# Iowa Summer Institute for Research Education in Biostatistics (ISIREB)

> **NIH NIH R25** · UNIVERSITY OF IOWA · 2020 · $253,188

## Abstract

Iowa Summer Institute for Research Education in Biostatistics (ISIREB)
The Iowa Summer Institute for Research Education in Biostatistics is funded by the National Heart Lung
and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
The ultimate vision of this research education program is to increase the number of undergraduates
who enter graduate programs in Biostatistics and to maintain a solid underrepresented minority pipeline
into biostatistics graduate programs. We recruit a diverse group of 18 trainees each year with a focus
on minority, underrepresented, disadvantaged students, and small liberal arts college students who
wouldn't have otherwise been exposed to the field of biostatistics, for a seven-week research education
program.
Recruitment targets rising seniors from colleges and universities without graduate programs or an
extensive undergraduate education in statistics or biostatistics, graduating senior students with no
commitment to a graduate program six months following ISIREB, highly promising juniors with a clear
vision to pursue graduate degrees in biostatistics, and some graduate students with a desire to pursue
a second master's or a PhD in Biostatistics. Special efforts are made to recruit a diverse student body,
including trainees from groups underrepresented in biomedical research.
The curriculum is a four-component model based on instruction; application; exposure; and
research. The research education program is through case-based instruction of real biomedical study,
consisting of classroom didactic courses; computer laboratory training; invited talk sessions;
Skype sessions; shadowing sessions; and clinical and translational research enrichment. As
initiation to quantitative biomedical research, trainees undertake biostatistics-faculty-mentored
projects on biomedical research. Students select from a pool of projects according to their interest, and
are matched to a faculty mentor. Projects are based on the analysis of biomedical data, and/or the
design of a biomedical experiment, and/or the statistical and computational issues associated with big
data. The research teams present their research findings at the program's concluding symposium.
Trainees interact with biostatisticians in academia, industry, the pharmaceutical industry; biomedical
researchers; biostatistics graduate students; biostatistics alumni and others. Guidance on how to
successfully prepare for a GRE, how to prepare a successful admission application and how to apply to
graduate schools is also provided.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9883055
- **Project number:** 5R25HL147231-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
- **Principal Investigator:** GIDEON D ZAMBA
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $253,188
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-03-01 → 2022-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9883055

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9883055, Iowa Summer Institute for Research Education in Biostatistics (ISIREB) (5R25HL147231-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9883055. Licensed CC0.

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