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The Division of Clinical and Translational Sciences (DCTS) within the Department of Internal Medicine (IM) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston serves as the primary academic home for faculty in the Biostatistics/Epidemiology/Research Design (BERD), a core component of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS). CCTS was established in 2006 by one of the first 12 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical and Translational Awards (CTSA), which were designed to transform clinical research at academic institutions. The vision of the CTSA program within NIH’s newly created National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) is to develop the organizational infrastructure to link academic and community health centers across local, regional, and national collaborative networks and increase the efficiency, quality, and impact of clinical and translational research on patient-centered outcomes and population health. Several years in the making and the first division at UTHealth Houston, the DCTS was established and will evolve progressively to help promote that vision. Through NCATS, a number of other Health Science Centers across the Country have created academic homes like DCTS.

Located in the Department of Internal Medicine at UTHealth Houston, in the heart of the vast Texas Medical Center, and in partnership with Memorial Hermann Hospital and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, we believe our DCTS is uniquely positioned to help catalyze NCATS’ vision into reality. While the Institute of Molecular Medicine at UTHealth Houston focuses on dissecting disease at its genetic, cellular, and molecular levels, our new DCTS at UTHealth Houston seeks the panoramic view, encompassing entire patient populations, biosample repositories, and networks of investigators. From this broad patient-centered perspective, our DCTS applies cutting-edge theory and technology to determine the most appropriate, ethical, and cost-effective study design, data quality assurance and analysis strategies, and the sample sizes needed to answer important clinical and translational research questions conclusively.

Dr. MinJae Lee, Professor of Biostatistics, serves as Director of the Division of Clinical and Translational Sciences (DCTS) and Director of the Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD) Core of the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS). Dr. Lee originally joined DCTS in 2012 as an Assistant Professor and returned to UTHealth Houston in 2025 as Professor of Biostatistics and Co-Director of DCTS and the BERD Core, after serving for five years as a tenured Associate Professor of Biostatistics at the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, University of Texas Southwestern. She assumed the role of Director of DCTS and the BERD Core in 2026. Under Dr. Lee’s leadership, DCTS and BERD continue to strengthen multidisciplinary collaborations across UTHealth Houston and its partner institutions while advancing rigorous quantitative methods, collaborative Team Science, and clinical and translational research. DCTS supports investigators throughout the research lifecycle, from research question development and study design through data analysis, interpretation, scientific dissemination, and grant development. DCTS includes faculty and research staff with expertise in biostatistics, epidemiology, research design, and data analysis. The division is committed to expanding its expertise and collaborative partnerships, mentoring and training current and future clinical and translational investigators, and supporting participation in regional, national, and international multidisciplinary research networks.

DCTS provides leadership in establishment, development, coordination, and delivery of biostatistics, epidemiology and research design expertise to investigators. DCTS faculty collaborate with methodologic experts across our CCTS and the CTSA-affiliated networks. For example, DCTS faculty have active collaborations with BERD experts at MD Anderson, UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, and UTHealth Houston’s Center for Clinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine (CCREBM) to extend the application of adaptive Bayesian trial designs developed for cancer to non-cancer health issues such as stroke and heart failure.

Project Initiation Form

To begin, please complete the BERD project initiation form.

Project Initiation Form » (external link)