BIOSTATISTICS TRAINING FOR AIDS RESEARCH

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal is to continue, for an additional five years, the training of Biostatistics students who have a strong interest in collaborative AIDS research. The proposed training is for four predoctoral and two postdoctoral trainees. The program faculty consists of thirty-seven UCLA professors, seven of whom are key faculty, nine are Biostatistics faculty (six key and 3 significant contributors) with a commitment to AIDS research, and twenty-seven supporting faculty. This multidisciplinary group is composed of internationally known HIV/AIDS researchers in biostatistics, biomathematics, genetics, epidemiology, medicine, immunology, virology, psychology, and psychiatry. The training for predoctoral students will center on the Biostatistics Ph.D. program with specific courses in HIV/AIDS making up the required "third field of application" component of the program. In addition, trainees will be required to take "Statistical Methods in AIDS Research" and attend the Biostatistics "Seminar in AIDS," as well as choose an AIDS related topic for the required year-long doctoral consulting course. The AIDS courses will satisfy the requirements for a minor specialization required for Ph.D. students in the department. Predoctoral trainees will develop biostatistical methodology applicable and relevant to AIDS research for their dissertations. Postdoctoral AIDS trainees will be drawn from two pools: graduates with doctorates in statistics or biostatistics, and graduates with doctorates in biology, social science, or other non-statistical areas. All students will be expected to engage in collaborative research in AIDS, and to publish statistical articles relating to AIDS research. Students with a statistics background will learn more of the biology of AIDS, while the students without a statistics background will learn more statistics methodology, particularly areas such as longitudinal data analysis and multivariate analysis which are needed to develop statistical methods useful to AIDS researchers. The multidisciplinary supporting faculty will provide opportunities for long-term collaborative research and will also serve an education function for the students learning more of the biological aspects of HIV. Participation in the American Statistical Association annual meetings and AIDS meetings are encouraged and participation in two or three AIDS conferences at UCLA will be required each year. Detailed recruitment strategies for minorities have been made, and there is a mentoring mechanism to make sure that additional help is available to ensure graduation.