Summer Institute for Training in Biostatistics

SIBS WILL BE OFFERED AGAIN JUNE 8 - JULY 17, 2009. WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR 2009.

Biostatistics is the exciting field that applies statistics to medical and public health research.

Biostatisticians work closely with experts from other fields in research teams. Together they seek to answer serious and important questions that affect human health and well being.

The demand for biostatisticians TODAY is greater than ever before, and it is expected to INCREASE in the near future.

The Summer Institute for Training in Biostatistics (SIBS), sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, is a 6-week program to give undergraduate students majoring in the quantitative sciences the opportunity to explore a career in biostatistics. (program flyer in pdf format)

The Program has been offered in the Summers of 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. All programs were a great success, and the Summer 2009 program promises to be just as exciting! (Highlights from past programs),

Sponsored by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute

The program features...

• Six weeks living and studying on the campus of North Carolina State University
• No fees - all expenses covered (see below)
• College credit that can transfer back to participants' home institutions
• Training with top researchers from the Department of Statistics at North Carolina State University, one of the largest departments of statistics and biostatistics in the country, and Duke Clinical Research Institute, one of the leading cardiovascular disease research institutes in the world.

Participants in the six-week program will...

A typical day at the Institute will involve classroom instruction in the morning and exposure to analyzing data from clinical trials and observational studies using advanced computer software. See the syllabus for details.

Who is eligible?

Undergraduates majoring in mathematics, science or other quantitatively oriented areas of study are eligible. Seniors graduating in the Spring of 2009 ARE eligible. Applicants must be American citizens or permanent residents of the United States. The program is limited to 25 participants.
 

Financial Support

There are no fees or tuition costs associated with participation in the Summer Institute for Training in Biostatistics. Housing, meals, travel expenses to and from the program, and some extracurricular activities are covered. Participants will earn college credits and have access to university computing systems, libraries and other facilities.
 

What is Biostatistics, and what do Biostatisticians do?

Almost daily, the popular media report new research findings related to human health.

• A new treatment for HIV disease works better
  than current therapies.
• High blood pressure is demonstrated to be
  associated with heart disease.
• A study suggests that a certain pollutant may be
  harmful to humans.
• Hormone replacement therapy is determined to
  carry increased risk of certain types of cancer
  (and the evidence is so compelling that the
  study is stopped earlier than planned).

Such results are the work of multidisciplinary teams of researchers, including physicians, public and environmental health specialists, and BIOSTATISTICIANS. Biostatisticians play essential roles in designing the studies, analyzing the data, and creating new methods for addressing these problems.

THERE IS A CRITICAL SHORTAGE OF BIOSTATISTICIANS WITH GRADUATE TRAINING, AND THEIR SKILLS ARE IN GREAT DEMAND.