The University of Nebraska Board of Regents has approved a new master’s degree in biostatistics to be administered by the UNMC College of Public Health and housed in UNMC Graduate Studies. The degree was approved at the regents’ April 9 meeting.
The 36-hour program can be taken in person or online. It will focus on providing students with essential skills in statistical methods and data science techniques for biomedical research and clinical studies. Graduates will be well positioned to pursue careers as statisticians or data analysts in health care research institutions or the pharmaceutical industry, or to continue toward a doctoral program.
A master’s degree in biostatistics is often the entry degree in the job market for biostatisticians. This is one of the fastest growing high wage, high skill, high demand, or “H3” professions, said Dele Davies, MD, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean for graduate studies.
“UNMC is responding to a strong community and industry need for trained biostatisticians with this new master’s program,” Dr. Davies said. “In addition, biostatisticians are crucial to virtually all biomedical research programs, and this master’s program will serve as a pipeline for students who want to pursue their PhD and become future faculty here at UNMC and across the country.”
Ali S. Khan, MD, MPH, dean of public health, added: “Biostatisticians are the new age wizards to help decipher the growing world of data. The college’s new masters of science program will complement our MPH and PhD program to help transform data to information and ultimately knowledge for a healthier and more equitable society.”
The curriculum includes biostatistics theory, statistical modeling of clinical data, clinical trials methodology, biostatistical computing and methods of machine learning. The online option provides flexibility for distance learning, which allows the program to draw students from beyond Nebraska. UNMC’s would be the only program among peer institutions in surrounding states to include this distance-learning option.
It is designed to be completed in two years by full-time students and in four years by part-time students.
UNMC’s Department of Biostatistics has 12 full-time graduate faculty, one instructor, seven master-level staff biostatisticians, and two administrative staff members.
“UNMC’s Department of Biostatistics is committed to providing students high-quality training on biostatistics methods and data analysis skills for practice to meet the increasing demand of high-caliber data analysts in the job market as well as to pursue a more advanced degree in relevant areas,” said Ying Zhang, PhD, department chair.
The program is set to begin in the 2021-22 academic year with five students, moving to an enrollment of up to 24 students in the fifth year.