Biostatistics

• Unit Head
  Professor Julie Simpson

  julieas@unimelb.edu.au
  8344 0732

Research Overview

In the modern world of 'Big Data', researchers in population health and clinical medicine need to make sense of large amounts of data from a wide range of sources. Biostatistics is the discipline that underpins the use of statistical methods in the collection, preparation and analysis of data for research studies. It provides an essential foundation for much health research.

The Biostatistics Unit has an integrated program of methodological and collaborative research with networks of collaboration across the School, the Faculty and affiliated hospitals and institutes, as well as providing statistical training to build a skilled research workforce. Our group delivers the Master of Biostatistics(with the Biostatistics Collaboration of Australia, BCA), as well as leading biostatistics teaching within the Master of Public Health and Master of Science (Epidemiology). We also established and lead the Biostatistics node of the Methods and Implementation Support for Clinical and Health research (MISCH) Hub, with the goal of strengthening clinical research across the University of Melbourne and its affiliated Hospitals.

Staff

Professor Julie Simpson (unit head)

Associate Professor Agus Salim

Dr Alistair McLean

Dr Anurika De Silva

Associate Professor David Price

Diana Zannino

Dr Digsu Koye

Associate Professor Emily Karahalios

Dr Eric Au

Fiona McManus

Professor John Carlin

Associate Professor Karen Lamb

Professor Lyle Gurrin

Dr Marnie Downes

Dr Megha Rajasekhar

Dr Myra McGuiness

Nadine Phillips

Peixuan Li

Phoebe Fitzpatrick

Dr Robert Mahar

Associate Professor Sabine Braat

Dr Sophie Zaloumis

Dr Yee-Foong Mok

Katelyn Brown

Honorary Staff

Dr Ali Haghiri

Dr Dulari Hakamuwa Lekamlage

Dr Koen Simons

Dr Saber Dini

Graduate Researchers

Gethmini Siriwardena

Jessica Xu

Jeyamalar T Thurai Rathnam

Rukshala Gunaratne

Meg Tully

Collaborators

We collaborate on numerous clinical trials and epidemiological studies. We lead research in the development, application and interpretation of sophisticated statistical methods, including causal inference methods for observational studies, methods for handling missing data, approaches to synthesis data across a network of treatments (i.e. network meta-analysis), applied Bayesian methods, and novel experimental design and analysis for clinical trials.

Since 2012, our unit has co-led — along with units at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and Monash University — the Victorian Centre for Biostatistics (ViCBiostat), a Centre of Research Excellence in Biostatistics funded by the NHMRC.