MCMSki II: Markov Chain Monte Carlo in Theory and Practice

描述(申请人提供)：生物统计学家在生物医学和公共卫生数据的分析中发挥着不可或缺的作用，从研究设计阶段一直到最终分析和报告撰写。开发新的统计学方法来解释来自临床、观察和实验室研究的数据是生物统计学努力的一个关键领域。因此，可以交流新思想的学术会议对统计科学的发展非常重要。初级生物统计研究人员参加这类会议的好处和需要特别大，因为他们对他们的专业发展做出了巨大贡献，并有助于与更成熟的高级研究人员“公平竞争”。 在本申请中，我们请求支持将于2008年1月9日星期三至1月11日星期五在意大利博尔米奥举行的IMS(数学统计研究所)和ISBA(国际贝叶斯分析学会)第三次国际联席会议。会议的一个中心主题是马尔可夫链蒙特卡罗(MCMC)和相关方法，以及侧重于生物统计学中具有挑战性的问题的应用。除了象征性的数额以外，我们寻求的所有支持都是为了支持初级生物统计研究人员的旅费，即攻读统计学、生物统计学或密切相关领域的博士或博士学位的人，或在会议前五年内获得此类学位的人。会议的具体目标是促进生物统计学理论和应用在生物医学和公共卫生领域的持续发展，特别强调与癌症和传染病相关的研究，从理论和方法的角度探讨MCMC的进展，以及它们在经典和贝叶斯统计建模中的应用，并鼓励年轻的研究人员和学生(特别是来自代表性不足群体的学生)在友好的小型会议环境中介绍他们的工作，与资深同事互动，并与同行接触。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Biostatisticians play an indispensable role in the analysis of biomedical and public health data, from the study design stage all the way through to final analysis and report-writing. The development of new statistical methodology for interpretation of data from clinical, observational, and laboratory studies is a key area of biostatistical endeavor. As a result, scholarly conferences where new ideas can be exchanged are important for statistical science to move forward. The benefit of and need for attendance at such meetings by junior biostatistical 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 Third International Joint Meeting of the IMS (Institute of Mathematical Statistics) and ISBA (the International Society for Bayesian Analysis), to be held in Bormio, Italy, on Wednesday, January 9, to Friday, January 11, 2008. A central theme of the conference will be Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) and related methods, and applications focused on challenging problems in biostatistics. All but a token amount of the support we seek is to support the travel Expenses of junior biostatistical investigators, i.e., persons pursuing a Ph.D. or Dr.P.H. in statistics, biostatistics, or a closely related field, or who have received such a degree within the five years preceding the conference. The specific goals of the conference are to promote the continued development of biostatistical theory and applications in biomedicine and public health, with particular emphasis on cancer- and infectious disease-related research, to explore MCMC advances from theoretical and methodological points of view, as well as their use in both classical and Bayesian statistical modeling, and to encourage young researchers and students (especially those from underrepresented groups) to present their work, interact with senior colleagues, and make contact with their peers in a friendly, small meeting environment.