Why Biostatistics?
We live in a world on the precipice of significant advances in biomedicine, technology, and big data, where breakthroughs in our understanding of infectious diseases, chronic illnesses, and public health outcomes have the potential to improve countless lives.
At these crossroads of problems and possibilities are biostatisticians, using multidisciplinary skills in statistics, mathematics, data science, biological sciences, and environmental sciences – among many other fields – to collaborate with a variety of scientific researchers to solve the complex problems of our day and contribute to a better tomorrow that is healthier and more equitable for more people.
The advent of modern biomedical technologies like microarrays, next generation sequencers, magnetic resonance imaging, and mass spectrometry is generating enormous amounts of data that has created many new challenges and opportunities for biostatisticians. This is an exciting field where your quantitative skills are needed to help solve real-life scientific problems. Due to the rapid growth of the field, biostatisticians have many exciting career opportunities and are in high demand in the job market.
Yours is a perspective that could contribute to breakthroughs in these domains or others yet to be investigated. If you love working with data and numbers, are curious about science, and are passionate about being part of the solution to some of our world’s most pressing problems in health and medicine, a career in biostatistics may be the path for you.
Who Studies Biostatistics?
Students from a wide range of academic fields are becoming the biostatisticians of the future. While many come to study biostatistics from a background in statistics or mathematics, increasing numbers of students enter with an expertise in biological sciences, data sciences, social sciences, and many other fields that give them unique perspectives on questions that make them effective collaborators with researchers from across the scientific spectrum. After all, one of the most exciting aspects of pursuing research in biostatistics is that the abundance of questions under investigation by biostatisticians and their collaborators is matched in scope by the methods and applications employed in the pursuit of answers.
The Department of Biostatistics at the University of Michigan has a rich 75-year history of training generation after generation of talented biostatisticians who have made significant contributions to the field and improved the lives of untold numbers of people around the world. A legacy of impactful research and a lineage of more than 2,000 successful alumni around the globe has cemented the University of Michigan in its position in the vanguard of biostatistics departments in the United States. Most recently in 2024, Michigan ranked No. 4 overall among departments of biostatistics in the annual U.S. News and World Report rankings.
Students and faculty at Michigan Biostatistics are supported by one of the nation’s finest schools of public health – ranked No. 5 by U.S. News and World Report in 2024 – and the vast excellence, tradition and resources of one of the world’s premier academic institutions at the University of Michigan.
What do Biostatisticians Study at the University of Michigan?
Some of the questions biostatisticians address come from the realm of public health, where researchers develop and apply novel statistical techniques to track the spread of illnesses and help inform public health policies and preventative strategies. Many of the guidelines and models of the COVID-19 pandemic were developed in partnership with biostatisticians who were analyzing complex datasets to identify trends that were instrumental in proactively allocating resources. Though work in COVID-19 spaces has receded as the world transitions into a new post-pandemic norm, similar work on countless other infectious diseases continues and is informed by pandemic-era breakthroughs.
Much of the research in the field arises from questions of medicine and health, where an explosion of available electronic health record data has revolutionized work in that space. Biostatisticians are crucial in the design and analysis of clinical trials to ensure the safety and efficacy of cutting-edge pharmaceuticals. Advances in imaging technology, boosted by the thorough analysis of data by biostatisticians, are aiding in earlier detection and treatment of rare and life-threatening diseases like cancer, giving countless patients the priceless gift of extra time.
At the University of Michigan, biostatisticians partner with world-class collaborators at Michigan Medicine and the Rogel Cancer Center to investigate these topics, both as individual researchers and as part of organized interdisciplinary groups like the Cancer Data Science Shared Resource, the Center for Cancer Biostatistics, the Kidney Epidemiology Cost Center (KECC), Precision Health, and the Statistical Analysis of Biomedical and Education Research Group (SABER). Michigan Biostatistics is committed to training the next generation of scholars in this area as part of its Cancer Biostatistics Training Program.
A significant area of research in biostatistics is the handling of missing data, which is a common problem in biomedical studies. Advanced techniques in imputation and statistical modeling are employed to address these gaps, ensuring that research findings are as accurate and reliable as possible. This is particularly important in causal inference, where understanding the cause-and-effect relationships in health outcomes hinges on the robustness of the data. Survey research also benefits from these methods, as biostatisticians design rigorous surveys and apply complex statistical techniques to interpret the data, providing insights that shape health policies and practices.
Michigan Biostatistics is closely aligned with the Institute for Social Research on campus, particularly the influential cross-disciplinary work being conducted in its Survey Research Center and Populations Studies Center.
Biostatisticians play a crucial role in bridging the racial disparity gap in medical research data. Historically, minority populations have been underrepresented in clinical trials and other research endeavors, leading to gaps in knowledge and health outcomes that disproportionately affect these communities. By advocating for and implementing more inclusive research practices, and by critically analyzing data to uncover and address these disparities, biostatisticians are instrumental in moving toward health equity.
Genetics, genomics, and personalized medicine is also a prominent area of research in the field of biostatistics. Using techniques in statistical genetics and genomics to better understand the root causes of such diseases as diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and many others at the granular level of DNA could unlock the creation of treatments tailored to individual genetic profiles.
The University of Michigan is a leader in this space, thanks in large part to the research being conducted at the Center for Statistical Genetics within the Department of Biostatistics, and the students being trained as part of the Genome Science Training Program.
Zooming out from the microscopic to the macro, biostatisticians are trying to get at the myriad challenges in our wider world. Ranging from the societal level with the use and analysis of mobile and wearable technologies to improve health and wellness, to such questions of worldwide consequence as pollution and climate change on disadvantaged populations, the range of possible research topics is as wide as the creativity brought to those challenges by curious biostatisticians. Michigan Biostatistics community members partner with researchers across campus, throughout the country, and around the globe in pursuit of knowledge in these and many other areas.
Why Biostatistics at the University of Michigan?
The Department of Biostatistics at the University of Michigan School of Public Health is consistently ranked among the top programs nationally by such institutions as U.S. News and World Report (No. 4 in 2024) and the National Research Council (No. 1 in 2022). It is known for its leadership and outstanding research, teaching, and service. We strive to meet the needs of society, the university, the health research community and the statistics profession by offering graduate programs and conducting biostatistical research in health related areas.
Our students work on critical new areas of biostatistics methodological research, including statistical genetics and bioinformatics, brain imaging, causal inference, clinical trials, event history models, longitudinal data analysis, observational studies, methods for missing data and survey research. We also engage in collaborative research with other schools of public health, medicine, nursing, dentistry, and the Institute of Social Research, among others. Both of our methodological and collaborative research are well funded through grants from the National Institutes of Health and other federal and private agencies.
The University of Michigan School of Public Health is internationally recognized for its excellence and has been ranked consistently as a premier School of Public Health. Since its organization in 1941, the School has produced many leaders in public health, including thirteen of the presidents of the American Public Health Association.
The University of Michigan is an exceptional research institution in the U.S and ranks very highly nationally in federal research funding and is consistently rated one of the best public universities by US News and World Report.