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The May 2022 issue of our department newsletter is now available. We have upcoming events, incoming faculty, and recent honors to celebrate! 

Here are new and updated details about the upcoming Vanderbilt Symposium on Implementation Research in the Learning Health System. 

The planning committee includes professor Chris Lindsell and research assistant professor Cheryl L. Gatto.

Symposium registration: https://redcap.link/IRLHSregistration2022

Abstract submission for poster reception: https://redcap.link/IRLHSpostersubmission2022

Project proposal submission for workshop: https://redcap.link/IRLHSworkshopsubmission2022 

Spring has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere. To quote the poet Tennyson, "In the Spring a livelier iris changes on the burnish'd dove." (The state flower of Tennessee is the iris.)

Spring is also a great time to set new self-care goals. The Department of Biostatistics has a long-standing relationship with Vanderbilt's Health & Wellness initiative. Senior associate Dan Byrne helped create the award-winning Go for the Gold program in 2003, and with biostatistician Ryan Moore provides support for "The Healthy Pulse," a feature that appears on the back page of each issue of Connection, which is mailed to all Vanderbilt employees. 

Lead biostatistician Samuel Nwosu was featured in the March 17 issue of the ACTIV-6 Site Newsletter, and application developer Jubilee Tan in the March 4 edition. The interviews are republished here with permission of the Duke Clinical Research Institute.

Data Coordinating Center Spotlights

Samuel Nwosu

What is your role on ACTIV-6? 

Provide assistance with data management, create trial summary reports, perform data validations, and help with implementing the trial's interim analyses.

What activities or hobbies do you enjoy outside of work? 

I enjoy spending time with my family, a good jog, and the occasional adventurous/extreme activity.

Why do you think ACTIV-6 is important? 

This trial is at the forefront to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and provide a pathway to ending this global pandemic.

What drives and motivates you about working on the ACTIV-6 study? 

Knowing that the work I do is part of a bigger community to assist in the fight against COVID-19. Hopefully my effort within the ACTIV-6 study will help everyone get back to some sense of normalcy

Jubilee Tan

What is your role on ACTIV-6?

I maintain and upgrade automated information systems among four roles: participants, pharmacy, the call center, and biometric analysts.

What activities or hobbies do you enjoy outside of work?

When I get off work, I usually spend time with family, watch movies, and fix some issues in open source community.

Why do you think ACTIV-6 is important?

Since COVID changed our lives two years ago, many families may have faced a very big change, not only the loss of life, but also social distancing and economic shock. This project is an opportunity to turn things around so that people can go back to life before the pandemic.

What drives and motivates you about working on the ACTIV-6 study?

This project is about helping people fight COVID, and I feel very motivated every time I think about this work that could lead to an earlier end to the pandemic.

The February 2022 issue of our department newsletter is now available. We are excited about our recent accomplishments and upcoming events. 

Note: the application deadline for the Vanderbilt Biostatistics Summer Internship for Underrepresented Undergraduates has been extended to March 14, and the due date for useR! abstracts is now March 15. 

Professor Chris Lindsell, who leads the ACTIV-6 Data Coordinating Center, was featured in the February 11 issue of the ACTIV-6 Site Newsletter, which is published twice a month by Duke Clinical Research Institute. The interview is republished here with permission.

What is your role on ACTIV-6? I am privileged to lead the Data Coordinating Center. Our team has developed an innovative way of running studies by using the research record like the medical record. The data we collect includes a mix of the information we need to find out what medicines help patients feel better faster, and all of the data needed for real time study information sharing and communications. The partnership with DCRI has allowed us to create a fully integrated system that will continue to get better as we learn from this new way of doing studies. 

What activities or hobbies do you enjoy outside of work? I used to play rugby, but then I blew out my knees. Then I used to sail, but there isn’t much water in Nashville. I took up gardening but my brown thumb left me with little hope. For a while, I was a craft beer brewer and home vintner, which also had bad side effects. Pandemic isolation gave me a whole new lease on life and I got to teach myself the guitar while smoking bacon, chicken, salmon, turkey, brisket, cheese, bread, and even vegetables. This year I plan to master the art of pastry (or patience, or both).

Why do you think ACTIV-6 is important? If there is a safe medicine already available that could help people feel better faster from Covid-19, I want to know that, I think that’s important.

What drives and motivates you about working on the ACTIV-6 study? The challenge of finding a way to do research in totally different ways and solving the problem of what medicines help people feel better faster drives me. The passion, dedication, and excellence of the teams that are leading this research motivate me. 

Click the link to read the feature in the January 14 VUMC Reporter.