UTSW Biostats Shared Resources (BSR)

Overview of Services

The Biostatistics Shared Resource (BSR) serves as a centralized biostatistics support facility for cancer-related research at Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. Advances in biotechnologies and computing hardware and software have greatly increased the need for sophisticated statistical methodologies. Biostatistics is an essential, scientific component of high-quality cancer research, particularly in clinical and translational research. Biostatisticians play important integrated roles in each of the Simmons Cancer Center research programs, as well as the disease-oriented teams.

Services

The infrastructure and methodological expertise – accessible to all Simmons Cancer Center investigators through both collaboration, direct services, and investigator training – are critical to developing and implementing high-quality cancer research.

• Provide support on hypothesis formulation, experiment design, power and sample size estimation, grant application, conduct of trials, interim and final data analysis, and manuscript preparation
• Design and teach biostatistics courses oriented toward junior faculty, fellows, and postdoctoral students
• Participate in informal educational activities, such as cancer research retreats, translational sciences forums, works in progress seminars, journal clubs, internal mock review of grant applications, and one-to-one consultations. Biostatistics faculty also serve as statistical mentors for junior faculty and oncology trainees.
• Provide complementary support for cancer investigators
• Facilitating the generation of knowledge from complex data sets across all Simmons Cancer Center programs
• Assistance is available on all types of research projects, ranging from clinical trials and basic science experiments to epidemiological studies. Early consultation during the design phase of a study is highly recommended.

Equipment

The Shared Resource has up-to-date Windows-based desktop and laptop systems, and automated backup systems with access to cloud storage service through Microsoft OneDrive, and an on-campus large-scale computing facility (BioHPC) which includes:

• 28,000 CPU cores HPC cluster
• 60 large-memory GPU equipped nodes for massive parallel programs
• 65TB+ of RAM
• 5400TB high-end GPFS parallel file system

Leadership

Location and hours of operation

Links and Resources

• https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/departments/simmons/research/shared-resources/biostatistics.html

Contacts