Thank you for considering the Department of Biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health. We believe that the programs of study provided in the Department, Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), and Harvard University (HU) provide an outstanding opportunity for training in biostatistics.

A central philosophy behind our program is the importance of combining solid training in statistical theory and methods with exposure to important applications in public health, the biological sciences, and medicine. We try to institute this philosophy in all of our courses, as well as in the research topics selected for doctoral dissertations.

Teaching - in the classroom and in dissertation advising - is a high priority of our faculty and we continually evaluate our approaches and provide opportunities for both inexperienced and experienced faculty to improve their teaching effectiveness. Many of our faculty have received teaching awards voted on by students at the school.

We are fortunate to have a large faculty involved in many applications of biostatistics and engaged in research on a wide variety of methodological problems. These diverse interests are reflected, in part, by the working seminars we have formed and numerous special topic courses we offer.

In addition to the importance of exposing our students to a wide variety of biostatistical methods and applications, we believe that our students' graduate experience is enhanced by diverse representation. Accordingly, a priority of the Department is to achieve diversity by including students from underrepresented U.S. populations and from all parts of the world. A number of our U.S. students are from underrepresented minority populations. Additionally, we are pleased that our current fellows and student body join us many parts of the world, including Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, South America, and Western Europe. In an effort to promote biostatistics to students from underrepresented minority populations, as well as students who are the first to attend college in their family or students from low-income families, the Department has created a summer program to introduce college students to graduate study in public health.

In summary, we believe that the Department, HSPH, HU, and the City of Boston provide outstanding opportunities for graduate study. I encourage you to consider our Department for your graduate and/or postgraduate education.

Louise Ryan, Chair