Browsing Faculty of Arts and Sciences by FAS Department "Biostatistics"
Now showing items 1-20 of 34
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An Analysis of Using Pedigrees in Family Based Studies and an Exploration of Cancer Risk and Cancer Resistance UsingTwin Studies
(2017-01-18)In the first section of this thesis, we explore the use of family pedigrees in association analysis. Family pedigrees were successfully used in linkage analysis to discover many genes for Mendelian traits, but less successful ... -
Bayesian Statistical Framework for High-Dimensional Count Data and its Application in Microbiome Studies
(2017-05-10)High-dimensional count data arising from multinomial sampling is ubiquitous in microbiome studies. This dissertation aims to develop flexible Bayesian framework to model high-dimensional count data, which provides reliable ... -
Biological Insights From Population Differentiation
(2017-05-13)Population genetics studies the genetic variation within and between populations to gain understanding of human history and insight into underlying biological processes. My dissertation introduces three distinct methods: ... -
Computational Methods for the Analysis of Single-Cell Transcriptomic Data and Their Applications to Cancer
(2018-08-17)Single-cell sequencing methods have allowed for a closer view into the heterogeneity of cell populations, down to the level of the individual cell. In particular, single-cell transcriptomic data provides a detailed map ... -
Correcting for Biases Arising in Epidemiologic Research
(2017-09-13)In chapter 1, we explore the performance of naive least squares estimators for latency parameters in linear models in the presence of measurement error. We prove that in many scenarios under a general measurement error ... -
Hypothesis Testing and Model Selection for Complex Data
(2017-05-15)In this dissertation, we propose methodology for hypothesis testing in statistical genetics and model selection in networks. In chapters 1 and 2, we introduce new methods to tackle difficulties in hypothesis testing for ... -
Leveraging Functional Annotations and Multiethnic Data to Improve Polygenic Risk Prediction
(2018-09-25)Polygenic risk prediction is a widely-investigated topic because of its potential clinical application as well as its utility to have a better understanding of the genetic architecture of complex traits. Methods to perform ... -
Methods for Effectively Combining Group- and Individual-Level Data
(2015-04-07)In observational studies researchers often have access to multiple sources of information but ultimately choose to apply well-established statistical methods that do not take advantage of the full range of information ... -
Methods for Estimating Hidden Structure and Network Transitions in Genomics
(2017-05-04)The explosion of data arising from advances in high throughput sequencing has allowed scientists to study genomics in far greater detail. However, this high resolution picture of cells often makes it difficult to see the ... -
Methods for Estimating the Health Effects of Exposure to Point Sources of Emissions Using Large-Scale and Diverse Data Sources
(2018-04-30)There is a well-documented association between exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and numerous health outcomes, with some evidence suggesting PM2.5 originating from coal combustion may have different health impacts. ... -
Methods for High-Dimensional Inference in Genetic Association Studies
(2017-05-10)Genetic association studies are frequently characterized by high-dimensional datasets containing rare and weak signals. To detect these signals, it is important to choose inference methods that are both robust and powerful ... -
Methods for the Analysis of Complex Time-to-Event Data
(2017-08-10)This dissertation work is motivated by two time-to-event data examples, where current statistical methods are inadequate in addressing the nuances of data and the corresponding scientific question(s) of interest. In Chapter ... -
Modeling and Estimation of Patterns of Relationship Formation and Dissolution
(2016-05-19)This dissertation describes and develops methods for modeling sexual partnership formation and termination using retrospectively collected survey data. Such methods are required to produce information necessary to model ... -
On the Estimation and Prediction of Tie Strength in Social Networks
(2017-05-08)Humans interact with each other both online and in-person, forming and dissolving social ties throughout our lives. The flexible architecture of networks or graphs make them a useful paradigm for modeling these complex ... -
On the Statistical Properties of Epidemics on Networks
(2016-05-09)One major aim of statistics is to systematically study outcomes of interest in a population by observing the properties of a sample of that population. Some outcomes, such as the total number of people infected in an ... -
Ordinal Outcome Prediction and Treatment Selection in Personalized Medicine
(2015-05-06)In personalized medicine, two important tasks are predicting disease risk and selecting appropriate treatments for individuals based on their baseline information. The dissertation focuses on providing improved risk ... -
Quantitative Methods for Stratified Medicine
(2015-05-15)Stratified medicine has tremendous potential to deliver more effective therapeutic intervention to improve public health. For practical implementation, reliable prediction models and clinically meaningful categorization ... -
Rank-Based Methods for Survival Data With Multiple Outcomes
(2015-08-27)In clinical studies of survival, additional endpoints on patients may be collected over the course of the study that give additional insight into a treatment's effect. We propose three methods to analyze right censored ... -
Retrospective Mixed Model and Propensity Score Methods for Case Control Data
(2015-09-28)In chapter one a Liability Threshold Mixed Linear Model (LTMLM) association statistic is introduced for ascertained case-control studies that increases power vs. existing mixed model methods for diseases with low prevalence, ... -
Risk Assessment with Imprecise EHR Data
(2018-08-17)Electronic health records (EHRs) are electronic versions of patient charts, created to improve patient care. The adoption of EHRs in the US has increased significantly in the last decade, making it a rich resource for ...