Statisticians, epidemiologists, and others with an interest in the application of statistical methods to public health are invited to participate in the 8th biennial Symposium on Statistical Methods, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), to be held January 23-24, 2001, in Atlanta, Georgia. The theme for the Symposium is "Issues Associated with Complicated Designs and Data Structures." A short course on a related topic will be offered on January 22, 2001, in conjunction with the Symposium.

The Symposium will include invited talks and contributed papers. Authors are encouraged to submit abstracts for contributed papers related to one or more of the following session content areas. (1) Modeling and analysis of complicated data structures, including but not limited to techniques for correlated, spatial, clustered, longitudinal, survey, environmental, and genetic data; repeated measures; empirical Bayes methods; medical errors; and hierarchical and causal modeling. (2) Issues related to sparse and massive data sets, including missing values, limits of detection, low dosages or exposures, low response rates, non-compliance, rare conditions, and methods for large (in terms of number of observations or of variables) data sets. (3) Data collection and storage, including questionnaire and survey design, the use of data registries and surveillance systems, and data base design. (4) Use of software for exploratory and automated techniques, including data mining, MARS, CART, and signal/aberration detection.

Abstracts will be considered for either oral or poster presentation and must be postmarked no later than August 1, 2000. Authors of papers accepted for either oral or poster presentation will be notified by September 30, 2000. All accepted papers will be considered for publication in a dedicated issue of Statistics in Medicine. To request registration and abstract information and forms, or for additional information regarding the scientific content of the Symposium, please visit the Symposium web site at http://www.cdc.gov/od/ads/sag or contact Chris Johnson, 2001 CDC and ATSDR Symposium on Statistical Methods, 4770 Buford Hwy. NE (MS-K21), Atlanta, GA 30341 (phone: (770) 488-5185; fax: (770) 488-5967; e-mail: CJohnson3@cdc.gov).