The NIHR BioResource–Rare Diseases project is an initiative to perform whole genome sequencing on 10,000 individuals with rare genetic diseases in order to improve our understanding of disease causation.Five studentships jointly supervised by collaborators of the NIHR BioResource at the University of Cambridge and members of the MRC Biostatistics Unit are available to develop and apply statistical methodology to support this initiative:

The introduction of measurement into medicine established the foundations of the modern discipline of biostatistics, crucial to all aspects of medicine, epidemiology and public health. But how did statistics become so embedded? Isabel Baker looks back at Professor Major Greenwood, an eminent statistician of the 20th century, who developed and encouraged some of the first uses of modern statistical methods in medical science.This 1920s photo of Major Greenwood―whose forename was Major, rather than reflecting military rank―pictures him smiling cheerily on a wooden bench. But it gives little away about the nature of this distinguished and imposing man who dedicated his life’s work to statistics.

The BSU is an internationally recognised research unit specialising in statistical modelling with application to medical, biological or public health sciences. Details of the work carried out in the Unit appear on our website http://www. mrc-bsu. cam. ac. uk.

A paradigm shift is occurring in the treatment of heroin overdose. On 5 November the World Health Organization launched guidelines on the community management of heroin and opioid overdose and emergency administration of naloxone by people who are not medically trained. 1 Historically, naloxone has been used only in hospitals and by ambulance workers to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Today, several countries are providing emergency naloxone to patients, their families, and other potential non-medical first responders.This is important because these overdoses contribute substantially to drug related deaths worldwide, with an estimated 69 000 people dying from opioid overdose each year. 1 Of nearly 3000 drug related deaths registered in England and Wales in 2013, more than half (56%) involved opioids. 2 Last month Scotland (the first country to introduce a national programme to provide …