Welcome to the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the Medical College of Georgia. As part of the strategic initiative and research mission of MCG, the Biostatistics Department was formed in 2004 as a full-fledged academic department from its previous status as the Office of Biostatistics, with strong emphasis in teaching, mentoring, and collaborative and methodological research. The Department is housed in the School of Graduate Studies. This unique setup is in recognition by MCG of the broad and vital role of biostatistics in multidisciplinary and translational research, crossing the boundaries of academic schools. We maintain strong collaborative relationships with departments and research centers in the Schools of Allied Health, Dentistry, Medicine and Nursing, including the MCG Cancer Center and the Georgia Prevention Institute.

Biostatistics is the field of statistics related to biology, medicine and public health. The intent of Biostatistics is to better understand the factors that affect human health through the judicious use of statistical methods. It is applied to research questions in fields such as agriculture, bioassay, bioinformatics, cancer research, clinical trials, dentistry, ecology, environmental health, epidemiology, genomics, health care policy, medicine, nursing, nutrition, pharmacology and population genetics.

The overarching mission of the Biostatistics Department at MCG is to advance knowledge in the field of biostatistics, and to provide leadership and scholarship in research, teaching and mentoring for the advancement of biomedical science and improvement of human health. The mission is achieved by (1) implementing a high caliber teaching program in biostatistics for graduate students and others, (2) conducting original research to develop and evaluate biostatistical methodologies, and (3) collaborating with investigators in biomedical research that requires biostatistics support.

The long-term goal for the Department is to become a nationally and internationally recognized department with strengths and competency in graduate training, collaborative research and methodological research. Moving toward this goal, we are recruiting faculty members with strong records of methodological and collaborative research in biostatistics and epidemiology. We offer a masters and a Ph.D. program in Biostatistics with concentrations in Clinical Trials, Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics. We also offer a masters and a certificate program in Clinical and Translational Science, with the purpose of training young clinical investigators in cutting edge research methods. The Department is an important part of the MCG research initiatives, including training and mentoring scientists in clinical research. The Department offers many courses, primarily catering to pre- and post-doctoral trainees and junior faculty investigators in biomedical and clinical research. Plans are underway to start a Division of Epidemiology within the department in the immediate future.

Please explore our site to learn more about what we do. We welcome any constructive comments, suggestions and questions regarding our website and our department.

Sincerely,

Varghese George, Ph. D.
Chair & Professor