Biostatistics & Bioinformatics Core

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Biostatistics & Bioinformatics Core (BSI) is responsible for all statistical, bioinformatics, and data management activities for each of the SPORE projects, the developmental research and career development projects, and the cores. The BSI not only supports the projects and cores but also solves problems therefore serves the broader scientific community. The Core deliberately leverages and builds upon strong existing institutional infrastructure as well as infrastructure created during the prior funding cycle of this SPORE by providing investigators access to statistical and bioinformatics expertise and extensive Mayo Clinic Cancer Center (MCCC) and Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics infrastructure. Each of the projects presented in this application reflects input from members of the BSI on the design and an appropriate analysis plan. The research studies will be conducted across different platforms with different data management needs, from in vitro cell models and in vivo murine models, to phase Ib/II adaptive clinical trials, to multi-omics correlative studies of biospecimens from clinical trials and an existing tumor registry. Biostatisticians will provide statistical expertise including experimental design for laboratory studies and clinical trials. Bioinformaticians will provide support for data preprocessing, quality control, annotations, and long-term storage and planning future analysis needs. Biostatisticians and Bioinformaticians will work together on correlative studies involving clinical trial specimens, and modeling and analyses of all data. The BSI employs a complex array of tools and approaches in the space of machine-learning/deep-learning, network analysis, and high-performance computing to address the significant challenges in analyzing, integrating, and interpreting multi-omics datasets; Members of the BSI in consultation with the biostatistics and bioinformatics faculty in the Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, will explore, develop, and implement appropriate designs and analyses to address the aims of the individual projects. The Core will oversee the data management and integration of existing and newly collected data through consistent and compatible data handling. In addition, members of this Core will complement and assist the efforts of other Cores such as the Biospecimens & Clinical Database Core with superior data management, and experience with institutional databases. The strengths of the Biostatistics & Bioinformatics Core are our collaborative relationships with each of the projects and cores established in the prior funding cycle; the operational, statistical, and bioinformatics infrastructures already in place in the MCCC and the Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics; and the diverse and extensive statistical and bioinformatics experience of the Core members. Overall, the Biostatistics & Bioinformatics Core builds upon the innovative and time-tested procedures and systems developed by one of the largest statistical and bioinformatics groups in the country, which has supported more than 13,000 clinical, translational, and basic science research studies since 1966.