Biostats/Data Management

IDCRP biostatisticians and data managers provide expertise to principal investigators for the conceptualization, design, execution, analysis, and publication of research studies, be they retrospective, prospective, observational, laboratory-based or interventional. These extensive activities have been coordinated by the Director, Dr. Françoise Seillier-Moiseiwitsch and services have been provided by the IDCRP team at San Antonio Military Medical Health System (SAMMHS), the Data Analysis Center (DAC), and the Data Coordinating and Analysis Center (DCAC).

The DCAC consists of the following teams: Oracle (SAMMHS), IT Infrastructure and Development (Program Coordination Center [PCC]), Data Management (including data entry, Rockville), Data Configuration (Rockville), SAS Programming (Rockville) and Biostatistics (PCC and DAC). The PCC group has grown from one to five (two MS-level biostatisticians, two Ph.D.-level biostatisticians and one senior scientific programmer. This group’s function is to meet the statistical needs of IDCRP studies. The DCAC, once housed in the Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) of the Division of Retrovirology at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research functions as the IDCRP’s data management center. DCAC roles include CRF and database development, data entry, data quality control, and preparation of research data sets for analysis. DCAC personnel also assist IDCRP investigators with exploratory data queries to assess research concepts for feasibility. The DAC, housed in the Coordinating Center for Biometric Research within the Division of Biostatistics at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health, were contracted to provide statistical and epidemiological support to IDCRP investigators. DAC personnel work closely with investigators throughout concept and protocol development, provide monitoring for prospective studies, carry out statistical analyses of prospective and retrospective studies, and participate in writing abstracts and manuscripts.