BERD Special Interest Group Taskforce for Best Practices in Quantitative Sciences

The growing complexity and diversity of quantitative research methodologies makes it challenging to ensure consistency, transparency, and reliability across studies. This taskforce is dedicated to reviewing resources listed on the best practices site and to developing new guidance as needed by leveraging expertise across academic medical centers.  By providing a centralized resource for best practices, we aim to enhance the reproducibility of research findings, foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and accelerate scientific advancements.

The founding members include:

  • Brooke Alhanti, PhD; Hrishikesh Chakraborty, PhD; Avi Kenny, PhD; Gina-Maria Pomann, PhD; Lacey Rende, MA; Jack Shostak, PhD; Tracy Truong, MB; Steve Grambow, PhD; David Yanez, PhD (Duke University)
  • Jonathan Gelfond, PhD (UT Health San Antonio)
  • Manisha Desai, PhD; Haley Hedlin, PhD (Stanford University)
  • Alexandra Hanlon, PhD (Virginia Tech)
  • Emily Slade, PhD (University of Kentucky)
  • Phillip Schulte, PhD (Mayo Clinic)
  • Lauren Bonner, PhD; Jody Ciolino, PhD; Luke Rasmussen, MS; Jacob Schauer, PhD; Abigail Smith, PhD; Leah Welty, PhD (Northwestern University)
  • Bob Oster, PhD (UAB Medicine)
  • Kevin Anstrom, PhD; Bryce Rowland, PhD; Daniela Stores-Alvarez, DrPH; Vincent Toups, PhD; Beibo Zhao, PhD (UNC – Chapel Hill)
  • Camille Hochheimer, PhD; Alexander Kaiser, PhD (University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus)
  • Cathie Spino, PhD (University of Michigan)
  • Heidi Spratt, PhD (University of Texas Medical Branch)

The taskforce has four workgroups that are building best practice guidance related to:

  • Guidance for implementing randomization methods
  • Guidance on choosing a randomization method in clinical trials
  • Implementing Reproducible Studies in Collaborative Academic Medical Center Biostatistics Units
  • Using LLMs within biostatistics workflows

Additional topics and guidelines will be identified and addressed by the taskforce as the workgroups progress. Please email berdcore@duke.edu to learn more about this taskforce.