Biostatistics Shared Resource

The mission of the Biostatistics Shared Resource (BSR) is to provide the Hollings Cancer Center (HCC) exceptional and state-of-the-art biostatistics support, team-focused collaboration, consulting, and educational training and mentorship that is cost-effective, accessible, and responsive. Under the leadership of Elizabeth Hill, PhD (CBI), BSR is comprised of highly qualified biostatisticians with rigorous statistical training and complementary expertise in statistical methods relevant to cancer research. Hill has extensive expertise in basic, translational, clinical, and population cancer research, and over 15 years of service to HCC in collaborative, educational, and leadership roles. BSR expertise includes methods in early phase clinical trials, cluster-randomized trials, biomarker discovery, spatial and spatiotemporal statistical methods, longitudinal data analysis, Bayesian statistical methods, hierarchical and multi-level models, latent class and latent trait models, and bioinformatics tool development for single-cell imaging platforms and multi-omics applications. A critical operational feature of BSR is early involvement in study design, followed by an integrated approach with HCC members in grant writing, data analysis, and manuscript preparation. Direct participation of BSR personnel in monthly Program meetings, transdisciplinary cancer team meetings, and BSR-led training and mentorship activities, enhances the quality, rigor, and reproducibility of HCC members’ research. During the current cycle, BSR launched a major initiative in data standardization based on NIH Common Data Elements (CDEs). In partnership with the HCC Clinical Trials Office, BSR now oversees the construction of all electronic case report forms and databases using NCI-preferred standards and NIH-endorsed CDEs. BSR personnel have partnered with HCC members in all research Programs and were instrumental in: demonstrating improvement in body image disturbance in head and neck cancer survivors, leading to a confirmatory multi-site randomized controlled trial using a novel partially clustered design (Evan Graboyes, MD (CPC) R01 CA269385); opening to accrual MUSC’s first cellular therapy investigator-initiated clinical trial, a dose-escalation and dose-expansion trial evaluating the safety of a CD19-CD34t metabolically fit CAR T-cell therapy in adult patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and small lymphocytic lymphoma (Brian Hess, MD (DCT), and Shikhar Mehrotra, PhD (DCT), NCT05702853); and establishing a program to better understand the underlying mechanisms of cachexia in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (Denis Guttridge, PhD (CBI), P01 CA236778). With HCC support, committed leadership, and exceptional personnel, BSR is poised to support emerging challenges and opportunities in cancer research.