Biostatistics at a Glance

Biostatistics students working on equations

Our Mission

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    Provide exemplary education, training, and mentoring
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    Conduct outstanding disciplinary methodological research
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    Conduct meaningful interdisciplinary applied research
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    Serve and promote our college, university, state

Rankings

US National Research Council

  • The department is ranked in the top 10 nationally in the survey, quantitative, and research activity rankings.
  • Ranked No. 3 nationally in average number of citations per publication.

US News & World Report

  • Ranked No. 20 among all biostat departments, and No. 9 among those at public institutions.
  • The UI College of Public Health ranked No. 17 among all Colleges of Public Health, No. 9 among those at public institutions.

Iowa Summer Institute in Biostatistics

group photo of Iowa Summer Institute in Biostatistics participants
The UI Department of Biostatistics is helping to mentor and recruit the next generation of biostatisticians. ISIB is one of six federally supported summer training institutes in biostatistics education and research, and the second-longest continuously running of these institutes. Since 2010, ISIB has brought dozens of quantitatively gifted undergraduate students to the university of Iowa for a seven-week immersive program of study. Through exposure to the discipline, a high percentage of these students matriculate to graduate programs in biostatistics.

Personnel and Resources

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    15 full-time faculty 13 adjunct and secondary faculty 60 graduate students
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    Nearly all students supported by half-time research assistantships
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    Dedicated computer lab and access to high-performance computing cluster
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    Extensive collaboration with University of Iowa health sciences

Faculty Areas of Expertise

Methodological/Disciplinary

  • Bayesian modeling and inference
  • Bioinformatics
  • Causal inference
  • Clinical trials
  • Cluster analysis
  • Computational statistics
  • High-dimensional data analysis
  • Infectious disease modeling
  • Informatics
  • Integrative analysis
  • Longitudinal data analysis
  • Machine learning
  • Missing data techniques
  • Model selection
  • Network data analysis
  • Penalized likelihood models
  • Personalized medicine
  • Predictive modeling
  • Quantile regression
  • Semiparametric and nonparametric modeling
  • Spatial and spatio-temporal modeling
  • Statistical computing
  • Statistical genetics and genomics
  • Statistical and machine learning
  • Survival data analysis
  • Syndromic surveillance
  • Time series data analysis

Applied/Interdisciplinary

  • Audiology
  • Cancer / Oncology
  • Cardiovascular Health
  • Dentistry
  • Disease Mapping
  • Environmental Science
  • Epidemiology
  • Health Services
  • Genetics and Genomics
  • Gerontology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Injury Prevention
  • Neurology
  • Neuropsychology
  • Psychiatry
  • Psychology
  • Speech and Language

Student Research Positions

Our students have successfully gained summer internships at numerous pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and a variety of other industries, clinical research facilities, and government agencies.

A cloud of Biostatistics Internship Logos

Center Affiliations

Department of Biostatistics faculty provide leadership for several research centers.

Alumni Positions

UI Department of Biostatistics alumni have received positions in academia, pharmaceutical industries, biomedical research institutes, government agencies, and major corporations outside of the health sciences.

Logos of businesses and organizations that employ College of Public Health Biostatistics graduates: J.P. Morgan, Meta, Indiana University, Pfizer, Eli Lilly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the University of Iowa, AMGEN, Northwestern University, Google, Genentech, the Food and Drug Administration, Fred Hutchinson Center Center, Novartis, AbbVie, ACT, the Mayo Clinic, the University of Kentucky, Genentech, the University of Colorado, and many more.