Abstract:

In this talk, I will discuss in what way the field of biostatistics has impacted human health in the 20th century. Focus will be on chronic diseases including cancers, diabetes, which drew a great deal of attentions among the health community in the 1940’s. Specifically, we discuss three major statistical challenges pertained to dealing with chronic diseases: (1) Assessing efficacy of new treatments, (2) Identifying risk factors for prevention and (3) Utilizing biomarkers for pre- and post-designs. I will end the talk with what I perceive important challenges in the near future.