2023 WNAR/IMS Annual Meeting

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA 

The 2023 WNAR/IMS meeting will be in Anchorage, Alaska from Sunday, June 18 through Wednesday, June 21. The conference will be held at Hilton Anchorage in downtown Anchorage. Join us during the season of the midnight sun in Alaska’s largest city, nestled between the Chugach Mountains and Cook Inlet. Anchorage is a place rich in culture, history, natural wonders, and wildlife. Explore more about Anchorage and the surrounding sites.

Scientific program co-chairs: Audrey Hendricks (wnarprogramchair@gmail.com), University of Colorado Denver; Wen (Rick) Zhou, Colorado State University

IMS program chair,  Hua Zhou (huazhou@ucla.edu), University of California, Los Angeles

Local organizer: Jiaqi Huang (Jiaqi Huang), Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Chair of Student Award Committee: Charlotte Gard, New Mexico State University

Important Dates

December 20th, 2023: deadline for submission of invited session proposals
February 15th, 2023: deadline for abstracts of Invited Oral Presentations

February 15th, 2023: deadline for Contributed Oral abstract submissions

February 15th, 2023:deadline for Student Paper abstracts

Deadline for Contributed Oral abstract and Student Paper abstract submission have been extended to March 1, 2023. 

March 15th, 2023: end of early bird registration

April 7th, 2023:deadline for full paper submissions of students participating in Student paper competition

June 7, 2023: end of online registration

Temporary program book is available at: Program Book_WANR2023.pdf

Scientific Program

Short Courses

Presidential Invited Address (Dr. Kimberly Sellers, Georgetown University)

Invited Oral Sessions

Contributed Oral Sessions

Student Paper Sessions

 

Social Program

Welcome Reception

Banquet and Awards

Call for Contributed Session Proposals WNAR 2023    

Submit contributed talk abstracts for the 2023 WNAR/IMS Annual Meeting!  The 2023 WNAR/IMS meeting will be held at the Hilton in Anchorage, Alaska from Sunday, June 18 through Wednesday, June 21, 2023.  Please register for WNAR here and complete the form here to submit your abstract for a contributed talk. Abstracts are a maximum of 1200 characters. You will need your registration ID to submit an abstract. Student registration is free (use registration 0000 on the abstract form)! Students are also encouraged to participate in the student paper competition by submitting a contributed abstract and then an associated paper on April 7th. 

Submissions are due February 15, 2023. Accepted contributed abstracts will be notified by March 15, 2023. Please contact local organizer Jiaqi Huang (jiaqi.huang@alaska.gov), WNAR program chairs Audrey Hendricks and Wen (Rick) Zhou (wnarprogramchair@gmail.com), or IMS program chair Hua Zhou (huazhou@ucla.edu) for more information. 

 

WNAR Indigenous Student Travel Award

WNAR is offering a travel supplement for an Indigenous student from within the WNAR region to attend our annual conference.  Eligible students include Indigenous peoples of North America and the Pacific Islands. To apply, please send a letter outlining your connection to Indigenous peoples and why you are looking forward to attending the WNAR annual conference, to: wnar@wnar.org. Deadline for applications is May 22, 2023. 

Student Paper Competition

WNAR holds a student paper competition each year in conjunction with its annual conference.  Awards for Outstanding Written Paper and Outstanding Oral Presentation include a certificate of recognition and a $500 cash prize.

All eligible (students within WNAR region) entrants receive discounts for short course registration and $500 to support travel. For details on eligibility, guidelines for manuscript preparation, and review criteria, please visit the link.

• Registration
• • Students must register for the conference and submit their abstract on or before March 1, 2023.
  • Student paper competition participants can also join our banquet for free! More information about the student paper competition can be found here (https://wnar.org/WNAR-Student-Competition). 
  • Conference registration is free for all student members of IBS.
• Submission

Short Courses

Short course I: Sunday, June 18, 2023 1:00-5:00pm:

IT tools and best practices for statistical professionals

Instructor: Angelique Zeringue, PhD, Senior Consultant and Data Science Competency Lead, Daugherty Business Solutions

Description: Companies run on data. To manage those data needs and uses in the business world, IT professionals have developed tools and practices for better data management, code management, communication between teams, automation of routine tasks, and speeding up analysis and code development. While these processes and standards are rarely taught in statistical programs, they can provide a great benefit to statistical professionals. The purpose of this seminar to share these best practices and tools. Attendees will learn:

• Relational database concepts, including an introduction to free SQL database tools and coding
• How to develop and implement a basic data governance strategy
• Strategies for making code clearer, more organized, and reusable
• Use of free version control software for better tracking of code changes
• Tools and approaches for automating routine tasks, such as updating data, producing clinical trial reports, checking for code errors, and other efforts
• Open-source software and packages for making documentation faster and easier
• Options for enabling better tracking and sharing of data changes and analysis results

• Short course II: Sunday, June 18, 2023 1:00-5:00pm

Real-World Evidence in Drug Development and Regulatory Decision-Making: Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities 

Instructor: Jie Chen, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Elixir Clinical Research

Description: Real-world data (RWD) and real-world evidence (RWE) have traditionally been used in medical product development. Since the passage of the 21^st Century Cures Act in 2016, the use of RWD and RWE in product development and regulatory decision has received increasing attention. Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration issued several guidance documents on the use of RWD and RWE to support regulatory decision-making for drugs and biologics. This short course will provide an overview on current development, challenges, and opportunities in use of RWE in drug development and regulatory decision-making. Some preliminary knowledge about medical product development and regulatory decision process is helpful, but not required, to understand how RWD and RWE can be used in the design, conduct, analysis, and result interpretation of RCTs and in regulatory decision. 

The short course will (1) provide an overview of medical product development processes including preclinical discovery and research, clinical development phases, and post-approval life-cycle management, (2) present regulatory agencies and their requirements, relevant guidance documents and approval processes, (3) describe the traditional use of RWD and RWE in medical product development and regulatory decision-making, (4) discuss the assessment of fit-for-purpose RWD, estimands of RWE studies, target trial emulation, evidence synthesis, use of digital health technologies, decentralized clinical trials, RWD and RWE for rare diseases, (5) a roadmap for formulating RWE studies and causal inference frameworks, and (6) challenges and opportunities when using RWE in drug development and regulatory decision-making. Illustrative examples are given throughout the lecture.  The target audience includes statisticians and quantitative scientists who are engaged in research, development (especially clinical trials), regulatory process, and life-cycle management of medical products.  

Accommodations

The Hilton Anchorage (500 West Third Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska 99501) is our preferred accommodation. Limited rooms are being held at a discounted rate available from June 17th to June 22nd, 2023. The Hilton Anchorage is conveniently located at downtown Anchorage, a short walk to the city's most popular attractions, dining, and shopping.

 

[UPDATE 3/27/2023 The WNAR group code is sold out or very close to sold out, and WNAR is unable to secure more rooms. If you are unable to find the rate, please reserve using the regular rate or other hotels in the area] Reservations can be made by calling 1-800-HILTONS and asking for Group Code: WNAR. Or you can book online through Hilton Anchorage and type the Group Code "WNAR" under "Add Special Rate Codes". Our group rate must be booked before May 27, 2023.  Please use the Hilton website link or phone number directly to book your room with the code. Please do not use external travel sites. 

• WNAR's contract for the conference space requires WNAR to fill a certain number of reservations through the WNAR conference code at the hotel. Please help WNAR fulfill this obligation by using the WNAR Group Code "WNAR" for your reservation.

  Hilton Anchorage group rate is $279.00. 

  All room rates are subject to local bed tax of 12%.  Anchorage has no sales tax.

Very limited amount of rooms are available with Hilton at federal government rate ($229 + tax) for qualified attendees. Please contact here for this special rate on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Onsite Amenities

A lactation room will be provided during the conference at Hilton.

 

Registration

Register for the conference at registration.

 

Cancellation policy

The registration fee for presenting participants (speakers/panelists/chairs/ organizers/poster presenters) received after 5:00 p.m. PST on May 19th, 2023, is nonrefundable in general, though substitutions may be made at no penalty. All cancellations and substitutions must be submitted in writing. Please contact wnar@wnar.org if you have any questions.