A Letter from the President
Dear Readers,
If you carried an umbrella today because the weather forecast called for a 70 percent chance of rain, you have a good sense of the power of statistics. In virtually every area of life, from the routes we take to avoid traffic to what we choose to watch (or not watch) on television, odds and probabilities — some so subtle we may not be conscious of even having calculated them — influence our decision making.
Edward J. Benz, Jr., MD
At Dana-Farber, statistics are the common language in which cancer research is conceived, conducted, and conveyed. Members of the Institute's Department of Biostatistical Science not only help DFCI scientists design experiments and analyze data, they also treat biostatistics itself as a field of research. As you'll read in this issue of Paths of Progress, their work has led to new numerical tools for measuring patients' quality of life, finding genes' on-off switches, and reading broad patterns of genetic activity.
Though the techniques of biostatistics may seem arcane, their purpose — to discover patterns and trends, to find connections and correspondences — is at the heart of the scientific process. It's the same spirit that animates the other research described in this issue, from studies of mutant enzymes involved in cancer to projects aimed at improving patient care. Read on, and there's a 100 percent chance you will be impressed by the progress we're making.
