The Office of Biostatistics and Research Consultation
The Office of Biostatistics and Research Consultation (OBRC) provides statistical and research support services to all of the departments and fellowships at the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine (UTGSM). The services for residents, fellows, faculty, physicians, nurses, and staff at the UTGSM include the following:
- Formulating research questions using the FINER (feasible, interesting, novel, ethical, relevant) and PICOT (population, intervention, comparator, outcome, time) frameworks
- Stating the null and alternative hypotheses
- Choosing the correct epidemiological research design to answer the research question
- Identifying potential selection and observation biases in applied research
- Defining the population of interest using inclusion and exclusion criteria
- Choosing variables of interest and measuring for outcomes (scales of measurement)
- Selecting reliable and valid instrumentation and using “gold standard” methods of observation
- Generating an effect size
- Performing statistical power and sample size calculations
- Structuring and maintaining research databases in RedCap
- Conducting univariate, bivariate, and multivariate statistical analyses
- Performing diagnostic testing and epidemiological calculations
- Writing of formal statistical methods, results, and tables/graphs for publication and presentation
- Administering survey questionnaires
- Assisting with the review published journal articles
- Writing the statistical analysis plan for grant and trial submissions
The OBRC also provides a specialized five-part curriculum to the departments and fellowships at the UTGSM regarding applied research and statistics. The five-part curriculum consists of presentations regarding 1) research questions, 2) research designs, 3) measurement of variables, statistical power, and database management, 4) applied biostatistics, and 5) diagnostic testing and epidemiological calculations.
Contacts
R. Eric Heidel, PhD PStat
Accredited Professional Statistician
Associate Professor of Biostatistics
Director, Office of Biostatistics and Research Consultation
Department of Surgery
University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine
rheidel@utmck.edu
Phone: (865) 305-3474
Dr. Heidel has worked at the UTGSM for over 14 years, first as a graduate assistant for four years, and then as a faculty member in the Department of Surgery for the past ten years. He has provided statistical and empirical consultation services to thousands of researchers across a wide range of academic disciplines during his tenure at the UTGSM. Dr. Heidel serves as the lead biostatistician on 135 Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved investigations at the UTGSM, and currently has 174 published articles in peer-reviewed journals and 216 published abstracts from various local, state, regional, national, and international conferences. He is the Director of the Office of Biostatistics and Research Consultation (ORBC) and the lead instructor for the five-part lecture series focused on applied research and statistics at the UTGSM. Dr. Heidel also runs a private statistical consultation business on the internet located at https://www.scalestatistics.com and he has created the first automated research question generator, located at https://www.picotquestion.com. He spends his spare time with his family (especially with his daughter, Ella Jane) and going to rock and roll concerts (with his friend and colleague, Dr. Jon Wall).
Chelsea Price
Graduate Research Assistant
Office of Biostatistics and Research Consulting
University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine
cnprice@utmck.edu
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