Faculty Highlight – Ms. Elizabeth Lyden teaches Introduction to SAS Programming. This course introduces students to programming for statistical and epidemiologic analysis using the SAS Software System. It is an interactive course taught in the COPH computer lab that focuses on data management and data processing skills, as well as statistical analysis and graphical presentations, all of which are useful to public health professionals. Since 2007, Ms. Lyden has served on two-to-three student capstone committees each year, and in addition, provides SPSS and SAS consultation to students analyzing data for their capstone projects.

Ms. Lyden has been an assistant statistician for the Children’s Oncology Group since 2000 and works closely with Dr. Jim Anderson on the analysis of clinical trials related to pediatric Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). She has co-authored 15 articles on RMS. Ms. Lyden is a member of the Center for Collaboration on Research Design and Analysis, through which she provides statistical collaboration to researchers at UNMC. Specifically, she provides consultation, data analysis, and manuscript review for physicians and researchers in infectious disease, orthopedics, neonatology, diabetes, and solid organ transplant. Her particular interest is analyzing data related to solid organ transplant. She frequently looks at predictors of graft and patient survival using time to event analysis.

Ms. Lyden is a member of the COPH Communication Task Force, a strategic planning subcommittee. She has served on the Carruth J. Wagner, MD, Scholarship in Public Health Award Committee. She was a participant in panel discussions of careers in mathematics at Dana College. She also has worked as an instructor of statistics to middle school teachers as part of a National Science Foundation grant.

Elizabeth Lyden, MS, is a statistical coordinator and instructor in the UNMC COPH Department of Biostatistics.