Biostatistics Shared Resource (BSR) The BSR provides comprehensive biostatistics support of cancer research for MCC investigators. The resource was established in 1995 and Dr. Messer (CP), a nationally recognized biostatistician, has been the BSR Director since the prior renewal in 2006. Additional leadership of the BSR is provided by Dr. Natarajan (CP), a very experienced mathematician and biostatistician, and Dr. Baru, a world-renowned leader in informatics infrastructure at the SD Supercomputer Center (SDSC). The BSR also provides database and informatics services for cancer studies, collaborating with SDSC and Clinical and Translational Research Institute (CTRI). The BSR comprises 10.9 FTE of cancer-funded effort, including 5 faculty in the Division of Biostatistics in Family and Preventive Medicine, a senior leader at the SD Supercomputer Center, a faculty member with appointments in both the Department of Computer Science and at SDSU's Graduate School of Public Health, and 9 biostatistics, bioinformatics and informatics staff at the PhD or Master's level. Three faculty and all staff have offices on the third floor of the MCC building, creating a Biostatistics suite with well-defined signage. Key biostatistics objectives of the BSR include support of new grant applications, and support for design, monitoring, analysis, interpretation of results and manuscript preparation for cancer-related studies. Key informatics objectives include database design, development and support;integration of diverse software and web applications;and electronic data capture for clinical trials and patient registries, including pullback from EPIC medical record. BSR services are divided between short-term consulting, supported by the CCSG without charge to MCC investigators, and longer-term collaboration that is funded from collaborative grants. Service requests are accepted in person, by phone, email, or web request, and are tracked using a web-based system. During the period 2007-2012, the BSR supported 130 different MCC investigators resulting in 133 co-authored cancer-related, peer-reviewed papers, and 255 grant submissions. Furthermore, the BSR assisted in developing 80 therapeutic protocols. In 2012, 51 MCC members representing all six programs used BSR services accounting for 99% of shared resource utilization, and the BSR received 18% of its funding from the CCSG. This is a continuing shared resource.
The Biostatistics Shared Resource (BSR) provides MCC investigators with statistical expertise to assist in the design and analysis of cancer-related studies. BSR biostatisticians ensure that clinical trials and other studies have well defined end-points and rigorous analysis plans, and are designed for maximal efficiency To ensure a high scientific standard in data analysis and interpretation of study results.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 862 publications
