty include multivariate analysis, survival analysis, medical statistics, clinical trials methodology, statistical genetics, robust statistics, longitudinal data analysis, time series, regression, estimation theory, and the design of experiments. Research assistantship and training grant positions are available on a competitive basis. Further information can be obtained from the Department of Mathematics section of this site, The School of Public Health Bulletin and from the Directors, Biostatistics Program, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118; 617-638-5172.

Requirements for Admission All applications for admission are made through the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Students entering the program are expected to have at least the equivalent of the Bachelor of Arts degree. At the time of application, previously completed coursework must include at least one year of calculus including multivariate calculus and one formal course in linear algebra. Applicants also must demonstrate competency in computer programming and elementary statistical methods. GRE scores are required.

Residency Requirement The minimum residency requirement is the equivalent of two consecutive regular semesters of full-time graduate study at Boston University. Students who have completed their course requirements must register each subsequent regular semester as continuing students and pay the continuing student fee until they have completed all requirements for the degree. Upon written petition and appropriate cause students will be allowed up to two semesters of leave of absence. For further information on leaves of absence, the Policies and Procedures section of this site. Students must be registered in both the semester in which the last degree requirements are completed and in the preceding semester.

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MA in Biostatistics

Course Requirements Eight semester courses (32 credits) distributed as follows: six core courses (CAS MA 581 Probability or MET MA 581 Probability, CAS MA 582 Mathematical Statistics or MET MA 582 Mathematical Statistics, CAS MA 575 Applied Regression and Analysis of Variance I, SPH EP 712 Epidemiologic Methods, SPH BS 852 Statistical Methods for Epidemiology, and SPH BS 805 Intermediate Statistical Computing); and the two remaining courses from the core courses or the designated biostatistics/epidemiology courses listed below. Students must earn a grade of B – or better in all courses applied to the MA.

Qualifying Examination The candidate must satisfactorily pass two comprehensive written examinations demonstrating proficiency in the material covered in the six core courses. Students are allowed two attempts to pass a qualifying exam (MA or PhD). The Biostatistics Qualifying Exam Committee will evaluate requests by students to take an exam for the third time on a case-by-case basis.

Language Requirement Students who have not previously completed at least two years of study in foreign language at the undergraduate level or the equivalent must make up the deficiency through coursework or examination.

MA Curriculum

Program Courses in Biostatistics Descriptions are given under departmental listing or in the School of Public Health Bulletin, which may be obtained from Admissions, School of Public Health, Boston University, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118.

Core Courses

Electives

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PhD in Biostatistics

Course Requirements Students in the PhD program entering with only a bachelor’s degree must complete 16 semester courses (64 credits) from the designated program courses listed below, including the following nine courses: CAS MA 581 Probability or MET MA 581 Probability, CAS MA 582 Mathematical Statistics or MET MA 582 Mathematical Statistics, CAS MA 575 Applied Regression and Analysis of Variance I, SPH EP 712 Epidemiologic Methods, or SPH BS 805 Intermediate Statistical Computing, SPH BS 852 Statistical Methods for Epidemiology, SPH BS 853 Generalized Linear Models, GRS MA 781 Estimation Theory, and GRS MA 782 Hypothesis Testing. For students entering the PhD program with a bachelor’s degree, four additional courses must be taken from the biostatistics/epidemiology course listing, including at least one each from the MA and BS series. The remaining three courses may be selected from the MA or BS series of courses or from the listed elective courses. One elective (of the remaining three courses) may be in the biological sciences. Given the large number of biology courses, a comprehensive list is not entered here. Please contact the Program Directors to seek permission for a specific course in the biological sciences. Students entering the PhD program with MPH or MA degrees may be accepted into an eight-course program. However, they may be required to take extra courses if there are deficiencies in their background. Students must earn a grade of B – or better in all courses applied to the PhD.

Qualifying Examinations The doctoral candidate must satisfactorily pass two comprehensive written examinations upon completion of coursework. These will require proficiency in the material covered in the nine core courses. Students are allowed two attempts to pass a qualifying exam (MA or PhD). The Biostatistics Qualifying Exam Committee will evaluate requests by students to take an exam for the third time on a case-by-case basis.

Language Requirements Students must demonstrate proficiency in reading the biostatistical literature in at least one foreign language. International students may use English to fulfill the language requirement.

Dissertation The PhD dissertation provides the student with the opportunity to design, conduct, and report on independent, original research in biostatistics. The dissertation consists of original research in the development of statistical methodology for biomedical or epidemiologic applications. This original methodology will, in general, be applied to data collected by the student or to already existing data sets. Once students complete their qualifying examinations, they select a thesis advisor who guides them through their dissertation research. Second and third readers, who provide additional advice, are often selected shortly thereafter. Students who are working on their dissertation are required to attend a seminar once a month and to present material from their dissertation research once per year.

Final Oral Exam The candidate presents an oral defense of the dissertation before a five-member doctoral committee.

PhD Curriculum

Program Courses in Biostatistics Descriptions are given under departmental listing or in the School of Public Health Bulletin, which may be obtained from Admissions, School of Public Health, Boston University, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118.

Core Courses

MA Series

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BS Series

Electives

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Published by Trustees of Boston University
One Sherborn Street
Boston, MA 02215

31 October 2007
Boston University
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