Statistical Methods for Meta‐Analysis

Abstract

I would like to express the greatest 'thank you' to my advisor Dr. Haitao Chu for his continuous support in my four-year PhD study. I feel very fortunate to have met Haitao when I entered the University and to have worked with him since then. Beyond statistical, epidemiological, and clinical knowledge, I am glad that Haitao has spent a lot of time on training my critical thinking, which has been essential for me to become an independent biostatistics researcher. Also, Haitao has given me many opportunities to review other researchers' work as a referee and get involved in preparing grant proposals.These experiences have been greatly valuable for my long-term career.Many thanks also go to Drs. Bradley Carlin, James Hodges, and Gongjun Xu, who kindly served on my dissertation committee. They provided numerous helpful suggestions on my scientific writing as well as research topics. Moreover, I worked with Dr. Wei Pan as a research assistant for one year; his guidance let me get involved in genetic research and high-dimensional data analysis. In addition, several grants from National Institutes of Health and a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship from the Graduate School financially supported my research in the last four years. They also provided funds to present my work in various scientific conferences. Last but not least, I would like to thank my family, especially my parents, for their love throughout my life; they are indispensable pieces for my happiness.