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Bolet´ ın de Estad´ ıstica e Investigaci´ on Operativa Vol. 29, No. 3, Octubre 2013, pp. 266-282 Opiniones sobre la profesi´on Young biostatisticians in Spain: career or race? Altea Lorenzo-Arribas Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland, UK [email protected] Isabel Mart´ ınez-Silva Department of Statistics and Operations Research Universidade de Vigo, Spain [email protected] Mois´ esG´omez-Mateu Department of Statistics and Operations Research Universitat Polit` ecnica de Catalunya, Spain [email protected] Nuria Perez-Alvarez Department of Statistics and Operations Research Universitat Polit` ecnica de Catalunya, Spain Lluita contra la SIDA Foundation Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital, Spain [email protected] H` ector Perpi˜ an Fabuel Department of Statistics and Operations Research Universitat de Val` encia, Spain [email protected] Oliver Valero Coppin Servei d´Estad´ ıstica Aplicada Universitat Aut` onoma de Barcelona, Spain [email protected] c 2013 SEIO

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Page 1: Opiniones sobre la profesi´on Young biostatisticians in Spain: … · 2013. 11. 14. · Young biostatisticians in Spain: career or race? 269 2. Literature Review Several examples

Boletın de Estadıstica e Investigacion OperativaVol. 29, No. 3, Octubre 2013, pp. 266-282

Opiniones sobre la profesion

Young biostatisticians in Spain: career or race?

Altea Lorenzo-Arribas

Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland, UK

! [email protected]

Isabel Martınez-Silva

Department of Statistics and Operations ResearchUniversidade de Vigo, Spain

[email protected]

Moises Gomez-Mateu

Department of Statistics and Operations ResearchUniversitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Spain

[email protected]

Nuria Perez-Alvarez

Department of Statistics and Operations ResearchUniversitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Spain

Lluita contra la SIDA FoundationGermans Trias i Pujol University Hospital, Spain

[email protected]

Hector Perpinan Fabuel

Department of Statistics and Operations ResearchUniversitat de Valencia, Spain

[email protected]

Oliver Valero Coppin

Servei d´Estadıstica AplicadaUniversitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain

[email protected]

c⃝ 2013 SEIO

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Young biostatisticians in Spain: career or race? 267

Abstract

Challenges and new opportunities for the integration of biostatisticians

in multidisciplinary teams are a major concern in the field. New forms of

broader training in the life sciences, collaborations with other scientists,

and strategic partnerships in research, all appear as essential means to-

wards success for young professionals in Biostatistics. This article is novel

in that it provides a young biostatisticians perspective on what many expe-

rienced colleagues have been discussing for years, i.e., what the future will

bring to the profession and how we will be best trained to face it.The vision

emerged from a unique forum comprising six authors with completely dif-

ferent backgrounds and work experience in the field, and is complemented

by the discussion generated in a roundtable.

Keywords: Biostatistics; Young researchers; Challenges; Communica-

tion; Networking; Career Development; Training.

AMS Subject classifications: 92B05, 92B15, 97M20, 97M60

1. Introduction

Career and race translate to the same word in Spanish, “carrera”, comingfrom the latin carrarıa, originally meaning “pertaining to carts” (Royal SpanishAcademy Dictionary, 2001). This coincidence becomes particularly ironic in afield like Biostatistics where both terms seem to get even closer in meaningwhen we look at the current opportunities in Spain for young biostatisticiansand students in the field at undergraduate, MSc or PhD level. Competitivenessin an area where less and less vacancies have been arising in the last decade, ismaking what used to be a guarantee of future employability, into a tough fightfor survival.

With prospects of a gloomy future ahead for younger biostatisticians in Spain,this paper presents an analytical review of the matter conducted by young pro-fessionals in the field and based on the conclusions from a roundtable conferenceevent that in turn drew upon results from a questionnaire and a literature review.

The roundtable was framed within the proceedings of the Spanish Biostatis-tics Network Biostatnet 2nd General Meeting celebrated in January 2013, toprovide young members with a forum for discussion in which to share concerns,aspirations and items of interest, and also to serve as a starting point for promot-ing networking and effective communication channels for the otherwise generallyisolated students, fresh researchers, and practitioners. The audience comprisedmembers of the network and invited guests. Special emphasis was placed onencouraging students and young researchers to share their views.

In order to generate the potential topics to be discussed at the roundtable,a subset of questions, included in a broader questionnaire previously distributedamongst all the members of the network, was analysed (see the wordcloud result-ing from opinions on the profession’s current situation in Figure 1). Purposefully

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268 A.Lorenzo-Arribas et al.

designed emails and social media calls were also sent to young members request-ing their suggestions. A thematic analysis of the answers identified four prevalenttopics around which the debate was structured: interdisciplinary environments,training, opportunities abroad, and the development of new concepts. Eachtheme was introduced by one of the speakers with approximately four minutesallowed for each presentation. This was followed by a ten minute discussion oneach of the themes, open to the audience, and moderated by Moises Gomez.

Figure 1: Wordcloud from questionnaire responses and suggestions (R CoreTeam, 2012)

This paper will start by providing a brief literature review that will allow forthe comparison of external opinions from senior, published international profes-sionals to the views of younger biostatisticians in a country being strongly hitby recession and a decrease in governmental expenditure in science. This will befollowed by the opinions elicited from each of the four theme discussions duringthe roundtable.

It is the final aim of this paper, following the spirit of the International Yearof Statistics, to promote our profession and celebrate Biostatistics in Spain andworldwide.

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Young biostatisticians in Spain: career or race? 269

2. Literature Review

Several examples were identified in the literature dealing with the difficultiesbeing faced by young researchers and professionals in the area of Biostatistics(and more broadly in Statistics). These papers were written by senior interna-tional scholars. The search revealed no comparable material authored by youngbiostatisticians or young statisticians.

Although we believe our first-hand opinion is interesting in the sense thatwe present our personal experience in the different environments in which wedevelop our work and research, we acknowledge the much greater impact of theviews given by renowned biostatisticians worldwide, and take on board theirrecommendations summarised as follows.

Li (2008) reviews an expert panel discussion held at Harvard University re-garding the future prospects for Statistics and Biostatistics. Noteworthy opin-ions are reflected regarding six main topics (i.e., potential merge of Biostatisticsand Statistics; development of statistical methods by non-statisticians; gap be-tween theoretical sophisticated models and simple methods in practice; reasonsfor success of methodologies; Bioinformatics and Biostatistics; and appropriate-ness of the use of probabilities) that are also mainly covered in our four sections.Further articles dealing with the prospects for biostatisticians are Gehan (2000)giving a consultant’s viewpoint, and Armitage and David (1996), Efron (2007),Van Houwellingen (1997), Zeger (2004), and Zelen (2006) with a more generalvision on the subject.

Hofner et al. (2012) describe the design and outcomes of an innovative, trans-disciplinary workshop, highlighting the need for greater collaboration betweenprofessionals in the life sciences and statisticians. Also on the topic of interdisci-plinarity, Begg et al. (2011) wonder whether we are ready for the new challengesarising from collaboration, and Ilstrup (2004) gives some hints on how to dealwith these obstacles. Finally, Raptis et al. (2012) propose a web-based platformfor improving interaction between biostatisticians and clinicians.

More specific articles on training were also reviewed. DeMets (2006) andHemphill (1961) deal with matters relating to career development of biostatis-ticians in the USA whereas Heller et al. (2008) assess the performance ofa distance-learning programme in Australia. Gibbs and Guimond (2010) in-fer parallels between medical and statistical training, and Cadarso-Suarez andGonzalez-Manteiga (2007) highlight the importance of incorporating biomedicaltraining in the career development of future biostatisticians. Finally, Thabane(2007) emphasizes the positive influence of experienced mentors in the pursuitof a career as a statistician.

Regarding the situation of Statistics in Spain, Alvarez (2012) outlines thedevelopment of the science since the last century, Batanero (2007) focuses onthe need for didactical training of statisticians, and Abraira et al. (2001) and

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270 A.Lorenzo-Arribas et al.

Bayarri et al. (2012) discuss the current situation of the field in medical researchand Biostatistics in general.

3. Young biostatisticians and environment

Nuria Perez-Alvarez introduced the first theme focusing on the current situ-ation of young biostatisticians within multidisciplinary teams and the value thattheir work is given credit for.

The value of Biostatistics

An essential question was raised in Nuria’s talk regarding the value of bio-statisticians in and outside their environment. The value and the need for abiostatistician are clearly seen in some organisations such as research institutesor hospitals. In contrast there are other areas, where efforts still need to be madeby all sides to reach understanding, respect, and recognition.

Similar claims have been found in the literature as it has been mentionedbefore. Hofner et al. (2012) assert that collaboration between professionals fromBiology and Statistics backgrounds in particular requires mutual understandingto ensure effective application of both fields’ expertise. Challenges faced bypractitioners from both backgrounds when working together are due to whatthe authors refer to as “communicative hurdles”.

Interaction and new lines of collaboration

The range of different institutions and companies in which biostatisticiansmight develop their work nowadays is particularly wide, leading to cases wherethere is the risk of isolation when surrounded by professionals from completelydifferent backgrounds. It is important in those cases to show an open approachand search for new lines of collaboration and interaction that will allow us tocommunicate and integrate in a wider environment. In line with this idea, Rap-tis et al (2012) have come up with an innovative online platform that aims toclose what they refer to as “the so-called “gap” in the clinicians-statisticians re-lationship”. A common space for working groups is provided that ensures “allinformation and communications . . . [are contained] . . . in one single site.”

On the other hand, former University mentors and colleagues, as well asprofessional societies and networks such as the Spanish Statistical Society, theSpanish Biometric Society, Biostatnet, the Societat Catalana d’Estadıstica, theSociedade Galega para a Promocion da Estadıstica e da Investigacion deOperacions, etc., can help in maintaining the link with the Statistics side.

Authorship in articles

Biostatisticians also seem to be facing difficulties in accessing first places inapplied or health oriented publications. Several strategies were suggested fromthe audience to negotiate a more accurate reflection of the efforts made in form

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Young biostatisticians in Spain: career or race? 271

of better positioned authorships.

Good communication skills to show the expertise and knowledge employed inthe method selection and application can help to understand the need and therelevance of the work done; this can be a first step for achieving co-authorship.

It is also claimed that many journals see having a biostatistician in the co-authors list as a guarantee for methodological correctness and accuracy. AsRaptis et al. (2012) state, in the health environment “serious errors made inanalysis of data may lead to retraction of the published articles or legal liability”,particularly in a field where any wrong conclusion can lead to fatal consequences.

Members of the audience came up with pieces of motivational advice withregards to the approach to take in the first years of our careers, and the need tomake an extra effort to promote our work as a proof of accuracy and quality forother professionals.

Ilstrup (2004) also encourages young biostatisticians to sell themselves as“valuable assets” for the scientists in their environment, without forgetting thattheir“colleagues can be a great resource of experience and wisdom”too. Buildinga“positive relationship”appears to be the author’s main suggestion for successfulinteractions.

4. Training: present and future for new professionals

One of the main concerns for those young students that aim to pursue a degreein Biostatistics in Spain, has to be the limited range of specialised programmesat university level. There also seems to be a common agreement on the difficultaccess to specialised training in higher levels.

Summer Schools

In this context, the speaker, Hector Perpinan, proposed the attractive ideaof summer schools with courses ideally led by a tandem of senior and younglecturers for each expertise area. There are already examples of this with amore general focus like the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya-Universitat deBarcelona MSc in Statistics and Operational Research Summer School which hascelebrated its 7th edition this summer or the Summer School on Statistical Ex-perimental Design organised by the Optimum Experimental Design group fromthe University of Castilla-La Mancha in 2011. Similar programmes specialisedin Biostatistics could fill the gap in the training opportunities in the field.

Other particular concerns were also raised by the audience, the followingbeing a summary of the discussion generated.

General Statistics MSc programmes

Audience contributions included claims about a paucity of Biostatistics inMSc programmes that seems to serve primarily as an attempt to satisfy mini-mum student’s quota requirements. In this regard, mentions were made to the

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272 A.Lorenzo-Arribas et al.

few study programmes taught in Spain focused on Biostatistics, like the MSc ofbiostatistics at the Universitat de Valencia or the MSc in Statistics and Oper-ations Research (Biostatistics specialization) at the Universitat Politecnica deCatalunya.

It is particularly comforting however, to see that new education Postgradu-ate courses have been established in the past two years for example the Master’sDegree in Omics Data Analysis at the Universitat de Vic (first edition in Febru-ary 2013) or the Master’s in Bioinformatics and Biostatitistics at the UniversitatOberta de Catalunya (first edition in October 2011).

Internship programmes

Relating to the previous topic, it was noted however that options includedin general masters of internships in health or life sciences environments, despitebeing short-time periods, provide the student with a good overview of the prac-tical application of statistical theory. Some undergraduate degrees also offer thisoption which may prove appealing for biostatisticians in the making.

Specific training requirements in Spain

According to the figures provided by the Spanish National Statistics Institute(www.ine.es) on general studies in Spanish universities, only a 57.31 % of thePhD students doing research by the end of 2009 intended to carry on theirresearch work after finishing their studies.

This essentially returns great losses for the Research & Development & In-novation system and brings into question whether there is a tendency to obtaina PhD certification as a means to access public sector opportunities rather thanin the pursuit of a future in research.

These specific training requirements in Spain to access vacancies in the areaof Biostatistics were highlighted in the roundtable. Giving value to additionalskills other than the merely academic-related ones seems to be more frequent inother countries like the UK or Germany, in line with a more open focus.

Frequent calls have been made in the literature for the training of futurebiostatisticians in fields like Biology and Medicine as “life science and statisticshave necessarily become essential partners” (Hofner et al., 2012). Or as BradEfron states in Li (2008), “statistics has moved closer to science . . . [which is]. . . certainly positive since it broadens the base of the field.”

More general requirements regarding training of future biostatisticians havealso been identified, ranging from early training programmes in communicationand leadership skills, suggested in order to foster fruitful approaches to cooper-ation (Cadarso-Suarez and Gonzalez-Manteiga, 2007; Hofner et al., 2012) to theneed for didactical training. Such additions would ensure the appropriatenessof the future educational programs for potential new biostatisticians (Batanero,2007). Gibbs and Guimond (2010) also suggest that career development strate-

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Young biostatisticians in Spain: career or race? 273

gies being used in the medical area can be extrapolated to statistics with rea-sonable success.

Overall, a continuous evolution in training is required in this “application-oriented field that needs to continue to be relevant as the needs of the healthsciences change” (Zelen, 2006).

5. Research: going abroad as the only way out?

Her personal view of a young professional abroad, Altea Lorenzo’s talk fo-cused on the big move in search of better opportunities, a discussion that isbecoming ever more commonplace amongst students in the last years of theirdegrees.

International opportunities

The main incentives in other countries are the financial conditions, the ex-tensive career development programme opportunities and scope for promotion.

Above all, a special mention was made of the fact that there seems to be arespected biostatistician’s status within the scientific community in other coun-tries within Europe and USA , directly relating to the concerns shown in thefirst topic’s discussion about the value of Biostatistics in Spain.

Reasons for this have been attributed to an early history in research andscience (see Table 1 for a comparison of establishment dates of relevant institutesand societies, between Spain, Germany and the UK). However, other causesfor this might well be related to the percentages of investment in science andresearch. Figures from 2012 of the Spanish Government Budget (yellow bookavailable at www.sepg.pap.minhap.gob.es) show that 1.81% of the total budgetwas allocated to civil research, with some of the institutions mentioned in thetable accounting for up to 0.42% of the total. These figures are particularlyrelevant to this discussion given the fact that all of them are institutions whereBiostatistics professionals are likely to develop their work.

As stated in the literature review, an exhaustive analysis of the developmentof the study of Statistics in Spain can be found in Alvarez (2012), citing AntonioMartın Andres (University of Granada, one of the main researchers of Biostat-net), and the first full professor of Biostatistics in Biology, Carles M. Cuadras(University of Barcelona), also member of the Spanish Biostatistics network.

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274 A.Lorenzo-Arribas et al.

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Young biostatisticians in Spain: career or race? 275

Proactivity and networking

Accessing international projects requires a proactive, optimistic spirit andextra efforts but there is a pay-off, both in the short and long-term. In theshort term, obvious advantages are the salary and contract conditions. In thelong term, training and career development choices and opportunities for pro-motion. Emigration will not necessarily mean developing a career abroad andnever coming back, but rather opening ourselves to new areas of knowledge, newapproaches to research, and international contacts.

Altea also dedicated a great part of her discussion to encouraging youngmembers in the audience to be proactive as a means to gain a professionalnetwork that will be the foundation of sound collaboration and multidisciplinaryresearch. Following Zelen’s advice (2006), we should embrace “the blessings ofthe Internet . . . [as facilitator of] . . . fast communications between researchers”.

Further discussion followed by covering other important topics:

The fear factor

As there seems to be certain fear of collaboration between scientists comingfrom different backgrounds (Ilstrup, 2004), members of the public also insistedon the need for young researchers not to be frightened by new obstacles and newsorts of interaction, to bring new ideas and proposals to the table, and to becreative and make the most of all the events and available resources: networkmeetings; conferences particularly aimed to young researchers, like JEDE I andII organised by the network’s Castilla-La Mancha node; invited seminars like theones arranged by the network’s Basque country node; Social Media; specialisedforums; collective blogs; etc.

One example of these new forms of collaboration is the blog FreshBiostats(www.freshbiostats.wordpress.com). Conducted by five young members of Biostat-net with an open door to guest participation, not only is it a platform for theself-promotion of new researchers, but it also serves as a knowledge transfer tool.

Long-term prospects

A sense of moral support also came from more experienced professionalswithin the audience that intended to give a message of a better future to come,and encouraged young biostatisticians to have what Efron (2007) refers to as“an excellent shot at being in the intellectual growth industry of the twenty-firstcentury”.

6. Development of new concepts

Finally, Oliver Valero dealt with a complex topic that is nevertheless raisinggreat interest in the field and seems destined to play a critical role in the futureof Biostatistics as a whole.

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276 A.Lorenzo-Arribas et al.

Inter and Transdisciplinarity

The major focus of Oliver’s topic was that these twin concepts of interdisci-plinarity and transdisciplinarity as defined by Aboelela et al (2007) are central toa successful profession. The former is identified with collaborative work betweenprofessionals from different backgrounds, whereas the latter heavily depends on“the application of . . .methods across disciplines with the intent of developingan overarching synthesis” (Lattuca, 2001 in Aboelela et al, 2007). Both clearlyinterrelated approaches will ensure that future challenges faced by the profes-sionals in our area can be addressed from the perspective of a more holisticbackground. The cross-cutting nature of Statistics, and particularly Biostatis-tics, is indeed a powerful enabler creating synergies between disciplines. As anexample, Biostatistics has a large computational component facilitating the de-velopment of tools in form of packages and even software, a major interest forpractitioners in the area. As a matter of fact, if we look at previous editions ofthe Spanish “R users meeting” for the years 2011 (www.usar.org.es), and 2012(http://r-es.org/IV+Jornadas), most of the applications came from universityenvironments (75% of packages’ developers presenting at the conference), leav-ing approximately 15% for research centres and private businesses constitutingless than 10% of this total. It is however noticeable that there was a slight in-crease in the participation of corporate professionals from only 5% in 2011. Itis also worth mentioning the different backgrounds of the developers and pre-senters, being mostly mathematicians and statisticians (50%) accordingly to themainly statistical use of R, but also including authors from the life sciences,although a decrease happened in the latter from 2011 (31%), year in whichBiostatnet participated with a stream, to 2012 (14%). Ultimately, these toolswill make statistical techniques more accessible to researchers from fields like Bi-ology and Health. Even more so, taking into account that some of this softwareis completely free for both developers and final users. This will hopefully enablethe profession to fulfil what Van Houwellingen (1997) recognises as one of hisdreams: “to implement statistical models in such a way that they can be usedat the spot in the hospital or any other relevant place”. However, there is therisk that anyone capable of finding by means of statistical software, a p-value fortheir analysis, will think he can apply Statistics. Therefore, while the advantagesof making Statistics more accessible are significant, a certain caution against thepitfalls of inexpert usage is required to maintain an accurate application of themethodologies.

Knowledge Exchange and Popular Science

Participating in Knowledge Exchange initiatives has been also increasinglygaining attention in recent years as a means to bring the field closer to otherareas, but also in order to become more easily understandable by members of

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Young biostatisticians in Spain: career or race? 277

the wider public in the form of Popular Science articles.

Dualism Public-Private sector

In times of financial recession when attempts are being made to incorporatebusiness models in public universities, new approaches to research and strategicpartnerships are required to fulfil emergent needs. According to the network ofuniversities Red Emprendia (www.redemprendia.es), there has been a continu-ous increase since 2006 in the number of collaborations in scientific publicationsbetween Spanish universities and private companies. It is also worth highlightingthat more than half of the companies under study belong to the pharmaceuticalfield, again an area in which biostatisticians are widely employed. Initiatives likethe Servei d´Estadıstica Aplicada of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona,Biostatech, Advice, Training, and Innovation S.L. born within the Universidadede Santiago de Compostela’s Biostatistics Unit, and Bayestats S.L., recentlyformed by researchers from the Universitat de Valencia, are examples of spe-cialised consultancy services following innovative working models.

New challenges for the profession

In addition to the financial obstacles that will inevitably continue to appearon the road over the coming years, new inherently scientific problems are alsolikely to arise that will require of further specialization in different topics fromStatistics as was also mentioned in the training section.

As stated in Hofner et al. (2012), “the need to analyse datasets in the era ofsystems biology and high throughput technologies has to build upon professionalstatistical expertise”, but this has to be a both-ways effort and so working withthis new kind of data will have to “build upon solid biological understanding andpractice”.

Interestingly, this Biostatnet General Meeting began with a course on Genet-ics for Statisticians delivered by one of its members and president of the SpanishBiometric Society, Malu Calle, and further knowledge exchange initiatives be-tween both disciplines are in the pipeline.

Other topics were raised during the discussion including the following:

Research, Development, and Innovation in Spain

An open question was raised by a member of the audience, arguing whetherthere is in the country at the moment such a thing as policy in research, devel-opment, and innovation matters (also covered in the international opportunitiessection). An invitation followed not to feel guilty for leaving a country whoseobligation ought to be in avoiding the big Brain Drain of a generation of highlyskilled and motivated individuals that have struggled to find their place in theSpanish job market.

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278 A.Lorenzo-Arribas et al.

Optimism and creativity

Despite a general vision being given of young biostatisticians in Spain findingit hard to progress in their careers, a call was made at different points during thisand the rest of the talks to keep the spirits up, trying to be optimist and creativeas a means to achieve success. In line with Efron’s dreams (2007), “perhaps wecan hope for a phalanx of new [bio] statistics billionaires, gratefully recallingtheir early years in the humble ranks of the ASA”.

7. Conclusions

The objectives established prior to convening this roundtable were well ex-ceeded by the interesting contributions of the speakers and the rest of individualsamongst the audience that participated in the discussion.

As concluding remarks of this lively roundtable, we would highlight the needfor young biostatisticians to claim their relevant role in their host institutionsand to access training opportunities particularly in specialised techniques, aswell as the importance of communication, collaboration, and networking.

Uncertainties being faced in Spain might appear to the young biostatisticians’eyes as a race rather than a career, but it is no doubt that the finish line is worththe effort and is a compromise we are all willing to make.

Acknowledgments

This work was partially supported by the Scottish Government’s Rural andEnvironment Science and Analytical Services Division, by the Spanish Ministryof Economy and Competitiveness grants MTM 2010-19528, MTM2011-15849-E, MTM2011-28285-CO2-O1, MTM2012-38067-C02-01, and by the 2012-CU002agreement.

The authors want to thank the eight main researchers of the National Bio-statistics Network Biostatnet (M. Bayarri Garcıa, C. Cadarso Suarez, M. Dur-ban Reguera, G. Gomez Melis, J. Lopez Fidalgo, A. Martın Andres, V. NunezAnton, and P. Puig Casado) for their continuous support, the participants inthe roundtable for their essential feedback, Anna Espinal and Ester Boixaderafor providing them with the results of the analysis on the Biostatnet´s membersquestionnaire, and finally all those other lecturers and colleagues that have madeit possible for them to develop their career in the field.

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About the Authors

Altea Lorenzo-Arribas holds a BSc in Statisticsfrom the Universidad de Salamanca (Spain), a MScin Operational Research from the University ofStrathclyde (UK), and a MSc in Advanced Tech-niques in Modern Statistics from the UniversidadNacional de Educacion a Distancia (Spain). Sheworks at Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland(UK).

Isabel Martınez Silva, BSc in Mathematics andMSc in Statistical Techniques from the Universidadede Santiago de Compostela, is a PhD candidate atthe Biostatistics Unit of the same university.

Moises Gomez-Mateu holds a BSc in Statistics,a BSc in Marketing Research of the University ofBarcelona (UB), and a MSc in Biostatistics of Uni-versitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC). He is aPhD student at the Department of Statistics (UPC)where he works as a research assistant. Moises isalso a member of the GRASS group, Societat Cata-lana d’Estadıstica, Spanish Biometric Society, andBiostatnet.

Nuria Perez-Alvarez holds a degree in Statisticsby the Technical University of Catalonia and mas-ter’s degree in Biostatistics by University of Hasselt,Belgium. She is finishing her PhD in pharmacoeco-nomic studies in the area of HIV/AIDS. She worksas a senior statistician in the Lluita contra la SIDAFoundation, a non-profit organization whose core mis-sions are healthcare and research in the field of HIV

infection. Nuria is also assistant professor of Statistics at the TechnicalUniversity of Catalonia and member of the GRASS group since 2002.

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Hector Perpinan Fabuel, BSc in Mathematics,BSc in Statistics and MSc in Biostatistics from theUniversitat de Valencia. He is a PhD student, cur-rently working on one of Geeitema group researchprojects at the University of Valencia. He is a co-founder and statistical consultant at BayeStats S.L.

Oliver Valero Coppin, BSc in Statistics, BSc inMarketing Research from the Universitat Autonomade Barcelona (UAB); MSc in Public Health from theUniversitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). He is a statisti-cal consultant at the Servei d’Estadıstica Aplicada(UAB).