Biostatistics for Research in Environmental Health

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant) This 5-year program is designed to train predoctoral (Ph.D.) students and postdoctoral fellows in three distinct but related areas: Environmental Biostatistics (BIOS), Environmental Epidemiology (EPID), and Environmental Exposure Assessment (ENVR). The interdisciplinary goal of this training program is to prepare scientists to address emerging challenges in environmental health research, with an emphasis on the development of tools for harnessing the rich and high-dimensional information that is now routinely available. The overarching goal is to improve the understanding of effects of environmental and other exposures, such as diet and physical activity, in order to impact public health through prevention and better clinical care. Increasingly, we need scientists with strong skills in statistics, epidemiology and basic science, along with an ability to understand and translate the clinical implications of their findings. A critical component is a better understanding of heterogeneity among individuals in environmental effects through the creative use of emerging technologies for measuring gene expression, levels of metabolites, and single nucleotide polymorphisms across the genome. Along with detailed measures of environmental exposures, these tools allow careful study of gene by environment interaction, which has great clinical importance, as interventions may be increasingly driven by genetic factors in order to optimize efficacy. The BIOS goal is to train biostatisticians in general statistical methods, including new approaches for analyzing and visualizing very high-dimensional data. In addition, a focus will be on use of methods motivated by the biology, allowing integration of data from multiple sources. The EPID goal is to train scientists in conducting studies of environmental effects, fully utilizing and understanding the statistical and technological tools available, while also addressing the translational goals described above. The ENVR goal is to train environmental scientists to conduct research on biological and statistical methods for assessing environmental exposures as they relate to human health effects. The typical pre-doctoral trainee will have a Bachelor's or Master's degree with an excellent academic record appropriate for one of the three training areas, and the typical postdoctoral trainee will have highly relevant doctoral training. Funding is requested for the support of 20 pre-doctoral trainees for each of 5 years (8 BIOS, 6 EPID, 6 ENVR) and for 8 postdoctoral trainees (2 BIOS, 3 EPID, 3 ENVR). The Departments of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, the three largest and most recognized departments in the 2nd-ranked UNC School of Public Health, have available all the personnel and facilities sufficient to provide comprehensive pre-doctoral and postdoctoral training. BACKGROUND This proposal is a competing continuation of a large, established, and successful training program spanning three different departments and covering three areas: environmental biostatistics, environmental epidemiology, and environmental exposure assessment. The program has been very successful in training and placing successful researchers in academic, government, industry, and consulting positions in each of the three areas. The program has been in place for 35 years and continually funded for the last 29 years. The proposed program reduces the number of pre-doctoral trainees from thirty in 2005-2006 to twenty and increases the number of postdoctoral trainees from four in 2005-2006 to eight.