Research Program: Biostatistics and Computational Biology

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle WA

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

Biostatistics and Computational Biology Program The Biostatistics and Computational Biology Program carries out quantitative and computational research in a variety of areas relevant to understanding issues related to cancer. Program interests span a range of activities, from the technical development of quantitative or experimental methodologies to activities that emphasize substantive research programs in epidemiology, to biological research programs that use experimental approaches alongside computational methods. Program strengths include the development of rigorous statistical and mathematical methods for personalized medicine and molecular diagnostics, understanding the molecular biology of the adaptive immune response, and the development of approaches that address high impact opportunities in cancer research - including methods for the analysis of complex association studies and longitudinal data, and experimental/ computational methods that characterize variations in quantity, sequence, and structure of the human genome, transcriptome, and proteome. The program members also have leadership activities that impact cancer research at a national level, including a number of U01s, a variety of statistical coordinating centers -- the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG), the National Wilms Tumor Study, the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), the Statistical Centers for the HIV/AIDS Research & Prevention (SCHARP), and the Early Detection Research Network (EDRN) - and the leadership of multiple widely adopted computing platforms. The goals of the program are (i) to develop rigorous statistical and mathematical methods relevant to predictive and personalized medicine; (ii) to develop and use experimental, technological, and companion computational or mathematical methods to gain understanding of the natural history of cancer; and (iii) to promote development, dissemination and use of statistical and computational methods in cancer research. The Biostatistics and Computational Biology Program has 42 members, 93% of whom have external funding or are new faculty members, across two institutions, three schools and seven departments. Members published a total of 813 papers in the previous grant period. Program members are highly collaborative and routinely work with epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory-based researchers in other programs to support the translation of our expertise across the CCSG - 54% of our manuscripts were inter-programmatic, 10% were intra- programmatic, and 19% inter-institutional . Our members have been successful in obtaining funding to support their research programs. Peer reviewed funding (direct) is $10.9M of which $5.4M is from NCI, and includes many single-investigator R01s, several U01s, a longstanding P01, a variety of other peer reviewed grants or fellowships, and large-scale collaborative working groups.