Iowa Summer Institute for Research Education in Biostatistics (ISIB) The ultimate vision of this research education program is to increase the number of undergraduates who enter graduate programs in Biostatistics and to maintain a solid underrepresented minority pipeline into biostatistics graduate programs. We will recruit a diverse group of 20 trainees each year with a focus on minority, underrepresented, disadvantaged students, and small liberal arts college students who wouldn’t have otherwise been exposed to the field of biostatistics, for a seven-week research education program. Recruitment targets rising seniors from colleges and universities without graduate programs or an extensive undergraduate education in statistics or biostatistics, graduating senior students with no commitment to a graduate program six months following ISIB, highly promising juniors with a clear vision to pursue graduate degrees in biostatistics, some graduate students with a desire to pursue a second master’s or a PhD in Biostatistics, and a few medical students with the goal to pursue a MD/PhD research track in Biostatistics. Special efforts are made to recruit a diverse student body, including trainees from groups underrepresented in biomedical research. The curriculum is a four-component model based on instruction; application; exposure; and research. The research education program is through case-based instruction of real biomedical study, consisting of classroom didactic courses; computer laboratory training; invited talk sessions; Zoom sessions; shadowing sessions; and clinical and translational research enrichment. As initiation to quantitative biomedical research, trainees undertake biostatistics-faculty-mentored projects on biomedical research. Students select from a pool of projects according to their interest, and are matched to a faculty mentor. Projects are based on the analysis of biomedical data, and/or the design of a biomedical experiment, and/or the statistical and computational issues associated with big data and artificial intelligence. The research teams present their research findings at the program’s concluding symposium. Trainees interact with biostatisticians in academia, industry, the pharmaceutical industry; biomedical researchers; biostatistics graduate students; biostatistics alumni and others. Guidance on how to successfully prepare for a GRE, how to prepare a successful admission application and how to apply to graduate schools is also provided.

There is a nationwide shortage of biostatisticians. This shortage is negatively impacting research in the medical, biomedical and public health sciences. This project aims to introduce talented undergraduate students to biostatistics, and encourage their entry into graduate schools in biostatistics to subsequently pursue careers in biostatistics, statistics and data sciences.