Mission
The Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics (B&B) in the Duke University School of Medicine brings together a diverse group of faculty who are committed to improving biomedical research and human health through the application of quantitative science and the incorporation of innovative technologies. We engage broadly across the School, the Duke Health System, the University, our region and the world to transform healthcare by conceptualizing, designing and validating appropriate methods, algorithms, tools and applications, advocating for the appropriate application of quantitative science, and training and educating the next generation of informed, ethical leaders in biostatistics, genomics, biomedical informatics, and health data science.
Our Goals
- To provide national and regional leadership in biostatistics, genomics, biomedical informatics, and health data science
- Provide training and education to the next generation of researchers and leaders in biomedical quantitative science
- Collaborate broadly to enhance and reinforce the clinical excellence of Duke Health through the informed and ethical use of data, statistics, and data science
- To provide an inclusive, safe, tolerant, and respectful learning, living, working environment for all our staff, students, and faculty
Overview
The Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics (B&B) engages in methodological and collaborative research, and directs four educational degree programs: the PhD Program in Biostatistics, the Master of Biostatistics Program, the Master of Management in Clinical Informatics (MMCi) and the Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP). B&B is also the administrative home of the inter-departmental PhD Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics. Instructors in these programs, as well as other faculty members in the department, either teach courses or supervise student research in the areas of biostatistics, computational biology, statistical genetics, epidemiology, health economics, health services research and computational medicine.
The Department currently has over 60 faculty members who are individually affiliated with various research groups, centers, and institutes across the School of Medicine, including the Duke Clinical Research Institute, the Duke Cancer Institute, the Durham VA Medical Center, the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute, the Center for HIV/Aids Vaccine Immunology, the Duke Center for Aging, and the Duke Center for Genomic and Computational Biology. The discipline of biostatistics constitutes a primary focus of the Department, which serves as the academic home for faculty biostatisticians in the Medical Center.
Outside the School of Medicine, statistics and biostatistics are represented at Duke by the Department of Statistical Science, one of the eight natural science departments in the School of Arts and Sciences. Some Department of Statistical Science faculty members have secondary appointments in B&B, and vice-versa. Secondary appointments are also held by several faculty members whose primary appointments are in the Department of Medicine.