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Biostatistics Collaboration Center

Overview

The Biostatistics Collaboration Center at Vanderbilt (BCC) is a university sponsored core resource whose goal is to provide for, enhance, and/or facilitate statistical collaborations involving the design, conduct, analysis or publication of biomedical research at the university. The Department of Biostatistics is comprised of biostatisticians who are available to work with faculty on a variety of projects. They offer a wide range of highly trained experts with unique expertise for almost any collaboration. The department has considerable expertise in the design, conduct, and analysis of large scale clinical trials and research design for basic biomedical research. Varying levels of expertise are also available for consultation, from masters level trained biostatisticians to full professors.

The BCC is a revenue-neutral university resource. Rates are based on the technological and innovative resources necessary to perform collaborative services described above. Rates have been calculated based on department personnel dedicated to research activities, explicitly excluding common professional activities not related to this specific project (e.g., teaching, seminars, administration, service, etc.). Vanderbilt University annually reviews the BCC to ensure that it is in compliance with all applicable federal and state regulations, including Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. Rates are adjusted annually to ensure that the BCC is operating on a strict non-profit cost recovery basis.

History

In 2010 the Department of Biostatistics began allocating M.S. staff biostatistician time to projects using hourly billing based on a core-standard 1,500 billable hour work year. A change is being made to enhance the culture of collaboration and academically productive partnerships.

Beginning July 1, 2014 all biostatistics staff and faculty effort is being billed directly to each project as a percentage of salary and fringe benefit expenses. In addition, a scientific resource fee of $8,500 per 100% annual FTE (faculty and staff combined) is being billed to each project for allowable costs related to providing cutting-edge biostatistics support. Changes have been made to the model and some costs have been reduced related to providing this service. Therefore, your overall costs will be reduced with the new rate. The department utilizes robust computing technologies and innovative methodologies to manage complex analyses. This scientific resource fee covers costs necessary to perform the work of biostatisticians and computer systems analysts. These resources are directly related to the many technologies used and types of data generated across multiple disciplines that biostatisticians must competently handle. The scientific resource fee will be billed on a monthly basis via the Core Ordering and Reporting Enterprise System (CORES).

The growth in the number of biostatisticians in the Department of Biostatistics comes solely from the growth of funded biomedical research requiring statistical design and analysis. The Department of Biostatistics faces real personnel support costs in meeting the demands from other departments and centers, and the School of Medicine has created a model described here that allows the costs to be recovered from the sources requesting the assistance. Example Fee Calculation: Project A has a faculty biostatistician at 5% annual effort and a staff biostatistician at 10% annual effort. The annual fee is $8,500 * (5%+10%) = $1,275. A fee of $106.25 will be billed monthly to Project A via CORES. This scientific resource fee is in addition to the faculty and staff percent-effort salary and fringe benefit charges. These changes have been reviewed and approved by executive leadership of the School of Medicine.

Fees

The BCC bills the Scientific Resource Fee on a monthly basis using Core Ordering & Reporting Enterprise System ( CORES) to generate monthly invoices. The Scientific Resource Fee is calculated annually and implemented on August 1. The current Scientific Resource Fee is $8,500 per FTE per year for internal Vanderbilt investigators.

Text to Include in Grant Proposal Budget Justification

The following is for grants where statistician time is part of the budget as percent efforts.

The Biostatistics Collaboration Center (BCC) is a VUMC sponsored core resource whose goal is to provide for, enhance, and/or facilitate statistical collaborations involving the design, conduct, analysis or publication of biomedical research at the university. The BCC is a revenue-neutral resource. VUMC annually reviews the BCC to ensure that it is in compliance with all applicable federal and state regulations, including Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. Rates are adjusted annually to ensure that the BCC is operating on a strict non-profit cost recovery basis.

All biostatistics staff and faculty effort is billed directly to each project as a percentage of salary and fringe benefit expenses. In addition, a scientific resource fee of $8,500 per 100% annual FTE (faculty and staff combined) is billed to each project for allowable costs related to providing cutting-edge biostatistics support. The department utilizes robust computing technologies and innovative methodologies to manage complex analyses. This scientific resource fee covers costs necessary to perform the work of biostatisticians and computer systems analysts. These resources are directly related to the many technologies used and types of data generated across multiple disciplines that biostatisticians must competently handle. The scientific resource fee will be billed on a monthly basis via the Core Ordering and Reporting Enterprise System (CORES). These changes have been reviewed and approved by executive leadership of the School of Medicine. The BCC bills the Scientific Resource Fee on a monthly basis using Core Ordering & Reporting Enterprise System.
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Topic revision: r21 - 20 Feb 2017, AshleeBartley
 

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