The Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD) team at the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute (IHSI) hosted the 2025 BERD Conference, Turning Data into Discovery: Advancing Health through Biostatistics, on October 29, 2025, at the Beckman Institute. The event brought together researchers, students, and professionals across disciplines to highlight how robust biostatistics strengthens study design and often leads to enhanced findings and real-world application.
The keynote presenter, Douglas Simpson, a professor of statistics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, discussed the use of quantitative ultrasound (QUS) to study cervical changes linked to preterm birth. He emphasized the phases of design, statistical analysis and results, repeatability, and reproducibility leading to future directions that will improve risk assessment for preterm birth and enhance clinical practice.
The keynote was followed by a panel of faculty researchers, all IHSI affiliates, who provided concrete examples of how and why biostatistics matters in research and translation.
- Annette McCoy, a professor of Veterinary Clinical Medicine, offered specific advice for clinical researchers that starts with clear articulation of the research question and a sample size calculation, as well as defining the clinically relevant difference.
- Josie Rudolophi, a professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, detailed how quantitative methods and collaborations were successfully used to inform the development of Illinois Extension programming to improve agricultural safety and health.
- Margarita Terán-García, a professor of food science and human nutrition and director for Allied Health Professions at Illinois Extension, described their randomized control trial of childhood obesity prevention through a family-based program, and how their findings have been used to inform nutrition education programs for obesity prevention, specifically those involved in the construction and design of programs directed to Hispanic families.
A second panel highlighted innovative use of large datasets to understand dating violence, mental health, and youth tobacco use.
- Qihao Zhan, a fourth-year PhD student in the School of Social Work, focused on the protective role of school climate in dating violence victimization and its implications for prevention practice using data from the Illinois Youth Survey.
- Aditya Vaidyam, a medical student and digital psychiatry researcher, co-created the LAMP Platform, an open-source tool that connects patient data from phones and wearables with clinical care. With its AI toolkit Cortex, LAMP enables surveys, mindfulness tools, and personalized interventions, improving access and outcomes—especially for people with serious mental illness.
- Maxwell Wallace, an IHSI visiting research project coordinator who works with the Illinois Youth Tobacco Survey (ILYTS), discussed the careful methodological practices in sampling, data collection, analysis, and dissemination that the team needed to use in order to understand this health risk and accurately represent Illinois youth.
“I was pleasantly surprised by how engaged the audience was with the speakers,” said Fatima Ahmed, Assistant Research Biostatistician and IHSI. “Statistics and study design are my bread and butter, but it was great to see that same enthusiasm reflected back from the audience, both in strong registration (75+!) and in the thoughtful questions and discussions throughout the day.”
After hearing from the various panelists, attendees were able to participate in a more hands-on workshop on Quantitative Research Design led by Jesus Sarol, Jr., Senior Research Biostatistician at IHSI. They learned new skills to help them refine approaches to designing and conducting quantitative health research.
“I think the participants realized the challenges of designing observational studies to increase their validity,” said Sarol. “They were able to identify issues in studies presented in the examples.”
Feedback from participants reflected strong enthusiasm for the event, commenting on the variety of speakers and the accessibility surrounding the topics. Attendees also expressed interest in continued training opportunities and future collaborations.
“The conference was fantastic!” said one participant. “The speakers were diverse, engaging, and excited about their work.”
The BERD team was energized by the engagement and response. Aman Kaur, Research Biostatistician at IHSI, was particularly enthusiastic about the opportunity for students to get involved with the research community.
“We were glad to see a good turnout of participants from diverse domains and would like to organize similar events where the health sciences and statistical community can get together,” said Kaur.