Biostatistics

The Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Biomathematics Research Core provides services and expertise to assist investigators within WCM-Q and other institutions in Qatar in different fields of biostatistics, epidemiology, and mathematical modeling including study design, data analysis, and grant proposal preparation.
 

Types of services

We provide four kinds of services:
 

1. Pre-award research support: [free of charge]
   We provide biostatistical and epidemiological support in relation to the design of projects and preparation of grant proposals. Examples of services include sample size calculations, power analyses, and guidance in design of study instruments and protocols.
2. Post-award research support: [funding to be provided]
   We provide biostatistical and epidemiological support in the conduct of funded studies particularly in relation to various statistical analyses. Examples of services include the conduct of multivariate analysis, factor analysis, and non-parametric tests.
3. Short-term research support: [fee for service]
   We provide biostatistical and epidemiological consulting support in the conduct of different kinds of studies on a short-term basis. These consultancies are short-term and typically involve non-complex statistical analyses. Examples of services include the conduct of conventional statistical metrics, analysis of variance, and multivariate analysis.
4. Educational services: [fee for service]
   We provide short courses, workshops, and seminars on topics related to research in general. These include courses related to the design of a study, design of study instruments, basic biostatistics, advanced biostatistics, clinical trials, and the use of computer software for statistical analyses.
    

Description of some of the services that the Research Core provides

Study design: The Core assists investigators in choosing the appropriate design for addressing their research questions; whether the study design would be a clinical trial, cohort study, case-control study, validation study, or any other observational study design. The Core also performs appropriate sample size calculations and power analyses, and provides guidance in design of study instruments and protocols to minimize bias, including selection bias, measurement bias, or recall bias.

Statistical data analysis: The Core assists investigators in conducting various statistical analyses including bivariate analysis, multivariate analysis, repeated measures analysis, and non-parametric tests.

Other research-related support: The Core provides access to Core computing facilities to conduct analyses using statistical software. The core also advises investigators on biostatistics knowledge and assists them in output interpretation.

Educational services: The Core prepares suitable educational material according to the needs of the institution asking for the services. The Core personnel will deliver the workshop, short course, or seminar with the aim of educating participants and building their capacity in the conduct of scientific research. The Core provides a large variety of courses such as clinical trials design and analysis, basic biostatistics using SPSS/STATA/SAS, advanced biostatistics using SPSS/STATA/SAS, and data management techniques.
 

Research Core Structure 

The Research Core consists of two faculty members and research specialist:

Director of Core: Laith Abu-Raddad, PhD 
Associate Director of Core: Ziyad Mahfoud, PhD
Senior Research Specialist: Soha R. Dargham, MPH
 

Submission of Request for Core Service

Contact

Dr. Laith Abu-Raddad
Professor of Population Health Sciences
Associate Dean for Extramural Research Funding
Director of the Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Biomathematics Research Core
P.O. Box 24144 Doha, Qatar
Office: +(974) 4492-8321
Fax: +(974) 4492-8333
lja2002@qatar-med.cornell.edu