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  • 1.  Seeking Independent Statistician for DSMB

    Posted 02-03-2016 17:17

    Greetings all,

    I am working with my medical colleagues on a new round of NIH grant submissions, and one of the criticisms of a few of our prior submissions was that we did not specifically list an external statistician to serve on our study DSMB.  Unfortunately, my closely-known "circle" of statisticians who would be qualified to serve on DSMB's is limited mostly to colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh, which is perceived by many reviewers to be equivalent to the University of Pittsburgh (although they are separate institutions, many physicians hold appointments in the University's School of Medicine in addition to their UPMC clinical appointments).

    Would anyone be willing to provide a letter of reference stating that they will participate in the DSMB if asked?  The time commitment should be fairly minimal (2 conference calls per year plus analytic time) and the PI will budget compensation for DSMB members.

    Please contact me if interested.

    Thanks,

    Andrew D. Althouse, PhD

    Supervisor of Statistical Projects

    UPMC Heart & Vascular Institute

    Presbyterian Hospital, Office C701

    Phone: 412-802-6811

    Email: althousead@upmc.edu

    ------------------------------
    Andrew Althouse
    Biostatistician
    University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Seeking Independent Statistician for DSMB

    Posted 02-04-2016 08:32

    Dear Dr. Althouse:

    I would be interested and have sent you supporting materials by email.

    I look forward to hearing from you.

    David E. Booth, PhD, PSTAT

    ------------------------------
    David Booth
    Professor Emeritus
    Kent State University

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Seeking Independent Statistician for DSMB

    Posted 02-05-2016 08:16

    I must say, I have been stunned by how many replies this drew!  I received over 40 direct contacts by email.

    Thanks to all that have replied to me directly via email.  It is sincerely appreciated.  We have identified a willing participant, but my profuse and humble thanks to all of you who stepped up!

    ------------------------------
    Andrew D. Althouse, PhD
    Supervisor of Statistical Projects
    UPMC Heart & Vascular Institute
    Presbyterian Hospital, Office C701
    Phone: 412-802-6811
    Email: althousead@upmc.edu

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Seeking Independent Statistician for DSMB

    Posted 02-05-2016 15:22

    I suppose I'm displaying my ignorance, but how about if we have a policy that abbreviations be stated in full words the first time they are used, for anything but the most obvious ones.  After Googling, I'm guessing "DSMB" stands for "Data Safety Monitoring Board"?   So you would say "......list an external statistician to serve on our Data Safety Monitoring Board(DSMB)..."   Then after that you can use DSMB freely.  Just a suggestion.   

    ------------------------------
    Joseph J. Locascio, Ph.D.,
    Assistant Professor of Neurology,
    Harvard Medical School,
    and Statistician,
    Memory and Movement Disorders Units,
    Massachusetts Alzheimer's Disease Research Center,
    Neurology Dept.,
    Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH),
    Boston, Massachusetts 02114
    Phone: (617) 724-7192
    Email: JLocascio@partners.org

    Original Message