Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Biostatistics Master’s Revamped

Graduate students interested in entering medicine may be attracted to Georgetown’s new biostatistics master’s program.

The three-semester program allows students to pursue one of two tracks, epidemiology or bioinformatics, and hopes to prepare students for interdisciplinary careers in pharmaceutical companies and the biotechnology industry, government or academic laboratories.

“Today’s life science research demands a wider synthesis of skills from multiple disciplines than ever before,” Françoise Seillier-Moiseiwitsch, chair of the Department of Biostatistics, Bioinformatics and Biomathematics, said in a university press release.

“This program will help students focus on data-analysis and informatics tools and use databases for broad-based biomedical information.”

Seillier-Moiseiwitsch said that the department has already received some student inquiries and is looking to enroll about 10 students this fall. Over the course of the next three years, he said that the department hopes to increase that enrollment to 30-40 students.

The new program is a revised version of a previous biostatistics program offered at Georgetown, the Master’s in Biostatistics and Epidemiology.

“The program was revived because it would be useful [to students], as there is a shortage of people with this expertise,” Seillier-Moiseiwitsch said in an interview.

The new version has dropped epidemiology from its title and instead offers it as one of two tracks. Under the new program, students will be required to take four courses in biostatistics, followed by three courses in one of the two tracks. In addition to formal coursework, students are expected to pursue an internship and attend biweekly departmental seminars.

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