Director:
Seng-jaw Soong, PhD
Department/Center Association:
Established: 1979
The Biostatistics and
Bioinformatics Unit of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center provides statistical
and bioinformatics services and collaborative research support for the members
of the
Facility Description
The Unit is headed by Dr.
The Unit maintains a local area network that will support up to 250
users, and includes a Dell PowerEdge 2800, 2 Dell PowerEdge 2500s, and 2 Dell
PowerEdge 2600s. The networked
environment provides efficient interaction between the servers to accommodate
flexible data entry. The local area
network is linked to the Internet to facilitate electronic communication of
data files, documents, and messages on campus, as well as worldwide. This configuration of the computer hardware
and software provides a very powerful and flexible computing system for
database management and quality control, statistical analysis and report
generation. A detailed list of the
current computing facilities follows:
Hardware.
The Unit utilizes a Dell PowerEdge 2800
File Server with 300GB storage, 2 Dell PowerEdge 2500s running Active
Directory, and 2 Dell PowerEdge 2600s. Its local area personal computer network is
comprised of 50 Dell Pentium IV computers, 10 Dell OptiPlex computers (Windows
XP 64-bit), 14 laptops, 2 color laser printers, 2 laser copier/printers, 33
laser printers, and 3 scanners.
Additional servers include: IIS Web Server, Veritas Backexec Tape
Server, Captaris Fax Server, TELEForm Server v9.1, SSL Web Server, CASG Web
Server, and CAMUS Web Server. Other
equipment includes: Linux work station/server running OpenClinica web-based
Clinical Trial Application and Affymetrix Total Desktop Mining Solution.
Software. Its software capabilities include the
following: TeleForm 9.1. SAS 9.3.1, S-Plus 2000,
P-Pharm 1.5.1, Kinetica 2000, Mathcad2000 Professional Edition, EpiInfo 6.0,
Cart 3.6, LogXact, Maple V release 5.1, Rancode, Scientific Work Place 2.5,
StatXact 6.0, EaST 4, FoxPro and Visual FoxPro, Patient Profiles v 1.0,
Microsoft Project 98, DBMS Copy 7.0, PASS 2000, nQuery 4.0, EquivTest, SOLAS
for Missing Data Analysis, PRELIS 2.0, LISrel 8.0, IMSL, Mathematica, SUDAAN,
Office 2003 (Access, Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Costart, Scientific Word 3.0,
Adobe PageMaker, Wusage 7.1, Corel Draw 10.0, Corel Photo Paint, Corel Web
Graphics, FrontPage 2000, Kaleidagraph, Omni Page Pro v10.0, Macromedia
DreamWeaver 8.0, Fireworks 8.0, SQL Server 2005, Microsoft Visual Studio 2005
Professional, SAS Data Miner, GeneSpring 6.0, Script Editor 1.0, JRUN 3.0, JRE
3.1, Tomcat 5.0, SUN Fortran Suite, and Rightfax Business Server 8.5.
Research Information
Biostatistical and Bioinformatics Services.
Services include statistical bioinformatics consultation on study
design, including endpoint and covariate definition, sample size and power calculations,
patient availability and study duration, randomization and stratification
procedures, statistical criteria for study termination, data collection form
design, database development and management, and study monitoring and data
analysis plans. Interim and final
statistical analyses are available using state-of-the-art statistical and
computing methodologies. We develop, test and implement various techniques of data
management and statistical analysis, including mathematical modeling and bioinformatics,
applicable to cancer research. The expertise of the Unit’s faculty includes:
clinical trials, survival data analysis and modeling, mathematical modeling,
multivariate modeling of cancer prognosis, linear and non-linear regression
methods, mixed linear models, pharmacokinetic modeling, genomic and proteomic
data analysis, imaging data analysis, bioinformatics, informatics methodology
research, microarray data analysis, epidemiologic methods, meta-analysis,
Bayesian analysis, longitudinal data analysis, categorical data analysis, data
coordinator center methodology, and data management and quality control
procedures. Additionally, statistical
report generation, review of study design, and analysis plans for
cancer-related clinical protocols are provided in conjunction with the Clinical
Studies Review Committee. Input into the
development of methodology for novel experimental designs and statistical
analyses are also available.
Computing and Data Management Services.
Services include the development and management of research databases;
data entry, verification, and quality control; and computer programming and
network communications.
Web Development Support Group Services. Services include web-based data
management system development and maintenance, clinical trial applications,
microarray applications, and general web design and programming.
Service Charges and Method. Various
charge rates have been established for the different support components of a
research project (study design and analysis, computer programming and usage,
data entry, etc.). Investigators are
encouraged to consult the Unit Director as early as possible in the development
of their proposals in order to estimate the level of statistical and data
management activities required for implementation and the appropriate
distribution of costs through the line item request in the grant and/or through
chargeback.
For
Support should be
charged to appropriate funding sources for:
Funded, cancer-related projects, and planning activities related to the development of such projects, receive priority scheduling.
Contact Information
Unit Director: Seng-jaw Soong, PhD
Email: sjsoong@uab.edu
Phone: 205-934-3679
Website: http://www3.ccc.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=59554
Approved by:
Date: March 10, 2008
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