The Biostatistics Centre team (from left): Dr Ella Iosua, Dr Nisa Widyastuti, Professor Robin Turner, Research Associate Professor Claire Cameron, Research Associate Professor Ari Samaranayaka, Andrew Gray and Janet Kim.
Don’t let the name fool you – there’s a lot more to the role of a biostatistician than numbers and spreadsheets.
According to the new Director of Otago’s Biostatistics Centre, Research Associate Professor Claire Cameron, her team is instrumental in contributing to the important research happening at the University.
“At our heart, we’re here to improve the quality of health-related research,” she says.
“We’re all problem solvers. We’re not just a group that does analysis, we understand a research project from its design stages right through to publication.”
Based in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Dunedin School of Medicine, these biostatisticians contribute to refining research questions, research design and research method expertise as members of research teams, primarily within the Health Sciences Division.
This means Claire and her team work on a multitude of wide-ranging projects, looking at everything from hip fractures, orthodontic retainers and salt intake to removing prescription co-payments and medical students’ sleep habits.
“There aren’t many nooks in Health Sciences that we haven’t been in to,” she says.
Making a difference… the new Director of Otago’s Biostatistics Centre, Research Associate Professor Claire Cameron, says the Centre has a key role to play in health-related research.
Claire has worked in the Centre since its inception in 2017 and officially became Director in May. An Otago graduate, she has worked as a statistician in various forms for about 35 years.
Claire has worked in different statistical areas, including national statistics, hospital and wildlife data. For her Masters, she estimated the survival rate of Hector’s dolphins around Banks Peninsula. She has also taught statistics at first and second-year level at Otago – one of several Dunedin campus roles she held before moving to the Division of Health Sciences to take up her first research position as a biostatistician in 2011.
A key part of Claire’s Director role is supporting her small but highly effective team – Andrew Gray, Ella Iosua, Ari Samaranayaka, Nisa Widyastuti and Administrator Janet Kim. Former Centre Director Professor Robin Turner (now Head of the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine) is also still connected with the Centre.
Claire says biostatisticians need to be good communicators with an interest in other disciplines. They pride themselves on helping to address the right research question and providing clear, coherent statistical analyses so researchers can draw conclusions and write high-quality papers that others can read and understand.
The Centre helps researchers develop their skills by running short courses and occasional forums. Staff are also available for one-to-one discussions on how they can help researchers plan and deliver their projects. They also supervise many research students across the Division.
Centre staff have always been physically located in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, but in 2017 the Centre became a research unit reporting administratively through to the Division of Health Sciences. As of a few months ago, the Centre’s reporting line returned to the Department.
Claire says regardless of where the Centre sits, it continues to offer broad support to staff who need it.
“Everyone has equal access; we don’t turn anyone away.”
Claire is also keen to encourage young biostatisticians to come through the ranks, saying it’s a rewarding career.
“I love what I do – it’s a really interesting career. To be a good biostatistician it’s not enough to be a good statistician. You need to have experience in health research and know how to ask the right questions to be able to work successfully in the role.”
Find out more about the Centre and how staff can help - https://www.otago.ac.nz/dsm-psm/research/biostatistics