? Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core (Core 2) The mission of the Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core is to provide biostatistics and bioinformatics expertise in support of cancer health disparities research in the Duke Cancer Health Disparities (DCHD) P20 SPORE program. The Core will serve as a centralized resource for expertise in applied and theoretical cancer biostatistics and bioinformatics, data science, machine learning, and scientific computing. The Core will be co-led by Terry Hyslop, PhD, and Kouros Owzar, PhD, who have a combined 35 years of cancer biostatistics and bioinformatics technical expertise and leadership, along with their joint research expertise in development of statistical methodologies for analysis of admixed populations. The Core mission will be accomplished within the framework of sound data provenance and statistical principles, literate programming, and reproducible analysis. The code to reproduce analyses will be tracked using source code management software and disseminated publicly. Any software extended or developed de novo by this Core in support of the proposed research will be disseminated to the cancer research community with adequate documentation and under a free public license. Core 2 will provide basic, clinical, and translational cancer biostatistics and bioinformatics support (Aim 1); evaluate statistical and computational methods and tools (Aim 2); and provide consulting and education to support current and future DCHD P20 projects (Aim 3). The Core will provide cancer biostatistics and bioinformatics expertise in support of the research proposed by Project 1 and Project 2. This will ensure that the projects have clearly stated quantitative objectives, comprehensive data quality control plans, and clearly defined interim and final analysis plans using appropriate statistical and computational methodology, and computing infrastructure. Core personnel will produce interim and final reports, programmatic data checks and validation, and contribute to abstract, poster, and manuscript preparation. For Project 1, the Core will provide RNA sequencing analysis support from initial quality control assessment of raw reads and pre-processing, to downstream statistical analysis and annotation. Core personnel will actively collaborate with the proposed Biospecimen/Pathology Core in the sequencing design. For Project 2, the Core has provided the statistical design and analysis plan for the proposed studies and will provide statistical and data management support from the recruitment to the final analysis stage. Core leaders will actively consult with and educate program investigators, as well as Developmental Research Program (DRP) and pre Career Enhancement Program (pre-CEP) awardees. This will help investigators to more deeply understand their projects? quantitative results, including both the limitations in making inferences from a particular experimental design, and also in proper interpretation of their findings. The Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core serves all Projects, consults and works with DRP & pre-CEP awardees, is represented on the Executive Committee, and works closely with the Biospecimen/Pathology Core and the Administrative Core. Our services are crucial to achieving the shared goals of the DCHD P20 SPORE.
? Biostatistics and Bioinformatics (Core 2) Cancer health disparities are part of a complex, multi-level problem driven by social, psycho-social, lifestyle, environmental, health system, and biological determinants of health. This Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Core will provide biostatistical and bioinformatics expertise to support all studies in the Duke Cancer Health Disparities P20 SPORE, to ensure that reliable, reproducible results are generated that have maximal impact. The Core?s support will enable the translational research designed to develop or improve new or existing interventions and therapies through a better understanding of cancer disparities prevalent in the Duke Cancer Institute?s catchment area.
