Biostatistics Mentorship

Biostatistics Mentorship

Roles of a Biostatistician

A biostatistician can play one of three broad roles on a project:

  • Mentor

  • Advisor

  • Analyst

The difference between these roles depends on the frequency and type of support expected from the statistician. The person for each role often depends on the statistician's career stage.

Mentor vs. Advisor

  • Mentor/Advisor: Often a senior-level statistician providing high-level support on big-picture aspects of biostatistics training goals and the statistics proposed in the research plan.

    • Expected to provide content expertise on a specific aim or training goal.

    • Mentor: Expected to meet regularly (e.g., monthly) during the relevant training goal period.

    • Advisor: More hands-off, providing feedback once or twice a year.

Analyst

  • Analyst: Provides hands-on support in carrying out the analysis, sometimes even reviewing code and output together.

    • Most commonly a junior-level statistician receiving grant funding to support their work on the project.

Grant Proposal Recommendations

  • Budget grant support for an analyst.

  • Include a senior statistician as either a mentor or advisor.

  • For career development awards with advanced biostatistical methods, identify a formal biostatistics mentor.

    • List the mentor as a content mentor specific to that aim or training goal.

    • Propose regular meetings during the research aim.

    • Ensure they agree to the expected meetings.

Identifying a Biostatistics Mentor

  • The mentor should have expertise in the methods you hope to use.

  • Ideally, they should demonstrate prior experience in mentorship.

  • Discuss their role on the project early on.

  • Expect advice on training activities and courses.

Mentor's Role

  • Review the project at a big-picture level in terms of design and methods.

  • Help facilitate statistical support, perhaps through a junior colleague they mentor.

  • Potentially provide broad-level hands-on support in reviewing code, methods, output, and interpretation.

Limitations of a Biostatistics Mentor

  • Cannot expect them to do your analysis for you or generate code/analysis.

  • Mentorship doesn't come with salary support.

  • Day-to-day work and carrying out analyses are beyond the mentorship role's scope.

Ideal Analyst

  • A junior biostatistician who already works closely with the senior biostatistics mentor and has an established relationship with them.

Finding a Biostatistics Mentor

  • Start early in the project's planning phase.

  • Mentorship requires time, expertise, and the right career level.

  • Consider personality, communication, and work style.

Rewarding Mentorship

  • Identify the mentor long before the grant is written.

  • Invite them to collaborate on papers and other project deliverables.

  • A peer-reviewed manuscript with the mentoring team, including the biostats mentor, is critical for a successful grant proposal.

Benefits of Collaboration

  • The mentor's statistical expertise strengthens the deliverable.

  • Demonstrates an ongoing collaborative relationship to reviewers.

  • Engagement between the scientist and biostatistician paves the way for a strong research career.

  • Experience with statisticians advances productive, longer-term team science collaborations.

Finding Mentors

  • Ask mentors, colleagues, and peers for recommendations.

  • Ask colleagues at your home institution and at regional or national conferences.

  • Attend grand rounds presentations on methods.

  • Take local trainings or enroll in coursework to meet people who teach methods you want to learn.