Blog

Introducing our 2023-2024 VN-BioStat fellows: Safiya Sada Sani

Margaret Cullum, associate program manager
November 7, 2023

We are pleased to welcome Safiya Sada Sani to our department as one of the 2023-2024 fellows in our Vanderbilt-Nigeria Biostatistics Training Program (VN-BioStat). The program, which began last year, is a collaboration between the Department of Biostatistics, the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, and Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) in Nigeria. It aims to create a cohort of highly skilled Nigerian biostatisticians able to lead and supervise biostatistics activities for HIV research studies in West Africa.

Safiya is one of this year's two VN-BioStat trainees. Read more below about the work she'll be doing and her goals for the year.

Why did you want to join the VN-BioStat program?

I joined the VN-BioStat program because I am a statistician very much interested in biomedical research. I was looking for an opportunity to become a true biostatistician.

What kind of projects will you be working on?

HIV-related research projects using data mainly from Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Kano, Nigeria.

What are you most looking forward to about your time here?

I look forward to collaborating with other researchers and scientists, which would be a first time for me. I see this as an opportunity for continuous learning, which would ensure my personal and professional growth.

What do you think will be the most challenging?

What I found most challenging, especially soon after my arrival, was the fast-paced approach used in VUMC to disseminate knowledge. It is not what I am used to. I found the weekly homework/assignments (which are more like a whole month's assignment) quite daunting. These all needed some getting used to, and I am happy that I am slowly easing up to these and am quite enjoying them. I think it is all for the best because, no doubt, I shall emerge a better statistician by the end of it all.   

What skills are you hoping to learn that you can bring back home?

Improved analytical skills. I am sure to gain valuable and advanced skills in statistical methods, data analysis, and interpretation of real-world problems. That way I can contribute to public health and medical advancements. Also, since I am here to tap into the wealth of knowledge that abounds in VUMC, my training is sure to add value to the Department of Statistics, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, where I engage in teaching and project supervision.

Safiya Sada Sani

2022 Departmental Award Winners

Margaret Cullum, associate program manager
November 6, 2023

We are pleased to recognize the following winners of our 2022 Departmental Awards.

 

Linda Stewart Analysis Report Award: Awarded annually to recognize an exceptional applied analysis report written by a staff biostatistician in our department.

Winner: Trey McGonigle for "The developmental trajectory of diurnal cortisol in autistic and neurotypical youth"

 

IT Innovation Award: Awarded annually to recognize exceptional work from a member or members of the IT team and potentially the team they work with.

Winner: Will Gray for the "development, maintenance, and continued improvement of Shiny Apps to display results from multiple prediction models”

 

Patrick Arbogast Collaborative Publication Award: Awarded annually to recognize an exceptional collaborative publication from a biostatistician or team of biostatisticians in our department.

Winners: Jing Wang and Qi Liu for “PAX3-FOXO1 coordinates enhancer architecture, eRNA transcription, and RNA polymerase pause release at select gene targets" published in Molecular Cell

 

Methods Publication Award: Awarded annually to recognize an exceptional methodological publication from a biostatistician or team of biostatisticians in our department.

Winners: Qi Liu, Chih-Yuan Hsu, and Yu Shyr for “Scalable and model-free detection of spatial patterns and colocalization” published in Genome Research

Improving Your Odds: Optimizing Your Vanderbilt Biostatistics Application

Peg Duthie, senior program manager
November 2, 2023
https://www.vanderbilt.edu/biostatistics-graduate/2023/11/improving-your-odds-optimizing-your-vanderbilt-biostatistics-application/

Join us on Thursday, November 9, at 6 p.m. Central Time to hear directly from our directors of graduate studies and recruitment about what they look for in MS and PhD applications, life in Nashville, student successes, and more.

New and returning Vanderbilt Biostatistics students socialize over lunch during orientation (August 18, 2023) at 2525 West End Avenue.

Biostatistics Department Service Milestones

October 13, 2023

Congratulations to the following faculty and staff members for reaching these service milestones at Vanderbilt University Medical Center:

Name Years at Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Yuwei Zhu, senior associate in biostatistics (See also Yuwei's 2019 Spotlight feature.) 25
Chiu-Lan "Heidi" Chen, research associate professor of biostatistics 20
Tebeb Gebretsadik, senior associate in biostatistics  20
Frank Harrell, professor of biostatistics  20
Tatsuki Koyama, professor of biostatistics  20
Lynne Berry, vice chair of informatics & collaborative programs 15
Zhiguo "Alex" Zhao, assistant in biostatistics 15
Sheau-Chiann Chen, research assistant professor of biostatistics 10
Liping Du, research assistant professor of biostatistics 10
Yaomin Xu, assistant professor of biostatistics and biomedical informatics 10
Shilin Zhao, assistant professor of biostatistics 10
Gustavo Amorim, assistant professor of biostatistics 5
Nicole Gunnison, business process manager 5
Andrew Spieker, assistant professor of biostatistics  5
Simon Vandekar, director of graduate recruitment 5
Jing Yang, research assistant professor of biostatistics 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pictured left to right: Tatsuki Koyama, Alex Zhao, and Liping Du at our 20th anniversary poster session

Pictured left to right (foreground): Tatsuki Koyama, Alex Zhao, and Liping Du at our 20th anniversary poster session.

 

Yuwei Zhu (center) chatting with colleagues at ENAR 2023.

October 27 - {redcapAPI} R package (Teams presentation)

October 13, 2023

On Friday, October 27, at 1:30 p.m. Central Time, application developer Savannah Obregon will speak about the {redcapAPI} R package in a free presentation on Microsoft Teams. She is a member of the Vanderbilt Biostatistics team that developed a data processing layer within the package to help support clinical trials. REDCap is a secure web platform simplifying database and survey creation, while R facilitates reproducible research through its scripting capabilities, R Markdown integration for reports and package management. Originally designed for exporting the raw API data from REDCap, redcapAPI now includes robust data handling, ensuring reliable retrieval of analysis-ready data. It optimizes the transformation of raw REDCap data with cryptographic storage of API keys and streamlined API calls, making it a powerful tool.

Obregon graduated from Lipscomb University with a bachelor's degree in information technology management, with a minor in business and concentration on web development. She was a speaker at R/Medicine 2023, and she presented a poster on {redcapAPI} during the department's 20th anniversary celebration. She has made crucial contributions to the data coordination of ACTIV-6 since joining our department.

For access to this presentation, contact Ryan Moore, organizer of the department's Statistical Computing Series.

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