A research project led by James Hughes, professor of biostatistics at the University of Washington School of Public Health, has received a grant renewal from the National Institutes of Health to continue to address statistical issues in AIDS research. The project was awarded more than $770,000 for one year.

In the 25 years since the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was identified, research to prevent and treat HIV infection has grown increasingly sophisticated, as have the accompanying analytic challenges. This competitive renewal will allow biostatisticians at the UW School of Public Health, as well as the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of North Carolina, to develop statistical methods that will be directly applicable to current problems in the field of HIV/AIDS research.

“Biostatisticians participate in the design and analysis of studies across the spectrum of HIV research,” Hughes said. “The statistical methods that we propose address current problems in HIV prevention, treatment and cure research, as well as HIV surveillance.”

In particular, researchers plan to develop methods to more effectively analyze data from trials and studies that utilize two phases or other complex sampling designs. The investigators will also be uniquely positioned to design novel statistical methods for analyzing data from some vaccine studies.

UW co-investigators on the grant include Jonathan Wakefield, Marco Carone, Susanne May and Thomas Fleming, all from the Department of Biostatistics.