The mission of the Biostatistics Shared Resource (BSR) is to provide the Hollings Cancer Center (HCC) re- search community with outstanding biostatistics support, collaboration, education, and leadership in a cost- effective, accessible, and responsive manner, and to facilitate interactions among HCC investigators, shared resources, and programs. Under the leadership of Elizabeth Hill, PhD, the BSR is composed of highly qualified biostatisticians with in-depth statistical training and complementary expertise in methods relevant to the diverse quantitative needs of HCC investigators. Hill has extensive expertise in basic science, translational and clinical cancer research, with over a decade of service to the HCC in collaborative, educational, and leadership roles. Statistical methods expertise in the BSR includes biomarker discovery, spatial statistics, analytic tools for pro- teomics experimental platforms including iTRAQ, MALDI-TOF and MALDI imaging, cluster-randomized trials, randomized group treatment trials with partial clustering, and early phase clinical trials, all of which are meth- ods that intersect well with HCC research priorities. During the current cycle, BSR members partnered with HCC investigators in all four research programs and were instrumental in: demonstrating increased smoking cessation-related outcomes among smokers using E-cigarettes in one of the first randomized controlled trials conducted in the U.S. (Matthew Carpenter, PhD, R21 DA037407); establishing the South Carolina Cancer Dis- parities Research Center, a partnership with South Carolina?s only state-funded historically black university, South Carolina State University, to increase capacity for inter-institutional cancer research (Marvella Ford, PhD, U54 CA210962); and conducting a first-in-human trial of PD-1 targeted immune checkpoint blockade combined with an IL-2Rbg agonist in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer patients (John Wrangle, MD and Mark Rubinstein, PhD, Altor BioScience, NCT02523469). A key operational feature of the BSR is early involve- ment in study design, followed by an integrated approach with program investigators in data analysis, grant writing, and manuscript preparation. Direct involvement of BSR staff in monthly program meetings, transdisci- plinary cancer team meetings, and BSR-led hands-on workshops enhances the quality of HCC investigators? science. During the current award period, BSR contributed to the development of 136 R01 applications and 317 other grant applications, including R21s, multi-project applications, training grants, and other external and internal funding mechanisms, reflecting the value BSR brings to HCC investigators. BSR members co-au- thored 210 manuscripts with HCC investigators and assisted in the design of 50 investigator-initiated studies (excluding protocols developed as a result of funded grants). With new faculty and staff recruitments under- way, the BSR is poised to support important emerging scientific disciplines in cancer research for all members of the HCC.
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