Support for the Fourth International Joint IMS-ISBA Conference

North Carolina State University Raleigh, Raleigh NC

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): PROJECT SUMMARY Statisticians play an indispensable role in the analysis of biomedical, environmental and public health data, from the study design stage all the way through to final analysis and report-writing. Statisticians also serve on a myriad of scientific review and advisory panels, as well as provide statistical training and consulting to substantive area researchers. Finally, the development of new statistical methodology for interpretation of data from clinical, observational, and laboratory studies is a key area of statistical endeavor. As a result, scholarly conferences where new ideas can be exchanged are important for statistical science to move forward. International meetings, while of course rarer due to their size and expense, are particularly beneficial since they permit exposure to ideas and colleagues the attendee might not ordinary see or even read about in the familiar journals of one's own country. The benefit of and need for attendance at such meetings by junior statistical researchers is particularly great, since they contribute mightily to their professional development and help "level the playing field" with more established senior investigators. In this application, we request support for the Fourth International Joint Meeting of the IMS (Institute of Mathematical Statistics) and ISBA (the International Society for Bayesian Analysis), to be held in Park City, Utah on Wednesday, January 5 to Friday, January 7, 2011. A central theme of the conference will be Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) and related methods applied to environmental health problems. The lion's share of the support we seek is to support the travel expenses of junior investigators, i.e., persons pursuing a PhD or DrPH in statistics, biostatistics, or a closely related field, or who have received such a degree within the five years preceding the conference. Such investigators are often doing research that is among the most novel, interesting, and important for international dissemination, yet lack the travel funds necessary to attend such a conference, since they have not yet established a publication track record sufficient to attract external travel and other funding for their work. We have a commitment from ISBA to provide partial travel support for 10 young recent PhDs from economically disadvantaged countries. The specific goals and the anticipated benefits from the conference are: 7 to promote the continued development of statistical theory and applications in environmental health sciences, biomedicine and other areas; 7 to explore the interplay of classical and Bayesian statistical methods in the context of specific areas of research; 7 to provide an opportunity for researchers to discuss an area in some depth, by allowing ample time for presentations on a specific subject; 7 to motivate young researchers to conduct research in the conference's focus areas that provide ample opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration; 7 to encourage young researchers and students to present their work, interact with senior colleagues, and make contact with their peers in a friendly, small meeting environment; 7 to include a large portion of researchers and students from underrepresented groups among participants, and provide the opportunity for one-on-one discussions with colleagues from other institutions; 7 to encourage refereed versions of the conference's best papers (both invited and contributed) in Bayesian Analysis, the official journal of ISBA, available online at ba.stat.cmu.edu. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The Fourth International Joint Meeting of the IMS (Institute of Mathematical Statistics) and ISBA (the International Society for Bayesian Analysis) has targeted environmental health statistics as one of the main topics, with the potential for positive impact on participants that is likely to have broader implications for environmental health statistical research, having a direct relationship to advancing the mission of NIEHS. The ultimate payoff will be not only those junior researchers will enhance their potential for career success, but that the greater research community will enjoy the reflected benefits of better-prepared statistical collaborators poised to solve new methodological challenges, in particular in environmental health problems, more successfully.