Welcome to the Department of Biostatistics

What is Biostatistics?

Using the tools of statistics, biostatisticians help answer pressing research questions in medicine, biology and public health, such as whether a new drug works, what causes cancer and other diseases, and how long a person with a certain illness is likely to survive.

Department of Biostatistics began its educational and research activities simultaneous with the establishment of the School of Public Health, in 1987. In 1995, Unit of Epidemiology joined this department and from then after they have been working jointly as the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. The division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics comprises two separate teaching programs in the School of Public Health. Epidemiology, the basic science of public health, studies the distribution and determinants of disease and other health-related events. Biostatistics refers the development and application of statistical methods in biology, medicine, public health, and other life sciences. Such methods allow us to better characterize public health problems, and to draw important inferences about them. Along with designing studies, students learn how to manage, analyze, and interpret data in a way that illuminates the complexities of public health. Department of Biostatics and Epidemiology has active participation in the research programs of the School of Public Health, and in relation to this, has wide range cooperation’s with the other departments of the School of Public Health. In addition, it is active in the research programs of determining the health indices of population, malnutrition, prevention of prevalent diseases in the country such as Leishmaniasis, Malaria, Parasitic diseases and determination of various factors in gastrointestinal cancers in the northern part of the country. Also, presently it is active in carrying out a national health survey projects in studying health and diseases in Iran, together with the Vice Ministry of Research and Technology, Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education. Department of Biostatics and Epidemiology offers a wide range of degrees, helping students gain professional expertise while honing their research skills. The department has accepted MSc students in Biostatistics and Epidemiology 2006 and 2009, respectively. Since 2009, department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology admitted Biostatistics PhD students. The purpose of department of this department has trained, skilled and experienced manpower, to access and use the latest methods and techniques of scientific analysis of data in planning health sector, in Iran and the region. Another attempt by the department is to expand the boundaries of the Biostatistics and Epidemiology courses. The modeling of noncommunicable diseases research center is establish in department of biostatistics and epidemiology using creativity and scientific and practicalexperiences of faculty, alumni and students, to conduct scientific research on the risk factors and chronic diseases that are major problems in Iran and the region, since 2011. These training activities have been developed based on the following topics:

•       -Innovation and promotion of scientific disciplines of Biostatistics and Epidemiology.
• -Efficient manpower training for teaching and research in universities, educational institutions at graduate and doctoral degree.
•       -Use of subjective skills in health and medical research.
•       -Development and introduction of new statistical methods in modeling the risk factors associated with diseases and epidemiology studies in Iran and the region.
• -Scientific advisory to other researchers, research institutions, and organizations.
• -Educating and empower researchers and students for determining the scope and application of statistical software such as SPSS, R, SAS, STATA, S-PLUS.
• -Educating and empowering monitoring and evaluation of data collected and the results achieved.
• -Training, designing and conducting of Meta-analyzes, and systematic reviews.
• -Analysis of data in genetic studies.
• -Methods for determining the survival rate of patients, especially patients in a variety of diseases and life tables to extract and interpret their results.
• -Training, designing and conducting of screening studies and analysis.
• -Evaluation of the current system of epidemiological surveillance.
• -Performance evaluation of outbreak detection of health events.
• -Training, designing, developing and standardization of assessment tools, questionnaires.

Policy

The mission of the Department of Biostatistics is to serve as a source of expertise and a focus for training and research in the quantitative aspects of public health and medicine, and to promote the use of rigorous quantitative methods in the biomedical and public health sciences.

• To maintain and further enhance a strong, internationally recognized graduate program for the training of biostatisticians who can play leadership roles in academia, government and industry; 
• To contribute to the advancement of knowledge in public health and medicine through participation in collaborative, interdisciplinary research; 
• To promote the use of rigorous quantitative methods in public health and biomedicine through educational outreach and consultation programs that serve the broader community. 

• To maintain and further develop a program of biostatistical consultation by students and faculty that is responsive to the needs of researchers in the health sciences; 
• To admit international students in biostatistics in both Ms and PhD degree

       PhD Curiculum

Master Curiculum