M-EID Events and Announcements

M-EID Practicum

M-EID Journal Club

M-EID Forum

Nuts and Bolts of Trainee collaboration - Trainees Only

Departmental Events

BMED Seminar

Speaker: Alicia Angell, Neuroscience MS Candidate.

Topic: "Novel Roles of the Endocannabinoid System in the Modulation of Synaptic Plasticity"

IMB Seminar

Speaker: Jody Rosenblatt, University of Utah.

Topic: "Apoptotic cell extrusion: how epithelia put the squeeze on dying cells"

Math Colloquium

TRAPS AND PITFALLS IN STATISTICAL DECISION-MAKING Karen B. Williams PhD Director of the Clinical Research Center and Professor of Public Health Dentistry—Behavioral Sciences, The University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry Abraham Maslow is credited with the quote “When the only tool you have is a hammer, then every problem begins to look like a nail.” Academic researchers frequently become comfortable with the mechanics of research design and statistics in their respective fields of inquiry without considering whether these methods are most efficient for answering their research question. Research is a multi-faceted system comprised of numerous elements, in which the modification of any one element will affect the entire system. Despite the delicate interplay of research design elements and statistical analysis, often little attention is paid a priori to the issue of statistical conclusion validity. For example, it is not uncommon for individuals to focus primarily on whether results are “statistically significant” while ignoring the question of “whether this statistical decision is valid, or if so, what substantive interpretation is justified by it?” Anticipating common traps and pitfalls that threaten the validity of the statistical decisions is beneficial for all members of the research team. This presentation, drawn from many years of advising graduate students and faculty on research design and statistical analysis in basic and applied sciences, will address strategies for maximizing efficiency in design and reducing the potential for invalid statistical decisions. About the presenter: Dr. Williams is a Professor of Dental Public Health and Behavioral Sciences at the Clinical Research Center Director at University of Missouri – Kansas City. Dr. Williams has been involved in the design, assessment of validity and reliability, and analysis of numerous clinical, patient outcome and psychometric studies over the past 18 years. As Director of the Clinical Research Center, she is integral in the design, implementation and statistical analysis of a variety of federal- and industry-funded clinical trials. Dr. Williams actively consults in the research endeavors of other faculty and has served as the primary methodologist and statistician for more than thirty clinical research projects. Dr. Williams’ expertise in the area of psychometrics has been pivotal in the development of numerous survey instruments for assessing critical thinking ability, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of health professionals. She is the lead biostatistician on an AIDS medication trial (R01 MH68197) and the primary methodologist for a HRSA funded health promotion project aimed at empowering individuals with severe mental illness. Sponsored by UM PACE, PArtnerhsip for Comprehensive Equity Hosted by Solomon Harrar (Mathematical Sciences) and Kari Harris (Public and Community Health Sciences)

OBE Seminar

Speaker: Mary Bricker

Topic: The stable age distribution assumption in population models: can we violate it with impunity?

OBE PhD Dissertation Defense

Speaker: Michelle Anderson

Topic: "The Edge Effect: Lateral Habitat Ecology of an Alluvial River Flood Plain"