Grant: Operating Grant

A number of advances have been made recently on the key concepts of statistical analyses for health studies based on groups of individuals. While these studies are key in obtaining whole-population information on health/disease in relation to individual-level, group-level, and environmental factors, they are expensive to carry out. Methodological advances, that make these studies not only accurate and precise but also efficient, are needed given the studies' importance and cost. The proposed project will make such methodological advances, closely linking the methods we develop to practical applications in public health. The proposed project also emphasizes capacity building in methodological research in relation to such health studies. Three junior biostatisticians are teamed up with the principal investigator who is a Canada Research Chair in Biostatistics and Epidemiologic Methods to work on this project, each leading a specific aim. Two graduate students are also involved in the project, being exposed to the practice of methodological research with close links to public health applications. Knowledge transfer/dissemination is also emphasized by providing free computer software programs that enable a wide range of health scientists to utilize the developed methods in practice.