The Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics offers the Doctor of Philosophy Program in Biostatistics-Decision Science with concentrations in Biostatistics and in Decision Science. The program prepares graduates for positions in academic settings, pharmaceutical companies, government agencies, and healthcare organizations.

 The following are required for admission:

1. Graduate application (see www.graduate.louisville.edu) submitted to the School of Interdisciplinary and Graduate Studies (SIGS).
2. Non-refundable application fee.
3. At least two letters of recommendation written within past twelve months (can be submitted with form at http://graduate.louisville.edu).
4. Submission of GRE scores to SIGS (85th percentile or better on Quantitative section is preferred).
5. All postsecondary transcripts (may require foreign credential evaluation if not from accredited U.S. institution).
6. Statement of goals submitted to the department office (must include desired academic and degree program).
7. Foreign credential evaluation is required for each degree not from an accredited U.S. institution. This requirement may be waived, with approval by the dean, for degrees not considered to be relevant to evaluation of the applicant or whose transcript requires no foreign credential evaluation.
8. A baccalaureate degree or its equivalent from an accredited institution is required for admission.
9. A minimum undergraduate grade point average of 2.75 is required for unconditional admission.
10. International students for whom English is not their primary language must show English language proficiency by one of:

• Award of a degree from an accredited U.S. institution
• Official TOEFL score of 100 or higher (iBT, or Internet-Based Test), 250 or higher (CBT, or Computer-Based Test), or 600 or higher (PBT, or Paper-Based Test)
• Official documentation of passing the exit examination for the advanced level of the Intensive English as a Second Language Program at the University of Louisville

Faculty Advisor

Upon admission to the Ph.D. program, each student is assigned to the graduate coordinator of the Ph.D. program for course advising. The graduate coordinator assumes the role of faculty advisor until the student chooses a dissertation advisor at which point this responsibility shifts to the dissertation advisor. If it becomes clear that a Ph.D. student will be working with a given faculty member prior to forming a dissertation committee, the student may request a change in course advisor by completing the form “Request to Change Academic Advisor.”

Program of Study

Upon admission to the Ph.D. program, a program of study is developed for each student by the faculty advisor and approved by the program director and department chair. Students who did not complete the M.S. program in biostatistics with the Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics may be required to complete additional coursework normally offered in the M.S. program. Decisions regarding additional coursework are made by the student’s assigned faculty advisor and such courses become part of the program of study. This approach gives maximum flexibility for addressing differing student qualifications and interests.
 
Degree Requirements

Completion of the coursework is the prelude to sitting for the qualifying examination. Successful completion of the qualifying examination allows the student to enter doctoral candidacy. A doctoral candidate must then develop and successfully defend a dissertation proposal that describes an original and independent research project. Upon successful defense of the proposal, a student may then proceed to continue dissertation research. Upon successful completion of the research, defense of the dissertation, and demonstration of the required competencies listed below, a student is awarded the Ph.D. degree.

The Ph.D. program in biostatistics is a 34 credit-hour program (minimum beyond a master’s degree) including the dissertation. Additional hours may be needed for completion of the program.

Coursework

34 total credit-hours

    25 credit-hours of required coursework

      9 credit-hours of elective courses

*Key for emphasis:     --   =    no emphasis

                                  D    =    emphasis on decision science

                                  B    =    emphasis on bioinformatics

The student may be required to take one or more prerequisite courses for an elective course if the student does not meet the prerequisites. These prerequisite courses become part of the program of study but are in addition to the number of coursework credit-hours presented above.

Qualifying Examination

Upon completion of the required coursework for the Ph.D. degree, a student is eligible to sit for the doctoral qualifying examinations. Each student must take two qualifying exams.

• Exam 1 covers the following topics:
  • Statistical inference
  • Linear models

• Exam 2 covers the following topics, depending on the student’s emphasis, if any:
  • No emphasis

□        Student choice of any two of the following:

-         Statistical computing

-         Clinical trials

-         Generalized linear models

-         Survival analysis

• Emphasis on decision Science

□        Utility theory, assessment, and medical decision making

□        Student choice of one of the following:

-         Bayesian analysis

-         Cost-effectiveness analysis

• Emphasis on bioinformatics

□        Statistical methods in bioinformatics (including high-throughput methods) and statistical genetics

□        Student choice of one of the following:

-         Bayesian analysis

-         Statistical computing

Dissertation

In order to complete the degree, a candidate must submit and successfully defend a dissertation on a topic approved by his or her major professor and the dissertation committee. Dissertation work may be started following successful completion of doctoral qualifying examinations.

Dissertation Committee

The dissertation committee is formed by the candidate’s proposing a major professor (or principal advisor) and at least three other committee members. One member of the dissertation committee must be external to the Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics. The committee is appointed by the dean of the school upon the recommendation of the program director and chair of the department.

Dissertation Proposal (Pre-Dissertation Essay)

A dissertation proposal or pre-dissertation essay is submitted to the major professor and the dissertation committee. The proposal must be approved by a majority vote of the dissertation committee before the candidate undertakes further work on the dissertation.

The dissertation proposal is a typed document not exceeding 25 pages in length excluding topics (v) to (viii), below. The following formatting is used: Times New Roman 12-point font, margins of 1 inch on all sides and 1.5-line spacing throughout the body of the document. The

GraduateSchool dissertation guidelines for citing references must be followed. The document is divided into the following sections and in the following sequence:

(i)            Introduction and Literature Reviews – general introduction to the area of proposed research and relevant literature reviews

(ii)          Specific Aims and Significance – short section describing the specific aims of the proposed research and their potential importance in the field

(iii)         Preliminary Results – summary of the research findings the student already has (e.g., simulation results) towards one or more of the specific aims. This is an important component of the proposal that demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed research by the student.

(iv)        Research Plan – detailed description of the research towards the specific aims to be undertaken during the rest of the doctoral study period

(v)          References – complete references to all the cited literature. Journal names should not be abbreviated

(vi)        Tables – including table headings

(vii)       Figures – one figure per page

(viii)     Appendix – copies (in PDF format) of published articles and preprints that are most relevant to the proposed research

Dissertation Preparation

The dissertation is to be prepared in format and binding according to the guidelines established by the School of Interdisciplinary and Graduate Studies.

Guy Brock, Ph.D.

Somnath Datta, Ph.D.

Susmita Datta, Ph.D.

Robert J. Esterhay, M.D.

L. Jane Goldsmith, Ph.D.

Seongho Kim, Ph.D.

Maiying Kong, Ph.D.

Steven J. McCabe, M.D., M.Sc.

John A. Myers, Ph.D.

Rudolph S. Parrish, Ph.D.

Shesh Rai, Ph.D.

Dongfeng Wu, Ph.D.