Biostatistics Department Has Your Number

• An estimated 64 percent of U.S. adults are overweight.
• Smokers take 25 percent more sick days a year than non-smokers.
• Hispanics are at increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

More than just handy bits of data, these statistics are the result of intricate study design, data collection and statistical analyses by professionals in a little-known field called biostatistics.

Partnering with clinical and biomedical researchers, biostatisticians help provide information on topics such as pharmaceutical safety, genetic risk factors for complex diseases and trends in health behaviors associated with cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Their work is crucial to translating and applying research findings, yet there aren’t enough of them to meet the growing demand, said Dr. Varghese George, chair of MCG’s new Department of Biostatistics.

“Many people have a mental block on mathematical subjects, which is one of the reasons for the shortage of people entering this field,” said Dr. George. “Even [many people] getting into mathematical majors don’t get into biostatistics because they are not exposed to the connection between math, biology and biomedical research during their undergraduate or graduate training.”

To help address a critical shortage of these professionals in academia, industry and public health, MCG is creating a graduate program to offer master’s and doctoral degrees in biostatistics. The master’s program is slated to begin in fall 2006 and the doctoral program will be under way in three to four years, making MCG one of some 50 programs in the country and one of two in Georgia offering graduate biostatistics degrees.

The number of students accepted for the program will vary depending on the availability of funds for fellowships and stipends and the number of qualified faculty available to mentor. Dr. George hopes to start with five master’s students next year.

“Building a critical mass of faculty with strong biomedical and methodological research is already under way,” he said. “We have five full-time faculty and hope to recruit three more soon with a total goal of a 12-15 within three years.”

He and other faculty members plan trips this fall to math and science departments on campuses statewide to help interest students in the field.

“It’s a very rewarding profession and a reasonably well-paid and stable field, in terms of the job market,” said Dr. George. “The job market is always in great demand.”

The department’s consulting resources are available to all MCG faculty. Formerly the Office of Biostatistics, his department continues to help faculty design, analyze and interpret clinical research studies. He hopes to work with the Office of Clinical Investigative Services to expand awareness of the resources and services available. Dr. George says faculty should contact the Biostatistics Consulting Center during the earliest stages of a research proposal. More information on the BCC is available at www.mcg.edu/research/biostat/bcc/html.

For more information, contact Dr. George at ext. 1-3785, or vgeorge@mcg.edu.

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Student Inspired by Nobel Laureates

After spending five days with experts in quantum chromodynamics and macromolecules, Vanessa Bundy returned to her tasks as a graduate student this fall with a new perspective.

“I think the most important thing I learned is persistence,” said the Medical College of Georgia student who spent a week this summer with Nobel Laureates in chemistry, physics and medicine. “Don’t give up on something just because the first several experiments don’t work.”

During the 55th Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates and Students, Vanessa was one of 60 American doctoral students who attended lectures and informal sessions with laureates. “I learned to take every possible approach to find a good answer to the questions that I have,” she said. “Some of the Nobel Prize winners worked their whole lives to make advances in their fields.”

As one of 10 students in the nation selected by Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Vanessa met with students sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C., on June 25 before traveling to Lindau, Germany for the meeting. In the picturesque city just north of the Swiss Alps, several hundred students worldwide joined the American delegation.

 “Meeting with students from around the world was amazing,” she said.  “I made a lot of friends that I will have for the rest of my life and can possibly collaborate with in my career.”

Vanessa enjoyed the lectures and roundtable discussions, but her favorite parts of the week were casual discussions providing insight into scientists “as real people. We gained a better understanding of what they did in their careers to be successful, but we also saw that when you are successful, you can still have lives, families and extracurricular activities.”

She found Dr. David Gross, recipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize in physics, to be particularly inspirational, although his expertise is not in her field. With mentor Dr. Paule Barbeau in the Georgia Prevention Institute, Vanessa is focusing her studies on children and inflammatory factors released by fat that are associated with cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.

“I really enjoyed that this meeting was interdisciplinary and we were able to interact with chemists, physicists and biologists. Dr. Gross was very impressive to me because he is still very active in his lab and making great strides in physics,” she said. A native of San Luis Obispo, Calif., Vanessa earned an undergraduate degree in biology with honors in neuroscience from Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. She worked as a research assistant in biomedical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and in neurology at Emory University before entering MCG’s graduate school in 2003. At MCG, she is president of the Graduate Student Organization and a member of the Student Judicial and Constitutional Review Committees. She plans to complete her doctorate in May 2007.

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Dr. Mahesh Honored by Reproduction Society

Dr. Virendra B. Mahesh, Chair and Regents Professor Emeritus of the Department of Physiology and Endocrinology, has received the 2005 Society for the Study of Reproduction Distinguished Service Award.

 He was editor-in-chief of the society’s journal, Biology of Reproduction, from 1999-2004 and remains a consulting editor. Dr. Mahesh established an endowment for a neuroendocrinology program at the society’s annual meeting and contributed to the Legacy Fund that supports publications and the New Investigator Award. He received the society’s 1996 Carl Hartman Award for lifelong contributions to the teaching, research and career development of young scientists.

Dr. Mahesh is a member of the Board of Directors of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, which consists of 22 scientific societies and more than 65,000 members. He received the 2001 International Biographical Centre Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to reproductive biology and was selected that year as a laureate by the Research and Advisory Board of International Biographical Centre, based in Cambridge, England, which publishes Who’s Who publications, biographies and portraits.

Dr. Mahesh joined the MCG faculty in 1959 and helped establish a Ph.D. program in endocrinology in 1965. He chaired the Department of Physiology and Endocrinology from 1972-99 and continues to contribute to research and education.

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