Design. Analysis. Interpretation. Reporting.
From preclinical studies to epidemiology, the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics at Roswell Park develops cutting-edge methods and software tools focused on cancer research.
With expertise across biology, medicine, statistics, mathematics and computer science, our faculty guide and participate in basic, translational, epidemiological and clinical trials research. Our department chair is Alan Hutson, Ph.D.
“Our goal with the work we do every day at Roswell Park is to assess what the most pressing priorities are in data utilization and management, and then address those challenges and opportunities so we can support the biggest oncology advances of the next decade.”
Data-driven expertise across five divisions
Biostatistics and Statistical Genomics
Developing, overseeing, implementing, analyzing, publishing and reporting Roswell Park’s scientific studies. Co-directed by Dr. Kristopher Attwood and Dr. Qianqian Zhu.
Learn moreBioinformatics
Designing, analyzing, and interpretating genomics, proteomics, and other high-resolution, high-throughput based studies. Led by Dr. Song Liu.
Learn moreBiomedical Research Information
Creating innovative informatics tools that optimize data acquisition, data quality and data curation. Led by Dr. Alan Hutson (interim).
Learn moreBioconductor Project
Providing tools for the analysis and comprehension of high-throughput genomic data. Led by Dr. Martin Morgan.
Learn moreClinical Trial Development Division (CTDD)
Working with investigators and sponsors to develop, conduct, monitor and report clinical trials. Led by Angela Kuras.
“The r/Bioconductor project enables researchers worldwide to develop, share and use leading-edge statistical approaches and to place the insights we gain from these tools into their appropriate contexts so we can support medical research that’s both more accurate and more actionable.”
Unmatched clinical trials management
The Clinical Trial Development Division (CTDD), under the direction of Virginia Filiaci, PhD, works with investigators and sponsors to develop, conduct, monitor and report clinical trials. Our experienced team provides full statistical, data management, project management and quality assurance collaboration on multi-center clinical trials.
Multi-center cancer clinical trials
450+
Patient registrations
113,000+
Phase 3 trials
120+
CTDD also offers an efficient and cost-effective budgeting process and access to a 21 CFR Part 11 compliant electronic data collection option for NCI funded clinical trials.
Far-reaching research networks
Roswell Park’s Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics also houses several large-scale collaboration projects, including participation in the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative.

NRG Oncology Network
Conducting practice-changing multi-institutional clinical and translational research
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Immunology Oncology Translational Network
Advancing research progress to improve immunotherapy and immunoprevention
Learn moreAcquired Resistance to Therapy Network
ARTNet focuses on the mechanistic bases of acquired resistance to cancer therapies and disease recurrence.
Learn moreTraining the next generation of scientists
In addition to our research and community outreach, the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics is actively involved in hands-on teaching with Master’s and PhD students in our highly competitive graduate studies program.
Our faculty also work closely with the University at Buffalo’s Biostatistics Department, training and mentoring numerous UB doctoral candidates.
Our multidisciplinary education model allows students a unique immersive experience, preparing them for successful careers as independent investigators.
Publications
- Duska LR, Filiaci VL, Walker JL, Holman LL, Hill EK, Moore RG, Ring K, Pearl ML, Muller CY, Kushnir CL, Lankes HA, Samuelson MI, Carrick KS, Kanagasabapathy DR, Rodgers WH, Kohn E, Piekarz R, Leslie KK. A Surgical Window Trial Evaluating medroxyprogesterone acetate with or without Entinostat in Endometrial Cancer and Validation of Biomarkers of Cellular Response: An NRG Oncology Study. Accepted by journal, Jan 2021.
- Yamashita N, Long M, Fushimi A, Yamamoto M, Hata T, Hagiwara M, Bhattacharya A, Hu Q, Wong KK*, Liu S*, Kufe D*. MUC1-C integrates activation of the IFN-γ pathway with suppression of the tumor immune microenvironment in triple-negative breast cancer. Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. 2021; 9(1):e002115.
- Pan Y, Kadash-Edmondson K, Wang R, Phillips J, Liu S, Ribas A, Aplenc R, Witte O, Xing Y. RNA Dysregulation: An Expanding Source of Cancer Immunotherapy Targets. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 2021; 42(4), 268-282. PMID: 33711255 DOI: 10.1016/j.tips.2021.01.006
- Zsiros E, Lynam S, Attwood KM, Wang C, Chilakapati S, Gomez EC, Liu S, Akers S, Lele S, Frederick PJ, Odunsi K. Efficacy and Safety of Pembrolizumab in Combination with Bevacizumab and Oral Metronomic Cyclophosphamide in the Treatment of Recurrent Ovarian Cancer: A Phase 2 Nonrandomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Oncology 2021;7(1):78-85. PMID: 33211063 PMCID: PMC7677872 DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2020.5945
- Zhou Y, Bastian IN, Long MD, Dow M, Li W, Liu T, Ngu RK, Antonucci L, Huang JY, Phung QT, Zhao XH, Banerjee S, Lin XJ, Wang H, Dang B, Choi S, Karin D, Su H, Ellisman MH, Jamieson C, Bosenberg M, Cheng Z, Haybaeck J, Kenner L, Fisch KM, Bourgon R, Hernandez G, Lill JR, Liu S, Carter H, Mellman I, Karin M, Shalapour S. Activation of NF-κB and p300/CBP potentiates cancer chemoimmunotherapy through induction of MHC-I antigen presentation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2021;118(8):e2025840118. PMID: 33602823 PMCID: PMC7923353 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2025840118
- Wei L, Christensen SR, Fitzgerald ME, Graham J, Hutson ND, Zhang C, Huang Z, Hu Q, Zhan F, Xie J, Zhang J, Liu S, Remenyik E, Gellen E, Colegio OR, Bax M, Xu J, Lin H, Huss WJ, Foster BA, Paragh G. Ultradeep sequencing differentiates patterns of skin clonal mutations associated with sun-exposure status and skin cancer burden. Science Advances 2021 Jan 1;7(1):eabd7703. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd7703
- Merritt MA, Strickler HD, Hutson AD, Einstein MH, Rohan TE, Xue X, Sherman ME, Brinton LA, Yu H, Miller DS, Ramirez NC, Lankes HA, Birrer MJ, Huang GS, Gunter MJ. Sex Hormone, Insulin and Insulin-like Growth Factor in Recurrence of High Stage Endometrial Cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2021 Feb 23:cebp.EPI-20-1613-E.2020. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-20-1613. PMID: 33622671
- Hutson AD, Yu H. A robust permutation test for the concordance correlation coefficient. Pharm Stat. 2021 Feb 17. doi: 10.1002/pst.2101. PMID: 33599032
- Carter J, Huang HQ, Armer J, Carlson JW, Lockwood S, Nolte S, Kauderer J, Hutson A, Walker JL, Fleury AC, Bonebrake A, Soper JT, Mathews C, Zivanovic O, Richards WE, Tan A, Alberts DS, Barakat RR, Wenzel LB. GOG 244 - The Lymphedema and Gynecologic cancer (LeG) study: The impact of lower-extremity lymphedema on quality of life, psychological adjustment, physical disability, and function. Gynecol Oncol. 2021 Jan;160(1):244-251. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2020.10.023. Epub 2020 Oct 24. PMID: 33109392
- Wu F, Bard JE, Kann J, Yergeau D, Sapkota D, Ge Y, Hu Z, Wang J, Liu T, Mu X. Single cell transcriptomics reveals lineage trajectory of retinal ganglion cells in wild-type and Atoh7-null retinas. Nat Commun. 2021 Mar 5;12(1):1465. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-21704-4. PubMed PMID: 33674582.
- Zhou Y, Bastian IN, Long MD, Dow M, Li W, Liu T, Ngu RK, Antonucci L, Huang JY, Phung QT, Zhao XH, Banerjee S, Lin XJ, Wang H, Dang B, Choi S, Karin D, Su H, Ellisman MH, Jamieson C, Bosenberg M, Cheng Z, Haybaeck J, Kenner L, Fisch KM, Bourgon R, Hernandez G, Lill JR, Liu S, Carter H, Mellman I, Karin M, Shalapour S. Activation of NF-κB and p300/CBP potentiates cancer chemoimmunotherapy through induction of MHC-I antigen presentation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Feb 23;118(8). doi: 10.1073/pnas.2025840118. PMID: 33602823; PMCID: PMC7923353.
- Zhou Y, Bastian IN, Long MD, Dow M, Li W, Liu T, Ngu RK, Antonucci L, Huang JY, Phung QT, Zhao XH, Banerjee S, Lin XJ, Wang H, Dang B, Choi S, Karin D, Su H, Ellisman MH, Jamieson C, Bosenberg M, Cheng Z, Haybaeck J, Kenner L, Fisch KM, Bourgon R, Hernandez G, Lill JR, Liu S, Carter H, Mellman I, Karin M, Shalapour S. Activation of NF-κB and p300/CBP potentiates cancer chemoimmunotherapy through induction of MHC-I antigen presentation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Feb 23;118(8). doi: 10.1073/pnas.2025840118. PubMed PMID: 33602823; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7923353.
- Wang X, Jin L, Hu C, Shen S, Qian S, Ma M, Zhu X, Li F, Wang J, Tian Y, Qu J. Ultra-High-Resolution IonStar Strategy Enhancing Accuracy and Precision of MS1-Based Proteomics and an Extensive Comparison with State-of-the-Art SWATH-MS in Large-Cohort Quantification. Anal Chem. 2021 Mar 23;93(11):4884-4893. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c05002. Epub 2021 Mar 9. PubMed PMID: 33687211.
- Alqassim EY, Sharma S, Khan ANMNH, Emmons TR, Cortes Gomez E, Alahmari A, Singel KL, Mark J, Davidson BA, Robert McGray AJ, Liu Q, Lichty BD, Moysich KB, Wang J, Odunsi K, Segal BH, Baysal BE. RNA editing enzyme APOBEC3A promotes pro-inflammatory M1 macrophage polarization. Commun Biol. 2021 Jan 22;4(1):102. doi: 10.1038/s42003-020-01620-x. PMID: 33483601; PMCID: PMC7822933.
- Li F, Zhao X, Zhang Y, Shao P, Ma X, Paradee WJ, Liu C, Wang J, Xue HH. TFH cells depend on Tcf1-intrinsic HDAC activity to suppress CTLA4 and guard B-cell help function. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Jan 12;118(2). doi: 10.1073/pnas.2014562118. PMID: 33372138; PMCID: PMC7812797.
- Farrugia MK, Long MD, Mattson DM, Flaherty LT, Dong B, Cortes Gomez E, Wei L, Witkiewicz AK, Yao S, Kalinski P, Singh AK. Concurrent Aspirin Use Is Associated with Improved Outcome in Rectal Cancer Patients Who Undergo Chemoradiation Therapy. Cancers (Basel). 2021 Jan 8;13(2). doi: 10.3390/cancers13020205. PubMed PMID: 33430037; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7826684.
- Wei L, Christensen SR, Fitzgerald ME, Graham J, Hutson ND, Zhang C, Huang Z, Hu Q, Zhan F, Xie J, Zhang J, Liu S, Remenyik E, Gellen E, Colegio OR, Bax M, Xu J, Lin H, Huss WJ, Foster BA, Paragh G. Ultradeep sequencing differentiates patterns of skin clonal mutations associated with sun-exposure status and skin cancer burden. Sci Adv. 2021 Jan;7(1). doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abd7703. Print 2021 Jan. PubMed PMID: 33523857; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7775785.
- Pathak R, De Lima Lopes G, Yu H, Aryal MR, Ji W, Frumento KS, Wallis CJD, Klaassen Z, Park HS, Goldberg SB. Comparative efficacy of chemoimmunotherapy versus immunotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer: A network meta-analysis of randomized trials. Cancer. 2021 Mar 1;127(5):709-719. doi: 10.1002/cncr.33269. Epub 2020 Oct 29. PubMed PMID: 33119177.
- Leslie KK, Filiaci VL, Mallen AR, Thiel KW, Devor EJ, Moxley K, Richardson D, Mutch D, Secord AA, Tewari KS, McDonald ME, Mathews C, Cosgrove C, Dewdney S, Casablanca Y, Jackson A, Rose PG, Zhou X, McHale M, Lankes H, Levine DA, Aghajanian C. Mutated p53 portends improvement in outcomes when bevacizumab is combined with chemotherapy in advanced/recurrent endometrial cancer: An NRG Oncology study. Gynecol Oncol. 2021 Feb 1;. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2021.01.025. [Epub ahead of print] Review. PubMed PMID: 33541735.
- Miller DS, Filiaci VL, Fleming GF, Mannel RS, Cohn D, Matsumoto T, Tewari KS, DiSilvestro PA, Pearl ML, Argenta PA, Powell MA, Zweizig SL, Warshal DP, Hanjani P, Carney ME, Zaino RJ. Carboplatin and Paclitaxel for Advanced Endometrial Cancer: Final Overall Survival and Adverse Event Analysis of a Phase III Trial (NRG Oncology/GOG0209) J Clin Oncol. 2020 Nov 20;38(33):3841-3850. doi: 10.1200/JCO.20.01076. Epub 2020 Sep 29. PMID: 33078978; PMCID: PMC7676887. Editor’s Pick.
- Madhombiro M, Kidd M, Dube B, Dube M, Mutsvuke W, Muronzie T, Zhou DT, Derveeuw S, Chibanda D, Chingono A, Rusakaniko S, Hutson A, Morse GD, Abas MA, Seedat S. Effectiveness of a psychological intervention delivered by general nurses for alcohol use disorders in people living with HIV in Zimbabwe: a cluster randomized controlled trial. J Int AIDS Soc. 2020 Dec;23(12):e25641. doi: 10.1002/jia2.25641. PMID: 33314786
- Kalathil SG, Wang K, Hutson A, Iyer R, Thanavala Y. Tivozanib mediated inhibition of c-Kit/SCF signaling on Tregs and MDSCs and reversal of tumor induced immune suppression correlates with survival of HCC patients. Oncoimmunology. 2020 Sep 30;9(1):1824863. doi: 10.1080/2162402X.2020.1824863. PMID: 33101775
- Arring NM, Millstine D, Barton DL, Lyons KS, Girardo M, Hutson A, Nail LM. Trends in integrative medicine and health consults: differences between cancer survivors and patients without cancer. Support Care Cancer. 2020 Oct 14. doi: 10.1007/s00520-020-05815-0. PMID: 33057818
- Attwood K and Tian L. Confidence Interval Estimation of the Youden index and corresponding cut-point for a combination of biomarkers under normality. Communications in Statistics – Theory and Methods. 2020. DOI: 10.1080/03610926.2020.1751852.
- Elsayed AS, Jing Z, Demirbas D, Durrani M, Attwood K, Cilento J, Osei J, Gison S, Mostowy M, Christophe A, Hussein and Guru K. Development and Cross-Validation of a Nomogram for Chronic Kidney Disease Following Robot-Assisted Radical Cystectomy. Journal of Endourology 2020. PMID: 32631086 DOI: 10.1089/end.2020.0451.
- Gunn J, Lemini R, Partain K, Yeager T, Almerey T, Attwood K, McLaughlin S, Bagaria SP and Gabriel E. Trends in utilization of sentinel node biopsy and adjuvant radiation in women ≥ 70. The Breast Journal 2020; doi: 10.1111/tbj.13750.
- Cejas RB, Wang J, Hageman-Blair R, Liu S, Blanco JG. Comparative genome-wide DNA methylation analysis in myocardial tissue from donors with and without Down syndrome. Gene. 2021 Jan 5;764:145099. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2020.145099. Epub 2020 Aug 27. PubMed PMID: 32861879; NIHMSID:NIHMS1628462.
- Etter, J.L., Moysich, K., Kohli, S., Lele, S., Odunsi, K. & Eng, K.H. (2020). Transmission of X-linked Ovarian Cancer: Characterization and Implications Affiliations expand. Diagnostics (Basel), 10(2), 90. PMCID: PMC7167857.
- Srivastava P, Tzetzo SL, Gomez EC, Eng KH, Jani Sait SN, Kuechle JB, Singh PK, De Jong K, Wiatrowski KR, Peresie J, Dimitroff A, Lynch ML, Wang J, Abrams SI, Griffiths EA, Nemeth MJ. Inhibition of LSD1 in MDS progenitors restores differentiation of CD141Hi conventional dendritic cells. Leukemia. 2020 Sep;34(9):2460-2472. doi: 10.1038/s41375-020-0765-5. Epub 2020 Feb 25. PMID: 32099035; PMCID: PMC7483249.
- Tsuji T, Eng KH, Matsuzaki J, Battaglia S, Szender JB, Miliotto A, Gnjatic S, Bshara W, Morrison CD, Lele S, Emerson RO, Wang J, Liu S, Robins H, Lugade AA, Odunsi K. Clonality and antigen-specific responses shape the prognostic effects of tumor-infiltrating T cells in ovarian cancer. Oncotarget. 2020 Jul 7;11(27):2669-2683. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.27666. eCollection 2020 Jul 7. PMID: 32676168; PMCID: PMC7343634.
- Wang C, Sun D, Huang X, Wan C, Li Z, Han Y, Qin Q, Fan J, Qiu X, Xie Y, Meyer CA, Brown M, Tang M, Long H, Liu T, Liu XS. Integrative analyses of single-cell transcriptome and regulome using MAESTRO. Genome Biol. 2020 Aug 7;21(1):198. doi: 10.1186/s13059-020-02116-x. PMID: 32767996; PMCID: PMC7412809.
- Zhu Q, Zhang J, Chen Y, Hu Q, Shen H, Huang RY, Liu Q, Kaur J, Long M, Battaglia S, Eng KH, Lele SB, Zsiros E, Villella J, Lugade A, Yao S, Liu S, Moysich K, Odunsi KO. Whole-exome sequencing of ovarian cancer families uncovers putative predisposition genes. Int J Cancer, 2020; 146(8):2147-2155. PMCID: PMC7065147
- Schink JC, Filiaci V, Huang HQ, Tidy J, Winter M, Carter J, Anderson N, Moxley K, Yabuno A, Taylor SE, Kushnir C, Horowitz N, Miller DS. An International Randomized Phase III Trial of Pulse Actinomycin-D versus Multi-day Methotrexate for the Treatment of Low Risk Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasia; NRG/GOG 275. Gynecol Oncol. 2020 Aug;158(2):354-360; doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2020.05.013. Epub 2020 May 24. PMID: 32460997; PMCID: PMC7432963.
- Miller DS, Randall ME, Filiaci V. Progress in endometrial cancer: Contributions of the former Gynecologic Oncology Group. Gynecol Oncol 2020 157(2):p312-322 pii: S0090-8258(20)30019-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2020.01.012. PMID: 32014330
- Santin A, Filiaci V, Bellone S, O'Cearbhaill R, Ratner ES, Mathews C, Cantuaria G, Gunderson CC, Rutledge T, Buttin BM, Lankes HA, Birrer MJ. Phase II Evaluation of Copanlisib, a Selective Inhibitor of Pi3kca, in Patients with Persistent or Recurrent Endometrial Carcinoma Harboring Pik3ca Hotspot Mutations: An NRG Oncology Study. Gynecol Oncol Rep. 2020 Jan 2;31:100532. doi: 10.1016/j.gore.2019.100532. eCollection 2020 Feb. PMID: 31934607 PMCID: PMC6951478
Contact us
Meegan Michalek Becker, MA
Department Administrator
Phone: 716-845-1090
Email: Meegan.Becker@RoswellPark.org
Lauren Sibolski
Administrative Assistant
Phone: 716-845-2704
Email: Lauren.Sibolski@RoswellPark.org