Reuel A. Stallones Building in the Texas Medical Center in Houston
At six campuses across Texas, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health works to improve the state of public health in Texas every day. Each of our campuses is strategically placed to meet the public health education and research needs of the diverse populations across Texas. UTHealth School of Public Health is the only school of public health in the nation with regional campuses.
The main campus, located in the heart of Houston’s Texas Medical Center, offers students unmatched opportunities for research and employment. The School of Public Health’s five regional campuses are in Austin, Brownville, Dallas, El Paso and San Antonio. Each campus has its own faculty and research specialties. Students can attend class at any of the six campuses via Interactive Television (ITV).
UTHealth School of Public Health is one of six schools of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), the most comprehensive academic health system in The University of Texas System and the U.S. Gulf Coast region. In addition to the School of Public Health, UTHealth is home to schools of biomedical informatics, biomedical sciences, dentistry, medicine and nursing. It also includes a psychiatric hospital, multiple institutes and centers, a growing network of clinics and outreach programs in education and care throughout the region.
The School of Public Health is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) and the university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
The Biostatistics Department of the UTHealth School of Public Health (SPH) offers graduate studies leading to the Master of Science (MS) and Master of Public Health (MPH) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees.
Biostatistics is a discipline encompassing the study and development of statistical, mathematical, and computer methods applied to the biological and health sciences. Biostatisticians play a key role in the design, conduct and analysis of research studies of health and disease. There is ample opportunity for experience in consulting and collaborative research. Alumni of the Biostatistics program are prominent in academia, industry and government.
Minors for all degree programs can be selected from the Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Epidemiology and Disease Control and/or Management, Policy and Community Health Departments. In addition to courses at UTHealth SPH, a wide variety of courses are available through cross registration with other schools and institutions in the Texas Medical Center as well as Rice University and the University of Houston.
The MS program is 36 hours, including 6 hours max of thesis (and practicum), which generally takes two years to complete. The MS program includes a sequence of courses in basic statistical theory and methods, research design and data analysis. All MS students take a minor in a field of application other than biostatistics.
Admission Requirements
Undergraduate degree in statistics, mathematics, computer science, or one of the physical, biological, or social sciences
At least a B average (on a 4.0 system) in prior academic work
The MPH in biostatistics is a basic professional degree in public health with concentration in biostatistics. The majority of full-time students take approximately 18 to 24 months to complete the degree, with 45 hours including 6 hours of thesis and practicum combined. Requirements of the MPH degree are: completion of coursework; a planned, supervised and evaluated practice experience; and a culminating experience demonstrating a substantial knowledge of public health.
Admission Requirements
Should have strong interest in public health applications and in quantitative methods
Undergraduate degree in statistics, mathematics, computer science, or one of the physical, biological, or social sciences
The PhD program requires at least two additional years beyond the master level program. All UTHealth SPH PhD students must complete a minimum of 48 credits, including 9 hours of dissertation and practicum . The PhD program emphasizes advanced statistical theory and application, statistical consulting, and independent research. All PhD students are required to choose one minor and one area of breadth in fields of application other than biostatistics.
Admission Requirements
Bachelor’s degree in mathematics or statistics or MS degree in the theory and applications of biostatistics, mathematics, statistics or equivalent is required
The division also offers a minor course of study for MS, DrPH and PhD students majoring in other public health disciplines. Courses for the minor of a MS student, include at least PH 1700 (Intermediate Biostatistics) and two biostatistics courses above PH1700. Courses for the minor of a PhD or DrPH student, include at least PH 1700 (Intermediate Biostatistics) and three biostatistics courses above PH1700. PH 1820 (Applied Statistical Analysis I) is strongly recommended for the minor for all degree program.
Purpose: Certificate in Data Science is designed for professionals and students who have strong interests in developing professional data science skills.
Eligibility: Eligibility for the certificate program will include a minimum of a Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited school. The application requirements consist of a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or greater transcripts, goal statements, and a reference letter. The prerequisites for this program include previous knowledge of calculus, linear algebra and basic knowledge of computer programming. GRE is not required for the Certificate program.
Application Process:
Online Application: SOPHAS EXPRESS (except Public Health Informatics)
Application Fee $50
For students with international transcripts:
Foreign transcripts must be evaluated by World Education Services (WES) ONLY. A course-by-course transcript ICAP evaluation is required
TOEFL/IELTS scores (within last two years) All international applicants must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or International English Language Testing System (IELTS). This requirement applies even if you attended a US undergraduate or graduate institution, or had postsecondary education conducted in English. Our institution code is 5688. No department code is needed
A minimum acceptable score of:
TOEFL: 600 on paper-based, 250 on computer-based, or 100 on internet-based
IELTS: Overall Score 7.5
Exception to TOEFL/IELTS requirement:
If you are a Permanent Resident or Citizen of the United States
The applicant is a citizen of a country where the sole official language is English
We recommend that international applicants who hold F-1 visas should contact the Office of International Affairs to verify eligibility for enrollment as a non-degree seeking student.
NOTE: UTSPH does not sponsor student visas for international non-degree applicants (Please e-mail sphadmissions@uth.tmc.edu to verify visas that are eligible for the Non-Degree program)
Guidelines for the new doctoral exam, as approved by the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
All doctoral students entering in August 2010 or after will follow this new policy and take the new preliminary exam, oral defense and dissertation defense. The Department of Biostatistics preliminary exam will include both take-home and in-class portions. The take-home portion will typically focus on material covered in PH 1820, PH1821, PH1830 and PH1831 and is a two-day exam. The in-class exam will focus on material covered in PH1910, PH1911, PH 1915 and PH1951, is a four-hour exam and students are allowed to bring text books and lecture notes pertinent to the recommended courses listed above. All doctoral students entering before August 2010 can choose either the new system or the old system. If you choose the new system, all rules on the new system should be followed. If you choose the old system, you will take the qualifying exam after completing 30 credit hours and demonstrating that you fulfill the requirements of the minor and the breadth. However, if your qualifying exam takes place after January 2011, your biostatistics portion will be the same format as the preliminary exam according to the new system. January 2011 will be the last time the department will give the old format of qualifying exam for biostatistics students.
Those under the old exam system are expected to take biostatistics courses suggested by your advisory committee to meet the requirements of the degree program, regardless of which biostatistics exam you will take. Those under the new exam system are still expected to take additional biostatistics courses (beyond those recommended above) as well as the minor and breadth courses after the preliminary exam as you develop your proposal under the supervision of your dissertation committee.
The biostatistics preliminary exam will be given once a year in August.
It is the School’s policy that a student who failed twice on preliminary exam (new system) or qualifying exam (old system) can not stay in the doctoral program.
Addendum to PhD Students-Teaching Requirements
Doctoral students are required to obtain some teaching experience on biostatistics courses for majors for at least one semester. A typical example is to serve as a teaching assistant for a high level course in biostatistics after they complete the preliminary exam.
Requirements for Thesis/Dissertation
The dissertation should be in a paper format and is supposed to include two submitted papers. A dissertation proposal defense is required before the student advances to doctoral candidacy. For submitted papers, only the dissertation chair needs to verify. For further information about Dissertation and Thesis Proposal.
Career
Career opportunities abound in the field of biostatistics throughout academia, industry and government. Examples include the pharmaceutical industry, the chemical industry, medical research centers, schools of public health, medical schools and government agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, state and local health departments, and the World Health Organization
Faculty members in the Department of Biostatistics & Data Science have led and contributed to the development of cutting-edge statistical and data science methods for many areas including clinical trial design and analysis, longitudinal and correlated data analysis, machine/statistical learning approaches, survival data analysis, imaging data analysis, Bayesian statistics, statistical genomics and genetics, bioinformatics, graphic and network modeling, stochastic processes, missing data, time series and streaming data, spatial-temporal data, dynamic modeling and prediction, and Big Data approaches. These methods are applied to a wide range of biomedical and health science problems including:
Clinical trials for cardiovascular cell therapy, hypertension, stem cells, early treatment of retinopathy of prematurity, heart attack prevention, early treatment of acute spinal cord injury
Alzheimer and Parkinson’s diseases
Brain injuries and neurosciences
Behavioral sciences and mental health
Infectious diseases: HIV prevention and AIDS treatment
Occupational and environmental exposures in the etiology of adult leukemia
Inter-uterine growth through ultrasound measurement
Cancer and cervical cancer detection using optical spectroscopy,
Analysis of infant mortality in developing countries
Queuing models for emergency medical services
Stochastic modeling of movement through the health care system
Health effects of air pollution
Analysis of health services utilization and health care technology assessment
US-Mexico border health issues
Molecular evolution and phylogenetics
Electronic health records (EHR) and medical insurance claim data
Department of Biostatistics & Data Science at School of Public Health is an academic home for biostatisticians and data scientists at UTHealth to conduct high-quality education, research and service to improve the health of the people of Texas, the nation and the world. Our Department offers the following education programs:
Data Science Certificates
MPH with a major in Biostatistics
MS/PhD in Public Health with a major in Biostatistics
MS/PhD in Public Health with a major in Data Science (subject to final approval)
Our faculty members have a diverse array of statistical and data science methodology expertise with application interests in variety of biomedical and health science fields. For more details, please see our faculty profile webpage
Our Department hosts three research and collaboration/service centers:
Coordinating Center for Clinical Trials (CCCT) which has a more-than-40-year history of successfully coordinating large multicenter clinical trials and providing comprehensive services for clinical trial operation, data management and data analysis.
Center for Big Data in Health Sciences (CBD-HS) hosts several Big Data research projects, including development of predictive models and heterogeneous data integration methods for Electronic Healthcare Record (EHR) data, insurance claim data and public databases or data repositories.
Center for Biostatistics Collaboration and Data Services will provide opportunities for our faculty and students to collaborate and interact with biomedical and health science investigators to address scientific questions using their statistical and data science skills.
