Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design
Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute offers up to 4 hours of free consultation per project (maximum of 2 projects per year per investigator) in biostatistical and epidemiological methodologies, study design, data management, and analysis, provided to you by a team of biostatisticians from University Park and Penn State College of Medicine.
Request Consultation
Not sure what service you need? Complete our consultation request form with as much detail as you can, and our team will follow up to guide you and connect you with the right support.
Frequently Asked Questions
We limit consultation and support to Penn State investigators or staff/students who are supporting an investigator.
BERD provides consultation for the development of clinical and translational science research proposals and consultations for institute-funded pilot projects. K and T scholars receive free consultations.
Medical students are eligible as long as their mentor/advisor is present for the consultation meeting.
Consultations can include:
Design and analysis strategies for research proposals
Sample size and power calculations for research proposals
Advice on the selection and implementation of appropriate statistical methods for research data
Advice on table and figure construction
Advice on data management
Statistical review of grant proposals, protocols and manuscripts
Maximum of 4 free consultation hours per project. This 4-hour free limit per project is subject to annual review and may be adjusted in the future.
Maximum of 2 projects per year per investigator
Projects requiring more than four hours (or >2 project consultation requests per year) would require funding. Billing rates for additional collaboration will be discussed at that time.
For grant proposals where BERD personnel will be written into the grant for funded effort, additional free hours may be negotiated to prepare the grant submission.
Eligibility for the 4 free consultation hours requires the presence of the mentor/advisor along with the student for the consultation meeting.
Students are typically expected to analyze their own data for their MSR project based on the consultant’s recommendations. Therefore, studies requiring complex statistical methods are usually not considered appropriate for a MSR project.
Any hands-on data analysis performed by BERD consultants using the free hours are considered as use of CTSI resources. Therefore presentations, abstracts, and publications must appropriately cite the CTSI grant.
For proper citation, please see.
To receive proper attention, requests should be submitted well ahead of any deadline.
Within two business days of receiving your submitted , the faculty or staff consultant handling your project will contact you to schedule an initial consultation meeting.
In cases of emergency, and subject to the availability of personnel, limited assistance may be provided on short notice.
There is no guarantee that every requested deadline will be honored.
Projects may be triaged based on the priorities of the institute.