Medical College of Wisconsin http://www.mcw.edu/
Division of Biostatistics Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Ph.D. Program in Biostatistics
The Division of Biostatistics offers a program leading to Ph.D. degree in
Biostatistics through the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the Medical
College of Wisconsin. The program is designed for students with strong undergraduate
preparation in Mathematics. The curriculum includes a sound foundation in
statistical theory and applications, and training in statistical consulting.
In addition, students gain substantial training and experience in statistical
computing and software packages. The degree requirements, including the dissertation
research, are typically completed in five years for a well-prepared student
entering the program with a B.S. degree. The program is in collaboration with
the statistics faculty of the Department of Mathematics at the University
of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Admission Requirements
Any graduate of an accredited college or university with an undergraduate degree in mathematics or closely related fields with strong preparation in mathematics is eligible for admission as a degree candidate provided that (i) the applicant meets the academic requirements, and (ii) the biostatistics admissions committee determines that the applicant shows a commitment to graduate studies in biostatistics and is likely to succeed in these studies.
The minimum admission requirements are an overall grade point average of B, a B average in mathematics and science, and an average of 60th percentile score on the quantitative and verbal sections of GRE. International students whose first language is not English are required to have a minimum TOEFL score of 580.
Applicants are also expected to have completed courses in advanced calculus, linear/matrix algebra and scientific programming with minimum grade of B in each of these courses. Those who haven't done so may be considered for admission to the program upon approval of the biostatistics admission committee, and if admitted, these requirements must be completed during the first year of study. In addition to the above requirements, the applicant must have strong interest in pursuing research in biomedical sciences.
Unlike most other graduate programs, the newly admitted students are expected to start from the first of July and enroll in BIOSTAT 230 (Foundations for Biostatistics). This course is offered every summer from July to August. It provides a review of basic statistics and advanced calculus, and introduces the students to the Division's computing facilities.
Faculty and Their Research Interests
Professors:
John Klein, Ph.D., Missouri (Division Director). Survival Analysis, Multistate modeling, Frailty Models, Competing Risks Theory, Bayes Methods, Alternatives to The Proportional Hazards Model, Graphical Association Models, Statistical Methods For Bone Marrow Transplants, Probabilistic models, Clinical trials
Gilbert Walter, Ph.D., Wisconsin
(adjunct).
Sampling, mixture distributions, wavelets.
Associate Professors:
Varghese George, Ph.D., Missouri.
Statistical genetics, regression, clinical trials.
Raymond Hoffmann, Ph.D., Johns
Hopkins.
Time series analysis, epidemiology, graphical methods.
Purushottam (Prakash) Laud, Ph.D.,
Missouri.
Bayesian statistics, linear models, nonparametric inference.
Timothy McAuliffe, Ph.D., UCLA.
Space-time clustering, spatial mapping, clinical trials.
Mei-Jie Zhang, Ph.D., Florida State.
Survival analysis, stochastic processes, non-linear models.
Jay Beder, Ph.D., George Washington
(adjunct).
Gaussian processes, categorical data, clustering.
Jugal Ghorai, Ph.D., Purdue (adjunct).
Nonparametric estimation, survival analysis, density estimation.
Eric Key, Ph.D., Cornell (adjunct).
Probability, stochastic processes, ergodic theory.
Malgorzata Klosek, Ph.D., Northwestern
(adjunct).
Stochastic processes, dynamical systems, asymptotic expansions.
Thomas O'Bryan, Ph.D., Michigan
State (adjunct).
Empirical Bayes estimation, decision theory, convergence.
Andrew Soms, Ph.D., Wisconsin (adjunct).
Reliability, statistical computing, asymptotic inference.
Correspondence and Information
Varghese George, PhD
Graduate Program Director
The Division of Biostatistics
Medical College of Wisconsin
8701 Watertown Plank Road
P.O. Box 26509
Milwaukee, WI 53226-0509
414.456.8280 - Phone
414.456.6513 - Fax
E-MAIL:george@mcw.edu