Melanie Bell, PhD, MS is an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. Dr. Bell has most recently worked at the University of Sydney with a cancer trials group focusing on quality of life and other patient reported outcomes. She taught several workshops while in Australia, including Design and Analysis of Quality of Life Trials, Avoiding Common Statistical Errors, and Designing Intervention Studies. Before this she was a senior lecturer at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. Her research focus is methods for handling missing data in longitudinal studies, clinical trials, cluster randomized trials, and on quality improvement in research methods. In addition to her methodological research, she has been collaborated in a variety of fields including cancer, psychology, sexual health, alcohol, physical therapy, physical activity, nutrition, and developmental biology. Dr. Bell earned her PhD in biostatistics from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in 2002, an MS in mathematics in 1992 from Northern Arizona University, and an AB in mathematics from Occidental College in Los Angeles, in 1990.
Statistical analysis plans (SAPs) are essential documents in clinical trials, but are not used as regularly in other types of research. This can lead to less than ideal analyses, fishing expeditions, and non-reproducible research. My talk will describe the essential elements of a SAP and how a SAP can increase the efficiency and scientific integrity of your research.
For more information, please contact Jackie Gomez, phone 626-4912 email leonj@email.arizona.edu
