Rebecca Dersimonian

[DominO123]

Rebecca DerSimonian is one of the authors of the DerSimonian and Laird method used in the medical and pharmaceutical studies.

 

The method tries to minimise the "treatment effect" before the controled trials by using a random effects approach.

 

It is more and more used in Meta-analysis studies and increase the precision of the results.

Edited July 15, 2004 by Fadix

[DominO123]

Rebecca DerSimonian

 

(W) 301/435-7181

NIAID

 

I was born in Beirut, Lebanon. At fifteen, I immigrated to the United States with my parents and brothers. My parents were always supportive of our education and worked hard to ensure our well-being in this Country. Nevertheless, due to language and cultural difficulties, my parents could offer us limited guidance regarding our education and future goals. I learned to be self-reliant, therefore, at a young age and was always self-motivated to pursue my professional aspirations.

 

My education in the United States began as a high school sophomore in Waterville, Maine. After three years at Waterville High School, I enrolled at Brandeis University. Following my graduation from Brandeis with an undergraduate degree in biology, I worked for three years as a technician in a cell biology laboratory at the Mass General Hospital and then enrolled in a graduate program at the Harvard University School of Public Health, Department of Biostatistics. The choice of biostatistics reflected my desire to combine my background and interest in biology and my expertise and competence in mathematics. This combination turned out to be an excellent choice for me and it prepared me for a unique and a growing field at the interface of mathematics and medical research. Following my graduation from Harvard with a doctoral degree in biostatistics and a year of postdoctoral fellowship, I was first recruited to the Yale Medical School as a faculty member in Biostatistics and Public Health and then to NIH as a Mathematical Statistician.

 

As an Assistant Professor at Yale from 1984-1990, I taught medical and public health students, supervised dissertations and collaborated with other researchers on a number of medical and public health problems. At NIH since 1990, I have spent the first eight years in the Division of Epidemiology, Statistics and Prevention Research at NICHD and the last year in the Division of AIDS at NIAID. As an intramural scientist at NICHD, I continued to provide statistical expertise and consultation on diverse research projects at the Institute including a trial of calcium for the prevention of preeclampsia, a study of vasectomy as a risk factor for prostate cancer, epidural and mode of delivery, and deaths due to injuries in infants. As an extramural scientist at NIAID since 1999, I have participated in protocol review of clinical trials sponsored by the Division of AIDS and served as the Executive Secretary of the HIV Therapeutic Trials Data and Safety Monitoring Board. Important methodological contributions resulting from my research include improving standards for reporting of clinical trials, meta-analysis, missing data, case-based studies and tests of heterogeneity. Publications from such research have appeared in numerous statistical, epidemiologic as well as general medical journals such as Statistics in Medicine, Controlled - Clinical Trials, New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, Pediatrics, and Annals of Epidemiology.

 

My academic training and scientific accomplishments to date have been notable and rewarding. Prior to my participation in NIH Management Cadre Program, however, my overall professional experience had been limited to a very specific scientific area with minimum exposure to the greater NIH community. Through the Cadre Program, I was able to broaden my horizon beyond my area of expertise and become better informed about the various research endeavors at NIH and their significance to public health in general. The Program has also provided me with various training and learning opportunities that have greatly enhanced my overall professional development and prepared me to serve NIH in a resourceful and competent leadership capacity.

 

My extracurricular interests are numerous and include community service, languages, camping, music and computers. These days, however, my non-work related activities revolve mostly around my very energetic eight year old son.

 

 

 

http://mcp.nih.gov/alumni/2000_DerSimonianR.html