Distinguished Scholars to Present Year-Long Lecture Series in Biostatistics

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Eight prominent scientists from across the U.S. will participate in a year-long Distinguished Scholars Lecture Series beginning this month, established by the University at Buffalo's Department of Biostatistics in the School of Public Health and Health Professions.

All lectures are free and open to the public.

The series will open with dual lectures Oct. 28-29 by Thomas R. Fleming, PhD, professor of biostatistics and statistics at the University of Washington in Seattle and a member of the Division of Public Health Sciences at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. His Oct. 28 lecture "Issues in Using Progression Free Survival when Evaluating Oncology Products," is scheduled for 8 a.m. in Roswell Park Cancer Institute's Hohn Lecture Hall.

The following day, he will discuss "Clinical Trials: Discerning Hype from Substance" at 10:15 a.m. in 144 Farber Hall on UB's South (Main Street) Campus.

David Oakes, PhD, professor of biostatistics and computational biology at the University of Rochester and director of the university's Biostatistics Centers of the Parkinson and Huntington Study Groups, will present the second lecture in the series at 4 p.m. on Nov. 5 in 182 Farber Hall, South Campus. He will discuss "On the Role of Copula Models in Survival Analysis."

The series' fall keynote speaker, Raymond J. Carroll, PhD, from Texas A&M University, will address the topic "Robust Powerful Methods for Understanding Gene-Gene and Gene-Environment Interactions," at 4 p.m. on Nov. 17 in Farber Hall's Butler Auditorium.

Carroll is distinguished professor of statistics, nutrition and toxicology, founding director of Texas A&M's Center for Statistical Bioinformatics and deputy director of research for the university's Institute of Applied Mathematics and Computation.

He is one of the world's foremost experts on the statistical problems of measurement error, data transformation and non-constant variation, and, more generally, on statistical regression modeling. He was the first statistician to receive a MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) Award from the National Cancer Institute, which was bestowed for his seminal contributions to statistical methodology and for the impact of that methodology on public health.

The award provides long-term support to investigators with impressive records of scientific achievement in research areas of special importance or promise. Carroll's work has found application in a broad range of fields, including marine biology, laboratory assay methods, econometrics, epidemiology, molecular biology and many others.

His keynote lecture is supported by the UB biostatistics department, chaired by Alan Hutson, PhD.

Fleming chaired the University of Washington's Department of Biostatistics from 1993-2006, and until 2007 directed the Biostatistics/ Epidemiology Core in the University of Washington Center for AIDS Research. He directed the Statistical Center for the HIV/AIDS Prevention Trial Network of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) from 1993-2007, and was involved in the development and coordination of NIAID's national clinical trials program for the prevention and treatment of HIV infection and AIDS.

Fleming has served as chair or a member of data monitoring committees for approximately 200 industry- and government-sponsored clinical trials. His lecture is supported by the Statistical and Data Center of the National Cancer Institute's Gynecologic Oncology Group located in Roswell Park Cancer Institute, and directed by John Blessing.

Oakes chaired the University of Rochester's Department of Statistics from 1989-95 and its Department of Biostatistics from 1995-2002. He also has worked in cardiology, infectious diseases and pediatrics, and is director of the biostatistics core facility for the university's Environmental Health Science Center.

Oakes currently is involved in several multicenter clinical trials and other initiatives involving Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease, as well as a study of the influence of genetic polymorphisms on the risk of recurrent cardiac events after acute myocardial infarction. He holds a training grant in environmental health sciences biostatistics and is co-director of a training grant in experimental therapeutics in neurology.

His appearance is supported by the UB biostatistics department.

Randolph L. Carter, PhD, associate chair and professor in UB's biostatistics department, is organizer of the series, which includes six additional presentations by distinguished young scholars in biostatistics.

The entire schedule of talks can be found by following the "Distinguished Scholars Lectures" link at http://sphhp.buffalo.edu/biostat/index.php.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.