Robert A. Oster, Ph.D.

Research Assistant Professor of Medicine

Education/Training:

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio B.S. 1984 Mathematics
University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky M.S. 1986 Statistics
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio Ph.D. 1995 Biostatistics

Positions:

  • 1984 – 1986 Teaching Assistant, University of Kentucky Department of Statistics, Lexington, Kentucky.
  • 1986 – 1986 Biostatistical Consultant, Statistical Consultants, a contract research organization, Lexington, Kentucky.
  • 1986 – 1989 Mathematical Statistician, U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick, Massachusetts.
  • 1990 - 1992 Biostatistical Consultant, Kendle Research Associates, a pharmaceutical contract research organization, Cincinnati, Ohio.
  • 1989 - 1994 Graduate Research Assistant, University of Cincinnati Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Cincinnati, Ohio.
  • 1995 – 1996 Instructor, University of Miami Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Miami, Florida.
  • 1996 – 1998 Research Instructor, Morehouse School of Medicine Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
  • 1998 – 2001 Research Assistant Professor, Morehouse School of Medicine Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
  • 2000 – 2000 Biostatistical Consultant, McWill Research Laboratories, a pharmaceutical contract research organization, Atlanta, Georgia.
  • 2001 – 2003 Biostatistical Consultant, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
  • 2001 – Present Research Assistant Professor, Medical Statistics Section, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, and Associate Scientist and Biostatistician, Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.

Honors:

  • Received the Comer-Reynolds Memorial Award for being the outstanding student in biostatistics at the University of Cincinnati (1992)

Selected Publications (in chronological order):

  1. Tikuisis P, Gonzalez RR, Oster RA, Pandolf, KB. Role of body fat in the prediction of the metabolic response for immersion in cold water. Undersea Biomedical Research 1988;15:123-134.
  2. Oster RA . An examination of five statistical software packages for epidemiology. The American Statistician 1998;52:267-280.
  3. O’Hara P, Parris D, Fichtner R, Oster R. Influence of alcohol and drug use on AIDS risk behavior among youth in dropout prevention. Journal of Drug Education1998;28:159-168.
  4. McNeal M, Oster R, Alema-Mensah E. Health professions students’ opinions of interdisciplinary health care teams. National Academies of Practice Forum 1999;1:17-23.
  5. Jones AR, Oster RA, Pederson LL, Davis MK, Blumenthal DS. Influence of a rural primary care clerkship on medical students’ intentions to practice in a rural community. The Journal of Rural Health 2000;16:155-161.
  6. Nzerue CM, Drayton J, Oster R, Hewan-Lowe K. Genitourinary tuberculosis in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection: clinical features in an inner-city hospital population. The American Journal of Medical Sciences2000;320:299-303.
  7. Nzerue CM, Hewan-Lowe K, Harvey P, Mohammed D, Furlong B, Oster R. Prevalence of non-diabetic renal disease among African-American patients with Type II diabetes mellitus. Scandinavian Journal of Urology and Nephrology 2000;34:331-335.
  8. Von Deutsch DA, Abukhalaf IK, Aboul-Enein HY, Wineski LE, Oster RA, Paulsen DF, Potter DE. b -agonist-induced alterations in organ weights and protein content: comparison of racemic clenbuterol and its enantiomers. Chirality 2000;12:637-648.
  9. Oster RA. An examination of statistical software packages for categorical data analysis using exact methods. The American Statistician 2002; 56:235-246.
  10. Jones AR, Thompson CJ, Oster RA , Samadi A, Davis MK, Mayberry RM. Breast cancer knowledge, beliefs, and screening behaviors among low-income, elderly black women. Journal of the National Medical Association 2003;95:791-805.
  11. Oster RA . An examination of statistical software packages for categorical data analysis using exact methods – Part II. The American Statistician 2003; 57:201-213.
  12. Oster RA . Comment on “Comparing Statistical Software Packages: The Case of the Logrank Test in StatXact” by H. Callaert, The American Statistician 2003; 57:224-225 .
  13. Chung BH, Doran S, Liang P, Osterlund L, Cho BHS, Oster RA , Darnell B, Franklin F. Alcohol-mediated enhancement of postprandial lipemia: a contributing factor to an increase in plasma HDL and a decrease in risk of cardiovascular disease. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2003; 78:391-399.
  14. Butler KL, Best IM, Oster RA , Katon-Benitez I, Weaver WL, Bumpers HL. Is bilateral protected specimen brush sampling necessary for the accurate diagnosis of ventilator associated pneumonia? The Journal of Trauma, Injury, Infection and Critical Care. In press.
  15. Hentchel-Franks K, Lozano D, Eubanks V, Cobb B, Lijian F, Oster R, Sorscher E, Clancy JP. Activation of airway Cl -secretion in human subjects by adenosine. American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology. In press.
  16. Morgan SL, Oster RA, Lee JY, Alarcon GS, Baggott JE. The effect of folic acid and folinic acid supplements on purine metabolism in methotrexate-treated rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis and Rheumatism. In press.
  17. Chung BH, Doran S, Cho BHS, Liang P, Osterlund L, Oster RA, Darnell B, Franklin F. Contribution of postprandial lipemia to the dietary fat-mediated change in endogenous lipoprotein cholesterol levels in humans. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In press.

Research Support:

ONGOING

5 P30 CA-13148 LoBuglio (PI) 04/01/2005 - 03/31/2010
NIH/NCI
Cancer Center Core Support Grant

The biostatistical section of this grant supports a shared facility that provides comprehensive data management, computing and biostatistical support for members of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.

5 M01 RR00032 Deal (PI) 08/26/2003 - 02/29/2008
NIH
General Clinical Research Center

The biostatistical section of this grant provides biostatistical support for investigators utilizing the General Clinical Research Center for research protocols. Dr. Oster will provide statistical support in the design, analyses and preparation of reports for this study.

UR 3/CCU 419282-02 Pappas (PI) 09/01/2001 - 12/31/2007
CDC PA # 00555
Centers for Disease Control

Surveillance of Invasive Fungal Infections in Bone Marrow/Stem Cell and Solid Organ Transplantation Recipients. The overall goal of this grant is to conduct active prospective surveillance to estimate the incidence and describe the epidemiology of invasive fungal infections in bone marrow, stem cell, and solid organ transplant recipients over a three-year period. Dr. Oster will provide comprehensive statistical support in the design, analyses, and preparation of reports for this study.

U01 DK 603788-01 Lee (PI) 10/01/2002 - 09/30/2009
NIH/NIDDK
Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Urological Symptoms (CAMUS)

This proposal is for UAB to serve as the Data Coordinating Center for a multicenter trial of alternative therapies (phytotherapies) in the treatment of benign prostate symptoms. It is anticipated that 10 clinical centers will enroll approximately 3100 men with benign prostatic hyperplasia on this study.