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One PhD studentship is available, for developing and refining
statistical methodology with applications to medical problems. It is
tenable for for three years (living expenses and fees) at the current
Medical Research Council rates.
The preferred project area is described below, but many others are
possible. Prospective applicants should consult the Unit's web pages
(http://eps.lshtm.ac.uk/msu) for further details about Unit research
interests, and contact James Carpenter (Tel: 0171 927 2033,
email: [log in to unmask]), for an
informal discussion.
Project proposal: Missing data in longitudinal studies
Longitudinal data (ie data consisting of repeated observations on a
set of individuals) arise naturally in medicine and epidemiology.
Frequently, such data sets contain missing observations, usually
because an individual has withdrawn from the study for some reason.
Efficient, practical techniques for analysing such data are thus of
enormous practical importance and have been the subject of a great
deal of recent statistical research. Building on recent work by Mike
Kenward and James Carpenter, this project will give the opportunity to
develop and evaluate both Bayesian and frequentist approaches to this
problem from a practical viewpoint. Specifically, initially, we hope
to be able to develop a recently proposed Bayesian model for
informative dropout (i.e. where the `true' value of a missing
observation explains why that observation is missing) fitted using the
program BUGS (Spiegelhalter {\em et al.} 1996). Several data sets are
available, including an asthma trial and a mental health study.
Reference
Spiegelhalter, D. J., Thomas, A., Best, N. G. and Gilks, W. R. (1996).
BUGS: Bayesian inference Using Gibbs Sampling, Cambridge: MRC
Biostatistics unit.
CLOSING DATE: 30th June
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\centerline{THE LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE \& TROPICAL MEDICINE}
Further information about a PhD Studentship in the Medical Statistics
Unit
{\bf The School}
The London School of Hygiene \& Tropical Medicine has restructured for
the year 2000 and beyond. A rapid process of adaptation and change has
confirmed the School as Britain's national school of public health and
has prepared the School for an enhanced role in Europe, while
retaining its established world-wide reputation in tropical medicine
and tropical public health. Both European and Third World concerns are
underlined by the School's expertise in preventive medicine,
epidemiology and disease control. The School currently employs about
560 staff, and there are 500 full-time equivalent postgraduate
students following taught courses or undertaking research training.
More details are available on the School's World-wide Web site at
http://www.lshtm.ac.uk
{\bf The Department}
The Department of Epidemiology \& Population Health (EPH) houses the
largest group of epidemiologists, statisticians and medical
demographers in Europe, together with nutritionists, social scientists
and public health practitioners, working on the diseases of major
public health importance in both the industrialised and the less
developed countries, EPH has approximately 150 staff members organised
into six research units:
Cancer and Public Health Unit\\
Centre for Population Studies\\
Epidemiology Unit\\
Maternal and Child Epidemiology Unit\\
Medical Statistics Unit\\
Public Health Nutrition Unit\\
The Department has a teaching programme consisting of seven MSc
courses: Communicable Disease Epidemiology, Epidemiology, Medical
Demography, Medical Statistics, Public Health, Nutrition, Reproductive
\& Sexual Health Research, and Public Health in Developing Countries
(run jointly with the School's Department of Public Health and Policy
and Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases). The Department
also has approximately 50 higher degree research students studying for
an MPhil, PhD or DrPH degree. The Department Head is Professor Betty
Kirkwood.
{\bf Medical Statistics Unit}
The Medical Statistics Unit specialises in methodological research in
medical statistics, especially in relation to clinical trials,
observational epidemiology and disease prevention. The Unit
incorporates a Clinical Trials Research Group (concerned with
planning, co-ordination, statistical analysis and reporting of
clinical trials), and has a special interest in cardiovascular
disease, asthma, HIV and perinatal studies. The Unit has established a
reputation for being one of the leading innovative centres in Europe
for biostatistical methodology relevant to the planning and reporting
of medical research. The Unit Head is Dr Diana Elbourne. Further
details can be found on the Unit's web site,
http://eps.lshtm.ac.uk/msu
{\bf The Studentship}
One PhD studentship is available, for developing and refining
statistical methodology with applications to medical problems. It is
tenable for for three years (living expenses and fees) at the current
Medical Research Council rates.
The preferred project area is described below, but many others are
possible. Prospective applicants should consult the Unit's web pages
(http://eps.lshtm.ac.uk/msu) for further details about Unit research
interests, and contact James Carpenter (Tel: 0171 927 2033), for an
informal discussion.
{\bf Project proposal: Missing data in longitudinal studies}
Longitudinal data (ie data consisting of repeated observations on a
set of individuals) arise naturally in medicine and epidemiology.
Frequently, such data sets contain missing observations, usually
because an individual has withdrawn from the study for some reason.
Efficient, practical techniques for analysing such data are thus of
enormous practical importance and have been the subject of a great
deal of recent statistical research. Building on recent work by Mike
Kenward and James Carpenter, this project will give the opportunity to
develop and evaluate both Bayesian and frequentist approaches to this
problem from a practical viewpoint. Specifically, initially, we hope
to be able to develop a recently proposed Bayesian model for
informative dropout (i.e. where the `true' value of a missing
observation explains why that observation is missing) fitted using the
program BUGS (Spiegelhalter {\em et al.} 1996). Several data sets are
available, including an asthma trial and a mental health study.
{\bf Reference}
Spiegelhalter, D. J., Thomas, A., Best, N. G. and Gilks, W. R. (1996).
{\em BUGS: Bayesian inference Using Gibbs Sampling}, Cambridge: MRC
Biostatistics unit.
{\bf CLOSING DATE: 30th June}
\end{document}
Dr James R Carpenter,
Lecturer
Medical Statistics unit,
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,
Keppel Street,
London WC1E 7HT
email: [log in to unmask]
WWW: http://eps.lshtm.ac.uk/msu
phone: +44 (0) 171 927 2033 (direct); +44 (0) 171 927 2230 (secretary)
Fax: +44 (0) 171 637 2853
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