September

The first luncheon will be held September 20th from noon to 1:30 PM at the East Bank Club. Jennifer Beaumont will be giving a lecture entitled "Patient Reported Outcomes in Clinical Trials".

Patient self-reported outcomes are common endpoints in clinical trials, particularly clinical trials for chronic diseases such as cancer. The seminar will discuss implications of the FDA's Guidance for Industry regarding patient-reported outcomes as trial endpoints, topics for designing clinical trials with patient-reported endpoints, and common statistical analysis issues.

Jennifer is a PhD candidate in Biostatistics from UIC and is employed as a Statistical Analyst in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University.

Click the the link below to register for the luncheon!

           
Paul Meier unfortunately passed away August 12 at the age of 87. We are grateful for his friendship and contributions to statistics.

Paul was instrumental in influencing U.S. drug regulatory agencies to insist on the central importance of randomized evidence. Additionally, he was one of the creators of the Kaplan-Meier estimator, which is used to estimate patient survival rates.

           
The US Military is employing sophisticated data-mining techniques t o try and give the US Troops a better understanding of Afghan society.

The project is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and is rumored to employ sophisticated clustering techniques to "figure out which communities in Afghanistan are falling apart and which are stabilizing; which are loyal to the government in Kabul and which are falling under the influence of the militants."

           
Two new start-ups are racing to take on SAS and SPSS. Emphasizing usability and low cost, Revolution Analytics and Alpine Data labs want you to ditch your expensive software licenses.

           
Marketing Analyst

At our company, we have been helping our customers and communities for over 125 years. In July 2011, our parent company BMO Financial Group acquired Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (M&I). Over the next year, we will be working to bring the best of Harris and M&I together under the BMO Harris Bank name. Working with us means being part of a team of talented, passionate individuals with a shared focus on working together to deliver great customer experiences. We stand behind your success with the support you need to turn your potential into performance.

BMO Harris Bank is committed to an inclusive, equitable and accessible workplace. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. By embracing diversity, we gain strength through our people and our perspectives.

This position provides high level and in-depth marketing analytics that leverages the company's available data. He/she provides marketing and statistical analysis and consulting to internal clients, supports marketing-related data analysis and reporting needs, and proactively provides ideas to improve marketing effectiveness throughout the organization.

Responsibilities include:

· Analytics and Statistical Modeling: build statistical models to improve portfolio and campaign performance through better targeting and understanding. Develop solutions for frontline usage which will ultimately improve profitability.

· Strategy Consulting: provide insights and recommendations to support client experience standards and expectations. Package insights and analysis into documents that can be used to create marketing strategies.

· Data and Information Expert: review internal and external data sources to achieve greater understanding about customers and opportunities. Initiate recommendations to manager and/or lines-of-business to enhance data set (third party, primary & secondary research, etc.).

· Analytical and Statistical Consulting: consult on ways analytical and statistical results can be implemented to maximize results. Provide recommendations on appropriate analytical and statistical methodologies to solve problems.

· Banking Business Knowledge: build and maintain a thorough knowledge of the banking business, the company's products and services, and the ways that the company generates revenue and profit.

· Project management: manage project dates, issues, resources, and status reporting to management, and clients as needed.

Knowledge & Skills:

· Minimum of 4+ years of experience in marketing analytics and statistics required.

· Bachelors level or higher degree in Statistics, Masters degree preferred.

· Very high level of proficiency in analytic thinking and statistics, modeling, and data mining. Accompanying high proficiency in SAS, SQL, Excel, and database skills required.

· Able to translate business problems into analytic solutions that drive and support business strategies and tactics.

· Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to develop creative and innovative solutions to problems.

· Skilled at communicating and presenting solutions to technical as well as non-technical audiences, and to all levels of management, including senior managers.

· Strong project management skills with high attention to details.

· Financial business, industry, and product knowledge.

- Strong interpersonal and relationship skills with the ability to interact well within group and across departments.

To explore this opportunity to join BMO Harris N.A., visit our website and apply for position #84651 at www.harrisbank.com.

BMO Harris thanks all applicants. We advise only those who qualify for an interview will be contacted.

           
August 11, 2011

Dear Members of the Chicago Chapter of the ASA:

One active fiscal and business year 2010-2011 is behind us, and another year is just beginning. I am honored to be your chapter president through this coming year. I would like to thank the exiting Board and President Mike Wise, whose tenure ended on June 31. The Chapter had a great deal of activities, with nine luncheons, a one day conference and ten Board meetings! Well done Mike and Co.!

While in the past year we sadly saw the passing away of our Board member Arnold Zellner, former Professor at University of Chicago, and a well-known scholar in fields of Bayesian statistics and Econometrics, I am happy to announce two new Board members: Mark S Richards of ISO Innovative Analytics and to Adam McElhinney of Enova Financial. With rejuvenated Board, we plan to have at least as many activities in the next as in the previous period.

My intention is to focus on the following tasks:

1. To firmly establish the processes and timing of chapter practices such as election of officers and transition from one Board to the next, in accordance with our Chapter constitution;

2. To develop a thorough CCASA membership directory that would be available on our web site;

3. Reach out to new and old members of the CCASA to be more active in the Chapter and on the Board,

4. Provide our members with the first class lectures and opportunities to network in their statistical profession.

I think we have already entered a historical period of "greater appreciation of statistics" judged by the August 5, 2009 NYT article "For Today's Graduate, Just one Word: Statistics" and the fact that he first "World Statistics Day" was on October 10, 2010 - not quite a year ago. For the first time the UN General Assembly has invited all member states and international partners to celebrate such a day.

It is very exciting for me to be marching into such future together with all of you, members and friends of our Chicago Chapter!

Respectfully,

Borko D. Jovanovic

Chicago Chapter ASA President 2011-2012

PARAMETER, newsletter of the Chicago Chapter of the American Statistical Association, is published 10 times a year as a service to its members. To submit material for publication, contact the Editor, Adam McElhinney, email: adam.m.mcelhinney@gmail.com

PARAMETER provides a job listing service by publishing Positions Available and Positions Wanted, the latter being free to Chapter members. Companies may list positions for $75. Contact the Editor for more information.

For additional information about Chicago Chapter ASA, please visit us on the web at: www.ChicagoASA.org.

Also, visit the National ASA web site www.amstat.org.

Email change of address to:

adam.m.mcelhinney@gmail.com

©CCASA 2009