Tools for Transformation
Funded Proposals
College of Arts & Sciences, Department of Stattistics
The proposal to develop curriculum in Statistical Genetics is a joint endeavor of the Departments of Statistics and Biostatistics. It grew out of and is part of a broader initiative to develop research and education in Mathematical and Computational Biology at the University of Washington. The overall goal is to provide an in-depth understanding of the increasingly quantitative challenges of biological science to the graduate students from the mathematical, physical, computational, and statistical sciences who will help meet these research challenges.
The Statistical Genetics development consists of three components: two Ph.D. pathways in Statistical Genetics under the Ph.D. programs of Statistics and of Biostatistics, and a certificate program open to all other qualified matriculated graduate students of the University of Washington. The certificate program will serve to enhance the programs of M.S. graduates in Statistics and Biostatistics, and the Ph.D. programs of statistically oriented students in, for example, Genetics or Molecular Biotechnology. A core component of the curriculum development is a three-quarter core course sequence. Additionally, students will take courses in Genetics and in the area of Molecular Computational Biology.
The core faculty associated with the program derive from Statistics, Biostatistics, Genetics, and Molecular Biotechnology. Together, and jointly with faculty associated with other developing programs in mathematical and computational biology, the Statistical Genetics faculty will seek funding for students in our program, through NIH training grants, and through a proposal from the UW to the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The funding provided by Tools for Transformation provides staff support for the initial tasks of setting up the program, and for these training grant proposals. Additionally there will be support for the incidental curriculum development costs, although the primary costs are met by the commitments of faculty resources by Statistics and Biostatistics, and by a two-year GSA position from the College of Arts and Sciences.
| Contact: |
Elizabeth Thompson
Professor, Statistics thompson@stat.washington.edu |
| Allocation: | $25,000 |
| Date Funded: | March 2000 |
Progress Report: 2000-2001
The primary use of this small Tools for Transformation award has been to have part-time secretarial support for the development of organizational aspects of the initiative. We were extremely fortunate to secure the services of Addi Atkins, who worked for us in Winter Quarter 2000, and Summer Quarter 2000. The Tools for Transformation grant paid her salary, and purchased a PC for her work. In addition, small amounts of other part-time employment of graduate students have enabled us to develop web pages, and supplement the GSA costs (salary paid by the College of Arts and Sciences) of developing our computer lab materials in conjunction with the new Statistical Genetics Graduate course sequence STAT/BIOST 550-1-2.
The course sequence proposals were completed in December 1999, and approved by UW in Winter 2000. The courses were taught under their new official STAT/BIOST 550-1-2 label and titles in AY 2000-1. Both in 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 the courses attracted good enrollment, and an increasing number of graduate student applicants in both Statistics and Biostatistics express an interest in the area of Statistical Genetics. Information on our current and past students in this area, as well as much other information about the development of Statistical Genetics teaching and research at UW is available at http://depts.washington.edu/statgen/.
As a result of Addi Atkins' work, proposals for STAT/BIOST Ph.D. tracks in Statistical Genetics, and for a Certificate Program (add-on to an M.S. degree in Stat/Biostat, or available to Ph.D. students in related areas) were submitted to the Graduate School in February 2000. External reviews were received by the Graduate School in May 2000, and the Graduate School approved the Ph.D. tracks in October 2000. After further prompting, official confirmation of Graduate School approval was received in December 2000. With regard to the Graduate Certificate Program, a Graduate School Council discussion was held on January 25, 2001, after which the proposal was approved "easily and unanimously".
In September 2000 we submitted an NIH Training Grant proposal, jointly between the graduate program initiatives in Statistical Genetics and in Computational Molecular Biology. These two initiatives have a natural partnership, sharing several courses and faculty, and we were hopeful that their combined weight would be successful. The proposal received many positive comments from reviewers, particularly with regard to the Statistical Genetics, but was not funded. At the moment, resubmission of the Training Grant is on hold, pending the reorganization of Genetics into the Medical School and the merging of Genetics and MBT departments. However, we expect to resubmit next year.
Some funds remain from the TfT Statistical Genetics award. A workshop in Statistical Genetics and Computational Molecular Biology is planned here at UW, December 16-18, 2001 (http://depts.washington.edu/statgen/Statgen/workshop.shtml). This workshop is aimed at students from the mathematical and computational sciences from Colleges and Universities of the Pacific Northwest region, primarily undergraduate seniors or first-year graduate students. The workshop will introduce students to the opportunities for research in this area, and to the research undertaken by UW faculty. Administrative organization of the workshop is being undertaken by the UW Engineering Professional Programs team, and the TfT balance are currently underwriting the workshop costs. I have been quite successful in obtaining additional sponsorship for this workshop, and if these commitments come through then likely there will remain a TfT balance that can be used for a similar endeavor in the future, or the costs of revision and resubmission of the NIH training grant.
While the funds are small in absolute terms, the benefits of having even small funds to leverage other support and initiate development activities cannot be overestimated. The Tools for Transformation award has been immensely helpful in development of Statistical Genetics at UW, and continues to be so.
Tools for Transformation
Funded Proposals
