The Biostatistics Core Resource will provide comprehensive biostatistics analysis and data management support to the entire SCORE team. The Core's primary goals are to ensure (1) research conducted in the SCORE is based on efficient experimental design, (2) quantitative methods used in the SCORE research are appropriate for the design of the study and for the data generated and assumptions required for these methods are appropriate and (3) data collected in the Projects are managed and subjected to rigorous quality control to minimize the possibility of errors and are organized in a manner that facilitates inter-project collaboration. The Biostatistics Resource Core will also work closely with the SCORE Leadership Administrative Core to provide statistical support for the Pilot Project Program, and the SCORE Career Enhancement Core to provide statistical training and assistance for SCORE Scholars. Biostatistics Resource Core members have a long history of collaboration with the investigators on this SCORE. Biostatistics analysis and data management support will be centralized within the Core to ensure necessary expertise is always available to all members of the SCORE and to facilitate multiple utilization of the same expertise as well as contribute to the dissemination of state-of-the art analysis techniques uniformly across all projects. Moreover, the Core is well poised to initiate and promote interactions among SCORE projects and investigators. While the services are centralized within the Biostatistics Resource Core, since the Core is housed in the Department of Public Health Sciences at MUSC it is well positioned to leverage the knowledge base and experience of all the members of the department.
The Biostatistics Resource Core will provide centralized support to the entire MUSC SCORE team of investigators and strive to promote synergy in terms of study design and analyses across projects and other shared resources. It will also contribute to the career enhancement mission of the MUSC SCORE.