ASA Member News Archive

Welcome to the March edition of ASA Member News, the ASA's monthly e-newsletter.

STATbit

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In Amstat News

AMSTAT NEWS ONLINE

Amstat News, the monthly membership magazine of the American Statistical Association, is now available online. View the March issue.

Events Outlook

SPRING 2009 LEARNSTAT COURSES

Evaluating Probability of Success for Internal Decisionmaking in Early Drug Development
Presenters: Narinder Nangia, Martin King, and Jane Qian of Abbott Laboratories
Half-Day Course: Thursday, April 2
Location: Kansas City, Missouri

An Introduction to the Fundamentals and Functionality of the R Language
Presenter: Theresa A. Scott, Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University
Two-Day Course: Thursday and Friday, April 9 and 10
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Fundamental Statistics Concepts in Presenting Data: Principles for Constructing Better Graphics
Presenter: Rafe Donahue, Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University
One-Day Course: Friday, April 17
Location: Alexandria, Virginia

Survival Analysis in Clinical Trials
Presenter: Danyu Lin, Department of Biostatistics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
One-Day Course: Thursday, April 30
Location: Teaneck, New Jersey

Introduction to Meta-Analysis
Presenter: Michael Borenstein, Biostat
One-Day Course: Friday, May 1
Location: Teaneck, New Jersey

Course descriptions, times and to register.

12TH BIENNIAL CDC & ATSDR SYMPOSIUM ON STATISTICAL METHODS – Decatur, Georgia – April 7–8, 2009

Registration is now open for the 12th biennial CDC & ATSDR Symposium on Statistical Methods. The symposium will be held April 7–8, with courses on April 6.

3RD ANNUAL FDA/DIA STATISTICS FORUM – Arlington, Virginia – April 27–29, 2009

Join statisticians, clinicians, and other interested professionals from industry, academia, CROs, and government agencies to discuss statistical methodologies and quantitative approaches to the development and review of therapeutic drugs and biologics. Featured topics include statistical and regulatory implications of FDA initiatives; biomarkers, new directions, and guidance for safety planning and reporting; CDISC; and follow up on FDA Guidances. More information about the FDA/DIA Statistics Forum.

2009 SIAM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON DATA MINING – Sparks, Nevada – April 30 – May 2, 2009

The 2009 SIAM International Conference on Data Mining (SDM09) is held in cooperation with the ASA and brings together data mining, statistical, and mathematical researchers from academic, government, and industrial institutions. SDM09 is a venue for researchers to present their work on data mining in a peer-reviewed forum. It also provides an ideal setting for graduate students and others new to the field to learn about cutting-edge research by hearing outstanding invited speakers and attending tutorials (included with conference registration). A set of focused workshops also will be held on the last day of the conference. 

GRAYBILL CONFERENCE VIII – Fort Collins, Colorado – June 22–26, 2009

This year's Graybill Conference, the 6th International Conference on Extreme Value Analysis, will bring together a wide range of researchers, practitioners, and graduate students whose work is related to the analysis of extreme values. The program emphasis will be on both probabilistic aspects and statistical modeling in a variety of applications.

THIRD BIENNIAL UNITED STATES CONFERENCE ON TEACHING STATISTICS – Columbus, Ohio – June 25–27, 2009

The third biennial United States Conference on Teaching Statistics (USCOTS 09) will be held at the Ohio State University and hosted by CAUSE, the Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education. The target audience for USCOTS is teachers of undergraduate and AP statistics, from any discipline or type of institution. Teachers of statistics at two-year colleges and those planning a career in statistics education are especially encouraged to attend.

24TH INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON STATISTICAL MODELING – Ithaca, New York – July 20–24, 2009

The 24th International Workshop on Statistical Modeling will be held at Cornell University.

MEETING WITHIN A MEETING WORKSHOP FOR K–12 MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE TEACHERS – Washington, DC – August 3–4, 2009

MWM will take place in conjunction with JSM this summer in Washington, DC. The workshop is meant to strengthen K–12 mathematics and science teachers’ understanding of statistics and to provide them with hands-on activities they can use in their own classrooms. Teachers will apply concepts from the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) Report: A Pre-K-12 Curriculum Framework by exploring problems that require them to formulate questions and collect, organize, analyze, and draw conclusions from data. This year’s MWM workshop will include a field trip to the U.S. Census Bureau. The cost of the workshop is $30, which covers all materials and lunch.

2009 ASA FDA/INDUSTRY STATISTICS WORKSHOP – Washington, DC – September 24–25, 2009

The 2009 FDA/Industry Workshop will be held at the Capitol Hilton in Washington, DC. Please join statisticians from industry, academia, and the FDA for two days of sessions focused on the science and statistics associated with the development of medical products. Additional short courses will be available on September 23.

CONFERENCE ON FRONTIER OF STATISTICAL DECISION MAKING AND BAYESIAN ANALYSIS – San Antonio, Texas – March 17–20, 2010

In honor of James O. Berger and his contributions to the statistics community, this conference will be held at the downtown campus of the University of Texas at San Antonio. Also, on March 17, short courses on various statistical topics will be offered. The conference consists of plenary, invited, and poster sessions. Plenary speakers include Donald Berry, Lawrence Brown, Persi Diaconis, Stephen Fienberg, and Alan Gelfand. The conference will provide an overview of the past, present, and future developments of statistical decisionmaking and Bayesian analysis. For more information, contact Keying Ye.

EVENTS CALENDAR

Statistical events are happening around the country and the globe. View our Upcoming Events Calendar.

@amstat.org

JSM 2008 PROCEEDINGS NOW AVAILABLE

The JSM Proceedings are, for the first time, available online to those who attended the 2008 JSM in Denver, Colorado.  If you were a registered attendee, log in to ASA Members Only and select My Resources & Opportunities, followed by Online Archives and JSM 2008 Proceedings. If you prefer you can request the Proceedings on CD-ROM.

JSM 2009 LATE-BREAKING SESSIONS

Reminder! Submit a proposal for a late-breaking session at JSM 2009 in Washington, DC. Proposals should be submitted to Wendy Martinez with a copy sent to the ASA Meetings Department by April 17, 2009.

FREE ONLINE ACCESS TO JABES

ASA members now have free online access to the Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics (JABES). JABES, published quarterly, is a joint publication of the American Statistical Association and the International Biometric Society. To access the journal, visit ASA members only.

MEMBERSHIP RECORD UPDATES

Have you recently moved or changed your email address? All changes to your ASA membership records can be updated in ASA members only by visiting the My Account tab.

ASA T-SHIRT DESIGN COMPETITION

Have a clever idea for a statistical shirt? The ASA is hosting a competition for statistical T-shirt designs. See your T-shirt added to the ASA Marketplace. The winner will receive a free T-shirt featuring their design and a free year of ASA membership. Submit your idea now.

Special Opportunities

WJ DIXON AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN STATISTICAL CONSULTING

The ASA is pleased to announce the creation of the WJ Dixon Award for Excellence in Statistical Consulting. The award, funded by a gift from his family, honors the memory of Will Dixon by recognizing individuals who have made outstanding contributions to advancing the science and art of statistical consulting or analysis. Each recipient will have demonstrated excellence in statistical consulting or have developed and contributed new methods, software, or ways of thinking for improving statistical practice in general. Please send nominations, with explanations of each nominee’s credentials, to Dixon Award Committee Chair Janice Derr. Review of nominations will begin on April 6, 2009.

THE CENSUS PROJECT

The ASA recently joined the Census Project in asking the White House to quickly appoint a new census director and requesting a meeting with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to discuss the appointment. The Census Project is a coalition of census stakeholders representing a broad range of organizations and issue areas. The ASA also signed on to two previous Census Project letters to the House Appropriations Committee supporting funding for Census 2010.

NIH SOLICITS CHALLENGE GRANTS WITH STIMULUS FUNDING

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, NIH has designated at least $200 million in FYs 2009–2010 for a new initiative called the NIH Challenge Grants in Health and Science Research, which will fund 200 or more grants. In addition, recovery act funds allocated to NIH specifically for comparative effectiveness research (CER) may be available to support additional grants. Such research may include the development and use of clinical registries, clinical data networks, and other forms of electronic health data that can be used to generate or obtain outcomes data as they apply to CER. This new program will support research on challenge topics, which address specific scientific and health research challenges in biomedical and behavioral research that would benefit from significant two-year jumpstart funds. Applications will be accepted starting March 27 with an April 27, 2009, deadline.

2009 POSTER AND PROJECT COMPETITIONS

Introduce K–12 students to statistics through the 2009 poster and project competitions, directed by the ASA/NCTM Joint Committee on the Curriculum in Statistics and Probability. The competitions offer opportunities for students to formulate questions, gather and display data, and draw conclusions from data. Posters (grades K–12) are due every year on April 1. Projects are due on April 1 for grades 4–6 and 7–9 and on May 30 for grades 10–12. Winners' names will be published in Amstat News and the winners will be recognized with plaques, cash prizes, certificates, and calculators (donated by Texas Instruments).

JUDGES SOUGHT FOR ASA PROJECT COMPETITION

The ASA/NCTM Joint Committee is seeking judges for the ASA Project Competition. Judging takes place via email during the summer and requires about four hours of your time. If interested, email Megan Mocko.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND DATING MINING CALL FOR PAPERS

Wiley-Blackwell and the American Statistical Association have entered into a new, cooperative publishing agreement for the journal Statistical Analysis and Data Mining. Under terms of the agreement, the ASA and Wiley-Blackwell will cooperate in the development of the journal’s editorial policy and scope. Submit your paper today.

STATISTICS EDUCATION WEB (STEW) IN SEARCH OF ASSOCIATE EDITORS AND REVIEWERS

The editor of Statistics Education Web, an online bank of peer-reviewed lesson plans for K–12 teachers of mathematics and science, is accepting applications/nominations for associate editors and reviewers. Those chosen will review lesson plans that showcase the use of statistical methods and ideas in science and mathematics based on the framework and levels in the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) Report: A Pre-K–12 Curriculum Framework. Associate editors and reviewers will be selected for each of the three GAISE levels. Interested persons should electronically submit a letter of interest and a current CV or resume to Rebecca Nichols.

FREE STATISTICS EDUCATION WEBINARS & RESOURCES

The American Statistical Association offers free webinars on K–12 statistics education topics at . This series was developed as part of the follow-up activities for the Meeting Within a Meeting Workshop for K–12 Mathematics and Science Teachers, held in conjunction with the Joint Statistical Meetings. The Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education also offers free webinars on undergraduate statistics education topics.

JSM CONGRESSIONAL VISITS

To take advantage of JSM being in our nation’s capital, the ASA science policy office will be arranging for ASA members to make visits to the offices of their congressional representatives during the last day of JSM, Thursday, August 6, 2009. Participants will be prepped during Wednesday and Thursday briefings about how to conduct successful meetings with Hill staffers and on the requests the ASA will make (as determined by the ASA Board in an upcoming meeting.) Participants also will be provided with materials to explain and support the ASA requests. ASA participants will be provided instructions to schedule the meetings, with a goal of 4–5 meetings for each state’s group. Future announcements will include information about how to sign up. For more information, contact Steve Pierson.

Upcoming Deadlines

UPCOMING AWARDS DEADLINES

Wilks Memorial Medal – Deadline: April 1, 2009

Bryant Scholarship – Deadline: April 1, 2009

Outstanding Statistical Application – Deadline: April 1, 2009

Excellence in Statistical Reporting – Deadline: April 15, 2009

Ellis R. Ott Scholarship – Deadline: April 1, 2009

ASA/BJS SMALL GRANTS RESEARCH PROGRAM – Deadline: April 20, 2009

The ASA Committee on Law and Justice Statistics announces a small grant program for the analysis of Bureau of Justice Statistics and other justice-related data. This program is designed to encourage the creative and appropriate use of these data to inform substantive and methodological issues. Awards are generally to be completed within a two-year period and are typically in the range of $25,000 to $40,000. Proposals must be postmarked by April 20, 2009.