The Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD) team at the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute (IHSI) offers expert support to researchers conducting health-related studies. From refining study design to validating data and preparing manuscripts, the BERD team helps ensure that projects are statistically sound, methodologically thoughtful, ethically grounded, and capable of delivering real-world impact.
Originally launched as the Illinois Biostatistics Core in 2017, the team expanded to its current capacity by 2019. Since then, investigators across campus have turned to the team for support with study design, feasibility assessments, statistical analysis plans, reviewer response strategies, and manuscript preparation. This kind of technical partnership often shapes the trajectory of a project in ways that may not be outwardly visible but are essential to ensuring scientific integrity and clarity.
“Strong design, clear questions, and well-aligned analysis—that’s the core of what we offer,” said IHSI Senior Biostatistician Jesus Sarol.
In recent years, the BERD team’s expertise has expanded and is being applied in new ways. As research priorities continue to grow and intersect across fields, so has the scope of BERD’s involvement with Illinois researchers and projects.
Introducing research design for community-engaged projects
As part of the 2025 Community-Academic Scholars (CAS) summer program, Sarol and IHSI Research Biostatistician Amandeep Kaur led a research design presentation for undergraduates working on community-based projects in Champaign-Urbana and beyond. The discussion challenged students to align study design with the ethical realities of conducting research in community settings, especially when working with youth or historically underserved populations. With research projects at different stages of development—some preparing to recruit participants, others already collecting data—the session created space to examine how design decisions and implementation practices can shape both immediate outcomes and long-term impact.
Maxwell Wallace, IHSI visiting research project coordinator and co-lead of the CAS program, coordinated BERD’s involvement as part of a broader effort to connect students with resources that support ethical and effective research. Bringing the BERD team into early summer programming, he aimed to ground students in design thinking that would shape how they approached data, community relationships, and the long-term use of their findings, while also preparing them for the culminating CAS poster session on Aug. 6.
“Jesus and Aman framed study design in terms of community participation across methods, which is a major component of the CAS program,” Wallace said. “Culturally appropriate and ethical data collection within communities is vital to the CAS research projects and the reciprocal nature of the program. In addition to presenting, they spent time reviewing the scholars’ projects and engaged them in thinking about how best to record, analyze, and share their findings this summer.”
For the BERD team, the CAS program presentation was part of a larger commitment to preparing researchers to think critically about the role of data in community settings. Their focus extended beyond technical instruction to include reflection on ethical design, relevance to real-world outcomes, and the values that guide responsible research.
“We see it as our responsibility not just to support health sciences research, but to help early-career researchers think critically about how they work with data—and who the work is ultimately for,” Kaur explained.
Three 2025 CAS program scholars—each with a unique project focus and background—reflected on how the session shaped their understanding of ethical, accessible, and data-driven research. Each student is working closely with a faculty mentor and community partner as part of a larger research team over the summer, contributing to projects already rooted in real-world needs and partnerships.
Sophia Stierwalt, a student majoring in statistics with minors in data science and math, is helping develop a series of STEM learning experiences for elementary students that explore identity, confidence, and instructional practices rooted in cultural relevance.
“Learning about translating findings into practice stuck with me. I did not know that it took 17 years for the findings of published research to be applied, so it helped me to think about how my research group could share our findings in a way that would lead to faster changes,” Stierwalt said. “I have started to think about data storage differently. The BERD presentation took place just before I had my week of data collection, so it made me think about what this might look like for our project.”
Lara Terpetschnig, a senior majoring in Information Sciences + Data Science with a minor in Statistics, is conducting a needs assessment focused on food insecurity among older adults in Champaign County.
“One insight that stuck with me is that it is important to involve community members early in the research process, which will allow later steps like data collection and analysis to proceed more smoothly as the community members provide important context to inform decision-making,” Terpetschnig explained. “I realized that community-focused research is about more than publishing a paper in a scientific journal, which community members may not understand or be able to access. It is important to develop accessible resources, especially for the community from which you have been collecting data.”
Michelle Agyemang, a Food Science and Human Nutrition major with a minor in Public Health, is helping develop an implementation plan for integrating a digital dietary intervention into a community health clinic. As her team analyzes patient data to assess needs and implementation barriers, Agyemang is thinking more critically about how research findings are communicated—and who they are ultimately meant to serve.
“The BERD session was a valuable opportunity to learn what community research should look like,” Agyemang said. “My approach to the project has changed for the better, in large part because I realized that the way we share findings is just as important as the data itself.”
Supporting analysis in Illinois public health research
The Illinois Youth Tobacco Survey (ILYTS) is a multi-phase project designed to generate actionable insights into tobacco use behaviors, perceptions, and risk factors among middle and high school students across the state. As the project transitions from data collection to analysis, the BERD team is providing key support to ensure the findings are both statistically valid and widely usable.
Their involvement began with the design of the sampling frame and continues with the calculation of sampling weights to produce representative, generalizable results. They are also building dashboards to support data exploration across age groups, geographic regions, and other subpopulations—an expansion of BERD’s services into applied data visualization for public health.
“This is where weights, models, and thoughtful presentation really matter,” Sarol noted. “Our role is to help ensure that the conclusions drawn reflect both the population and subpopulations represented.”
Wallace is also project coordinator for the ILYTS, and emphasized how BERD’s analytic support is strengthening the projects reach and relevance. Their work is helping translate raw survey data into meaningful insight, while advancing a shared goal of supporting policy decisions, public health planning, and future tobacco prevention efforts.
“This is a large, collaborative effort with potential for statewide impact,” Wallace explained. “Having BERD involved in the interpretation phase helps make sure the results are not just accurate, but actionable.”
Expanding expertise to meet research needs
BERD has continued to expand its technical capacity in response to shifting research priorities. While many requests focus on traditional statistical support, the team is monitoring trends surfaced through IHSI’s affiliate network and ongoing conversations with campus researchers. Recognizing that some investigators are beginning to explore approaches like spatial statistics and machine learning, BERD is taking steps to anticipate future needs and position itself as a capable and informed partner.
“We have adapted to trends by investing time and training in newer methods,” the team shared. “We want to be ready before researchers realize they need us.”
Tara Powell, the associate dean for research and a professor in the School of Social Work as well as an IHSI affiliate, leads Journey of Hope, a school-based intervention focused on trauma-informed support for students, funded by the National Institutes of Health. Involved with the project from the earliest planning stages, BERD developed the randomized cluster design, drafted the statistical analysis plan, and conducted power and sample size calculations to support a strong foundation. As the study progresses, the team continues to guide randomization, monitor data quality in Illinois REDCap, and prepare for upcoming analyses.
This type of sustained, embedded support can help research teams stay aligned, make informed decisions, and deliver results that matter. The earlier the collaboration begins, the more the team can help shape research questions, prevent downstream challenges, and bring rigor to projects designed for meaningful outcomes.
“Late-stage requests are often accompanied by urgent timelines, limited design flexibility, and data issues that could have been prevented,” the team added. “When we are involved early, the science is better.”
BERD offers free consultations with Illinois researchers, along with educational resources on study design and analysis. Visit the IHSI website to learn more or initiate a project with the team.