Division Highlights
Maurizio Macaluso, M.D., Dr. P.H., Professor and Director
Dr. Macaluso joined the faculty in January as the DBE director. His 30 year research work has covered a variety of topics including epidemiologic research methods; cancer epidemiology; occupational epidemiology; health effects of sexual, reproductive and contraceptive behavior; acceptability, efficacy and safety of contraceptive technology; efficacy and safety of assisted reproductive technology; infectious disease epidemiology; surveillance systems; and immunology. In 2010 Dr. Macaluso published 8 peer-reviewed articles and submitted 15 abstracts. Of note is a paper published in the journal Cancer (Piyathilake CJ, Macaluso M, Alvarez RD, Chen M, Badiga S, Edberg JC, Partridge EE, Johanning GL. A higher degree of methylation of the HPV 16 E6 gene is associated with a lower likelihood of being diagnosed with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Cancer. 117(5):957-63. Mar 1, 2011.), which provides evidence that epigenetic changes made by host mechanisms to key genes of a carcinogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) may modulate progression of the infection and cervical carcinogenesis. Dr. Macaluso is co-director of the Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design Core of the NIH-funded CCHMCH Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training. He did not submit grant applications in 2010 because he was a federal government employee with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). At the CDC he mentored junior scientists, Association of Schools of Public Health fellows, Preventive Effectiveness fellows, and Epidemiologic Intelligence Service Officers, in addition to junior scientists.
Mekibib Altaye, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor
In 2010 Dr. Altaye published 6 peer-reviewed articles and submitted 7 abstracts (3 presented, 4 accepted). Of note is a contribution to the journal “Science,” which provides reassuring evidence for the safety of repeated MRI scans in children (Holland SK, Byars AW, Plante E, Szaflarski JP, Dietrich K, Altaye M. Studies support probable long-term safety of MRI. Science. 329(5991): 512-3. 2010.). Dr. Altaye is developing proposals for follow-up studies to further assess the long-term safety of repeated MRI. He is actively participating in NIH-funded research, and in 2010 he participated in the submission of 5 new grant applications. Dr. Altaye continues to mentor staff, junior investigators and trainees in multiple academic units.
Bin Huang, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor
In 2010 Dr. Huang published 5 peer-reviewed articles and submitted 7 abstracts. Of note is a contribution to the American Journal of Sports Medicine, which improves the ability to predict cruciate ligament injury after surgery (Paterno MV, Schmitt LC, Ford KR, Rauh MJ, Myer GD, Huang B, Hewett TE. Biomechanical Measures during Landing and Postural Stability Predict Second Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury after ACL Reconstruction and Return to Sport. AJSM. In Press). The paper received the award for the best research paper at the 2010 meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. Dr. Huang’s methodologic research aims to develop/enhance methodologies for statistical causal inference, mediation analysis, and modeling of pubertal development. She is active in NIH-funded research, and in 2010 she participated in the submission of 7 new grant applications. Dr. Huang continues to mentor staff, junior investigators and trainees in multiple academic units, and leads an internship program developed in collaboration with the UC Department of Mathematics.
Richard Ittenbach, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor
In 2010 Dr. Ittenbach published 10 peer-reviewed articles and submitted 5 abstracts. Dr. Ittenbach continued to lead the CCHMC-wide effort to establish state-of-the-art quality standards in data management and develop a data management center, a key activity recognized as a priority in the CCHMC Strategic Plan. Of note are also his efforts to develop a measurement scale unit and to advance empirical ethics at CCHMC, which led to the development of three grant applications and the publication of five papers. Dr. Ittenbach‘s methodologic research aims to develop/enhance methodologies for the design and statistical analysis of multi-item scales, and for the application of ethics principles in pediatric research. In 2010 Dr. Ittenbach participated in the submission of 4 new grant applications. Dr. Ittenbach mentored staff, junior investigators and trainees in multiple academic units, and has contributed to the development of the Biostatistics and Epidemiology modules of the Pediatrics Fellowship Core Curriculum and the education and training modules for the data management curriculum.
Jane C. Khoury, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor
In 2010 Dr. Khoury published 17 peer-reviewed articles and submitted 16 abstracts. Her research focuses on diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease and stroke. She serves as the principal investigator of the biostatistical core for SPOTRIAS, which includes 2 clinical trials, a registry and a basic science project, and of a CCHMC sub-contract to UC for the Stroke epidemiology R01. She also is a co-investigator on five other NIH-funded projects and submitted one new R01 application in 2010 as the PI. In 2010 Dr. Khoury participated in the submission of 14 new grant applications. Dr. Khoury continues to mentor staff, junior investigators and trainees in multiple academic units, and is the lead instructor of classes in the UC Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, where she holds a secondary appointment.
Mi-Ok Kim, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor
In 2010 Dr. Kim published 8 peer-reviewed articles and submitted 10 abstracts. Of note is a paper in the Journal Molecular Therapy (Liu C, Cripe TP, Kim MO. Statistical Issues in Longitudinal Data Analysis for Treatment Efficacy Studies in the Biomedical Sciences. Mol Ther. 18(9), 1724-1730.), in which Dr. Kim and her coworkers reached out to researchers in cell biology and gene therapy research with a review article that recommends the "best performing" statistical methods among those available in most statistical packages. Dr. Kim’s methodologic research focuses on quantile regression, for which she received an award by the National Science Foundation, and on adaptive clinical trials design and she is the PI of an intramural research grant on this topic awarded by the CCTST. Dr. Kim leads the Cancer and Blood Disease Institute Biostatistics Unit and is the biostatistics director of the NIH-funded Cincinnati Center for Excellence in Molecular Hematology (Zheng, PI). In 2010 Dr. Kim participated in the submission of 11 new grant applications including one as a PI. Dr. Kim continues to mentor staff, junior investigators and trainees in multiple academic units.
Eileen King, Ph.D., Research Associate Professor
Dr. King joined the DBE in 2009 after a distinguished career as a statistician in the pharmaceutical industry, where she last directed the department of Biostatistics at Procter and Gamble. In 2010 Dr. King published 1 peer-reviewed article and submitted 4 additional manuscripts and 7 abstracts. Her research focuses on outcomes research, digestive diseases, asthma and cardiovascular diseases. She serves as a senior statistician for the Anderson Center, the Heart Institute Research Core, the CCTST and the Digestive Health Center. She serves as a statistician on 6 NIH-funded projects and participated in the submission of three new applications in 2010: she is developing a data coordinating center application as the PI, in coordination with a proposal for a multi-site clinical trial of interventions for patients with asthma. Dr. King serves as the director of the Data Management Center, a key part of the CCHMC-wide effort to establish state-of-the-art quality standards in data management, recognized as a priority in the CCHMC Strategic Plan. Dr. King continues to mentor staff, junior investigators and trainees in multiple academic units, and is the lead instructor of "Statistical Principles for Clinical Research Studies" in the UC College of Pharmacy, where she holds an adjunct faculty position.
Jareen Meinzen-Derr, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor
In 2010 Dr. Meinzen-Derr published 7 peer-reviewed articles and submitted 17 abstracts. Of note is a paper in the journal Research in Developmental Disabilities (Meinzen-Derr J, Wiley S, Grether S, Choo DI. Children with cochlear implants and developmental disabilities: a language skills study with developmentally matched hearing peers. Research in developmental disabilities. 32(2); 757-767.), in which Dr. Meinzen-Derr and her research team define the "appropriate" control population and provide a quantitative assessment of the cognitive-linguistic gap that is often qualitatively described by clinicians. Dr. Meinzen-Derr’s research focus is on developmental disabilities associated with hearing loss and on perinatal health outcomes. In 2011, her work led to the award of a Maternal and Child Health Research Grant funded by HRSA, and has also gained the group resonance in the field of deafness and additional disabilities. The CCHMC cochlear implant team is viewed as a leader in implantation of multiply complex children mainly due to the research efforts and clinical care of these children. Dr. Meinzen-Derr mentored staff, junior investigators and trainees in multiple academic units. She contributed to the Biostatistics and Epidemiology modules of the Pediatrics Fellowship Core curriculum and leads the Experimental Design lectures in Neonatology and Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. She was the primary instructor of “Introduction to Epidemiology” in the graduate program in Biostatistics and Epidemiology in the Department of Environmental Health and developed an online curriculum for the same program and for the CCTST.
Shelia Salisbury, Ph.D. - Research Assistant Professor
In 2010 Dr. Salisbury published 11 peer-reviewed articles and submitted 8 abstracts. She serves as a statistician for the Divisions of Infectious Diseases, Anesthesiology and Radiology. She is a co-investigator on 4 NIH-funded projects, 4 industry-sponsored projects and 4 division-supported research studies, and participated in the submission of three new applications in 2010. Dr. Salisbury continued to mentor junior faculty, staff and students in multiple academic units. She has taught “Introduction to Biostatistics” in the graduate program in Biostatistics and Epidemiology in the Department of Environmental Health where she holds a secondary appointment, and invited lectures in the Departments of Radiology and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation.
Rhonda VanDyke, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor
In 2010 Dr. Vandyke published 3 peer-reviewed articles and submitted 7 abstracts. She serves as a statistician for the Division of Pulmonary Medicine. Her methodologic research interests are in functional data analysis, classification methods, self-modeling regressions, and instrumental variables regression. She is also interested outcomes research for children with cystic fibrosis and obstructive sleep apnea. She was recently awarded a CCTST statistical methods development grant to further her research on ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and cardiac outcomes in children with obstructive sleep apnea. She is a co-investigator on 3 NIH-funded projects, and participated in the submission of three new grant applications in 2010. Dr. Vandyke continued to mentor junior faculty, staff and students in multiple academic units and contributed to the Biostatistics modules of the Pediatrics Fellowship Core curriculum.
Jessica Woo, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor
In 2010 Dr. Woo published 3 peer-reviewed articles and submitted 10 abstracts. Her research focuses on the epigenetic developmental pathways leading to pediatric obesity. Of note is a paper published in the journal Obesity (Martin LJ, Woo J G, Morrison JA. Evidence of shared genetic effects between pre- and postobesity epidemic BMI levels. Obesity. 18(7), 1378-1382.), in which Dr. Woo and colleagues evaluate genetic influences on body mass index (BMI) in family members at two time points over 25 years apart, during the period when the obesity epidemic occurred. Dr. Woo received the CCHMC Schmidlapp Women Scholars award in 2010, was the PI of a research contract with Mead Johnson and participated in the submission of 6 new grant applications. In addition, Dr. Woo leads the Biostatistics unit of the Heart Institute Research Core and continues to mentor staff, junior investigators and trainees in multiple academic units. She also contributes to the Biostatistics and Epidemiology modules of the Pediatrics Fellowship Core curriculum and has taught “Introduction to Epidemiology” in the graduate program in Biostatistics and Epidemiology in the Department of Environmental Health, where she holds a secondary appointment.
Significant Accomplishments
Collaborations enhance grants and publications
The Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology continued its strong research program through collaborations with 54 other divisions and publication of more than 100 peer-reviewed articles. Key articles covered the safety of MRI scans, neurobehavioral assessment of newborns, developmental disabilities of cochlear implant recipients, genetics of obesity, and statistical issues in longitudinal data analysis. We also participated in 43 collaborative grants and received three new extramural awards and seven institutional awards.
Building the Data Management Center
Our team continued to lead the institution-wide effort to build a strong Data Management Center, including developing its vision, mission and organizational structure and launching the search for a faculty director. The center has hosted a series of educational events to promote excellence in data management and is finalizing its marketing plan and web page.
Education and Faculty Growth
Our division was actively engaged in education and training activities to serve pediatric residents, fellows, junior faculty, and graduate/post-graduate students at Cincinnati Children’s and the University of Cincinnati. In January 2011, we also began to reorganize and expand our faculty, strengthening our ability to collaborate with other divisions and to develop its independent research. Two faculty positions have been filled and a national search continues.
