The following is a meeting notice and the Spring issue of STATFAX, the newsletter of the Northeastern Illinois Chapter of the American Statistical Association (NIC/ASA). A membership application form is also provided for non-members who wish to join NIC/ASA for 1997 but are unable to attend the meeting. NIC collects its dues only via direct payment and has no mechanism in place for remittance via national ASA. Statfax/Meeting Notices are available either in hard copy (professionally laid out with some neat graphics) or via email (text only, but delivery faster, more reliable, and free to NIC). For future issues, if you would like to receive the opposite version instead of the one you are now reading, please notify the membership chair or treasurer. Terry Walsh, editor ------------------------------------------------------------------------ STATFAX (Spring Issue, Volume 12, Number 1) ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE, RESPONSE SURFACES, AND LONGITUDINAL/MISSING DATA The Spring meeting on Thursday, April 17 at the Deerfield Hyatt Hotel will feature talks by three stimulating speakers. Dr. Laurel Beckett of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center is both an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and a Senior Statistician at the Rush Institute on Aging. Dr. Beckett will present a talk entitled "Community-Based Studies of Alzheimer's Disease: Statistical Challenges in Design and Analysis" based on her experiences with actual studies in the Boston and Chicago areas. Such studies are important in assessing prevalence, incidence, and risk factors for onset and progression of the disease because a possibly substantial fraction of the cases do not come to the attention of the medical care system or are diagnosed only in very late stages of the disease. Sampling is required due to the high cost of evaluation and diagnosis. Via examples, Dr. Beckett will discuss the analytic challenges in designing the sample and issues that arise in the analysis of the resulting complex designs, including estimating prevalence and incidence and characterizing change in cognitive function. Dr. Beckett received a Ph.D. in statistics from Stanford University and has spent much of her career in academia, including a stint at Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health. In 1992, she joined the newly formed Rush Institute on Aging, where the studies on Alzheimer's Disease have enabled her to apply her expertise in longitudinal studies and complex sampling. Mr. Frank Rossi of Kraft Foods is a Technology Principal in the Applied Mathematics Group who will speak about "Blending Response Surface Methodology and Factor Analysis to Guide Food Product Development". Data gathered from highly trained sensory panels simultaneously on many attributes of food are often analyzed via factor analysis. Response surface designs have recently been used to direct the creation of product prototypes to study the effects of ingredient levels and/or processing conditions. These two techniques can be used together when the goal is to identify ingredient levels and/or processing conditions that best match a target product's sensory profile. Mr. Rossi will discuss the technical problems and interpretational issues that arise from combining these techniques when the number of responses is large. Mr. Rossi received an M.A. in Statistics from The Pennsylvania State University. He previously has worked for General Foods and Campbell Soup Company, and he was also a Technical Training Manager for BBN Software. Dr. Ed Vonesh, the Technical Director of Biometrics at Baxter Healthcare, will give a talk entitled "Some General Estimation Methods for Longitudinal Data Including Methods for Missing Data". Several existing methods for estimating the parameters of linear and nonlinear models for repeated measurements will be linked using least squares (LS) and generalized estimating equations (GEE) as guiding tools. In addition, the impact of missing data on the validity of these methods is discussed, as are methods for analyzing longitudinal data in the presence of nonignorable missing values. Dr. Vonesh has been with Baxter since 1979 and received a Ph.D. in biostatistics from the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan in 1983. He has over 40 publications and a recent book, entitled "Linear and Nonlinear Models for the Analysis of Repeated Measurements" (co- authored with Dr. V. Chinchilli and published by Marcel Dekker). He is also a past president of our chapter. Don't miss this excellent program! Please register by 4PM on Thursday, April 10. -Art Roth ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WHAT'S FOR LUNCH? The luncheon entree for the meeting is indicated below. If you have any special dietary needs or prefer an alternative meal, please specify on registration form or contact Imke Janssen via phone or email. ENTREE: Chicken Breast on Rice Pilaf with Grilled Vegatables BEVERAGES: Regular/Decaf Coffee, Hot/Iced Tea At the luncheon, if an attendee orders an entree or drink which has not been prearranged through Imke Janssen, then NIC/ASA will bill the attendee appropriately. -Audrey Hutchcraft ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PRESIDENT'S REPORT: MAKING A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE In a recent issue of Link, the newsletter of the Council of Chapters,the following advantages were listed for belonging to your local ASA Chapter: - The Chapter meetings offer a local forum for exchanging ideas. - It can help you to build a professional network of fellow professionals in your area. - A local chapter can sponsor awards to recognize outstanding chapter members and students from the area. Active involvement makes a local chapter strong and successful. Individuals who get involved, even if it seems like a small time commitment a few times a year, can greatly benefit the entire group. I think we can all contribute valuable ideas - we all have them - and they are all different. By pooling our resources, we can make great improvements. At the next meeting, we will ask you to fill out a brief survey to explore new meeting topics, locations, and formats. We will also list chapter activities that would benefit from your involvement. In addition to participation, communication is essential for a chapter's success. Through this newsletter, we have the chance to relay information and new ideas to our members, as well as announce the local meetings. In an effort to update information more often, the NIC homepage also provides a valuable means of communication between members and Chapter officers/committee chairpersons. Here is a brief update on the NIC officers and committees. The Program Committee, chaired this year by Art Roth, is working hard to provide an intellectually stimulating set of seminars for 1997. Imke Janssen has taken over as Treasurer, and we are grateful for her commitment. Donna Kowalski is Chair of the newly formed Membership Committee. This committee combines the activities of the Directory Committee and some of the previous responsibilities of the Newsletter Editor. The new look for the newsletter this year is thanks to Terry Walsh, the new Newsletter Editor for the NIC. Mike Carniello, our past- President, is donating his talents to maintaining the NIC-ASA homepage on the Internet. The returning members of the Executive Committee, Dorothy Dunlop (Secretary), Audrey Hutchcraft (Arrangements), Sam Hedayat (Awards and Recognition), Paul Coe (Community activities), and Lawrence Lin (Outreach) all bring valuable experience to their positions. We welcome your new ideas and involvement, as well as your participation. Thanks to you, our chapter is flourishing at 147 active members, with average meeting attendance increasing for each of the last three years. -Molly Walsh ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TREASURER'S REPORT (January 1, 1997) NOTE: This report represents a financial summary for 1996 and has hence been submitted by the 1996 treasurer. The treasurer's report will be submitted by this year's treasurer, Imke Janssen, starting in the next issue of Statfax. Balance 1/1/96 $3743.85 INCOME 1996 Spring Meeting/Memberships $2339.00 1996 Summer Meeting/Memberships 4161.00 1996 Fall Meeting/Memberships 1666.00 Advance Payments for 1997 Memberships 15.00 Donation 5.00 Bank Interest 99.21 TOTAL INCOME $8285.21 EXPENSES 1996 Spring Meeting $1438.29 1996 Summer Workshop 3343.01 1996 Fall Meeting 1243.78 Mailing (Spring Newsletter) 24.92 Mailing (Bulk Mailing Permit) 85.00 Mailing (Summer Newsletter & Workshop) 117.48 Mailing (Fall Newsletter) 26.40 Support for 12/96 Seminar ar UIC 200.00 Science Fair Bonds 100.00 Manual for Database Software 27.11 TOTAL EXPENSES $6605.99 Balance 1/1/97 $5423.07 1996 Membership: 147 (136 regular, 11 student) 1997 Membership: 3 (pre-paid) -Art Roth ----------------------------------------------------------------------- JOIN US ON THE WEB! Remember to check out the NIC-ASA homepage on the internet, at: http://homepage.interaccess.com/~mlcarn/nic.htm Special thanks to Mike Carniello, for his devoted effort in updating the homepage. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES Here are several exciting opportunities for a statistician to contribute to one of the foremost research organizations in the pharmaceutical industry. CHICAGO LOCATION CONSULTING STATISTICIANS - CLINICAL R&D Searle, a research-based pharmaceutical innovator, is seeking statisticians to collaborate with clinical researchers in the arthritis, cardiovascular, oncology, women's health and CNS areas. This includes the planning, analysis and reporting of significant clinical programs and studies, keeping abreast of current issues and practices of pharmaceutical R&D, and managing projects. The work covers clinical trials in Phases I - III and NDA preparation. We require a Ph.D. or M.S. in Statistics or related field and 3 or more years (6 or more with M.S.) of experience involving clinical trials. Experience in the pharmaceutical industry and in managing projects is highly desirable. - Arthritis (Job Code: A-1130) sstalw@searle.monsanto.com - Cardiovascular (Job Code C-1300) eelaka@searle.monsanto.com - Oncology, Women's Health, CNS (Job Code O-1201) rmbitt@searle.monsanto.com Located in suburban Chicago, Searle offers a professional work environment among top-notch clinicians and applied statisticians. For consideration, please send or e-mail (plain-text only) your resume to: Searle R&D Dept., Job Code: (please indicate therapeutic area of interest) 4901 Searle Pkwy, A-1E, Skokie IL 60077 ST. LOUIS LOCATION CONSULTING STATISTICIAN - SEARLE R&D The position involves hands-on statistics and consulting as well as identifying needs requiring additional support from the rest of the Preclincal Statistics group, located in suburban Chicago. We require a Ph.D. in statistics or related field and 4 or more years as a statistical consultant in the biological or engineering sciences. Experience in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries would be a plus. Please mail or email (plain-text only) resume to: Dick Bittman, Ph.D. Director, Preclincal Statistics Searle R&D 4901 Searle Pkwy, A-1E Skokie, IL 60077 rmbitt@searle.monsanto.com EEO/AA Employer M/F/D/V ------------------------------------------------------------------------ OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE CHAIRS PRESIDENT Molly Walsh (847) 832-7549 mwalsh@cap.org PRESIDENT-ELECT AND PROGRAM CHAIR Art Roth (847) 982-4775 ajroth@skcla.monsanto.com SECRETARY Dorothy Dunlop (847) 467-1622 ddunlop@nwu.edu TREASURER Imke Janssen (847) 491-0691 ijanssen@bayes.stats.nwu.edu PAST-PRESIDENT Mike Carniello (847) 982-8750 mlcarn@searle.monsanto.com ARRANGEMENTS Audrey Hutchcraft (847) 270-5393 hutchca@baxter.com AWARDS AND RECOGNITION Prof. A. S. Hedayat (312) 996-4831 hedayat@uic.edu COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES Paul Coe (847) 524-6640 coepaul@email.rosary.edu MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY Donna Kowalski (847) 982-8533 dlkowa@searle.monsanto.com NEWSLETTER EDITOR Terry Walsh (630) 307-1112 walsh29@mail.idt.net OUTREACH COMMITTEE Lawrence Lin (847) 270-5394 linl@baxter.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Statfax is published three times a year, in Spring, Summer and Fall, by the Northeastern Illinois Chapter of the American Statistical Association. Statfax welcomes letters and material for articles from its readers. Address correspondence to: Terry Walsh, Newsletter Editor Research & Data Services, Inc. 255 E. Lake Street, Room 313 Bloomingdale, IL 60108 email: walsh29@mail.idt.net Please send address changes to: Donna Kowalski, Membership Directory Statistics Department 4901 Searle Parkway, A-1E Skokie, IL 60077 email: dlkowa@searle.monsanto.com The Chapter's purpose, as stated in its Constitution, is "to foster statistics and its applications and promote the interests of the statistical profession...". Accordingly, diverse views are presented. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the officers or the policies of the chapter.