DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The University of Washington Department of Biostatistics, with the collaboration of faculty from the Departments of Epidemiology and Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences, and the Divisions of Medical Genetics, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and General Internal Medicine, proposes to train biostatisticians for collaborative work in cardiovascular research. This would be the fifth renewal of a very successful training grant, and would support seven predoctoral trainees. The PhD program includes coursework in statistical theory, biostatistical methodology, and data analysis, and a statistical consulting practicum. Coursework in the biological sciences and an oral examination on a topic in cardiovascular biology or medicine are required for students who do not have graduate qualifications in a biological discipline. After satisfying these requirements the student proceeds to complete a doctoral dissertation. Students are enrolled with prior training in mathematics, statistics, or the biological sciences. Program prerequisites include linear algebra, probability, and two years of calculus; promising students with biology majors may be admitted provisionally if they have not satisfied all the mathematical prerequisites. All trainees are additionally required to act as teaching assistants, to provide experience in communicating statistical concepts to non-statisticians.