Biostatistical support

With expertise in research methods and health sciences, the biostatistics consulting team supports researchers across the faculty with the highest quality biostatistical advice and research collaboration.

This service is open to all staff and graduate students in the faculty to provide advice and assistance with:

• The design of research projects, including the preparation of grant proposals
  
• Choice and application of statistical methods
  
• Data visualisation and presentation
  
• Reporting and interpretation of results
  
• Conducting of more complex analyses can also be provided in some cases
  

The biostatisticians are experienced primarily with the SAS, R and Stata statistical analysis systems, but can work with researchers using other statistical packages. Please note that statistical consulting is for study design and data analysis advice, not software tutorials. Researchers are expected to perform their own data preparation, descriptive statistics and basic analysis, with biostatistician’s guidance if required.

There is limited time available free of charge in the design stage of a research project and for unfunded research. Ongoing involvement from the biostatisticians should be paid for from grants or other funds. Staff submitting research grant applications should include funding for statistics, either as FTE with the biostatistician as a named investigator or as a research expense if the statistician is less involved. This should be discussed with the biostatisticians prior to grant submission.

The four FMHS biostatisticians work with researchers from across the faculty. They are based on the Grafton Campus in building 507.

Prior to graduate students starting on research projects, the statistical support needed for the project should be evaluated by the Faculty in conjunction with biostatisticians. Biostatistical support and guidance for PhD students can be paid for via PReSS account or other funds. If ongoing biostatistical support is required, a biostatistician should be involved as a co-supervisor or adviser. If you are a research student seeking a biostatistical supervisor for your research project, please make this clear when you submit your request form (available in the contact section).

Please note that research students should perform their own data preparation and descriptive statistics. As a requirement of gaining their qualification, students are usually expected to learn to conduct the analysis themselves, with biostatistician’s guidance if required.

We follow the authorship guidelines as published by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). If a statistician made a significant contribution to a research project or the development of a manuscript and met the authorship criteria of ICMJE, the statistician should be included as an author on publications resulting from the work.

The appropriateness of authorship should be discussed and agreed upon with the biostatistician in the initial meeting. This may be subject to renegotiation if the role changes substantially.

To organise biostatistical help please contact one of the biostatisticians with your request using our form below. Researchers are strongly encouraged to discuss their project with us at the earliest stage possible, in order to ensure high quality statistical design and analysis. Please include details about any deadlines you are working to. Due to limited capacity, we may not be able to prioritise last-minute requests.

Once the request is submitted, you will be contacted within 5 working days. Sometimes a phone conversation and/or email will be sufficient, or we can organise an initial face-to-face meeting at Grafton Campus.

Click on the names below for information about specific areas of expertise and publication lists for each biostatistician.

Dr Alana Cavadino
Email: a.cavadino@auckland.ac.nz
Phone: +64 (0) 9 923 1317

Dr Arier Lee
Email: arier.lee@auckland.ac.nz
Phone: +64 (0) 9 923 7905

Bert van der Werf
Email: bert.vanderwerf@auckland.ac.nz
Phone: +64 (0) 9 923 4956

Dr Zhenqiang Wu
Email: zhenqiang.wu@auckland.ac.nz
Phone: +64 (0) 9 373 7599 ext. 88444