Biostatistics for precision oncology and clinical trials
I'm an associate professor in Biostatistics at UNC Gillings and Lineberger, where I develop statistical methods and software for cancer research. My work bridges methodological innovation with clinical application—from adaptive trial designs that integrate real-time biomarker data to machine learning tools for tumor classification and missing data problems. As co-director of the LCCC Biostatistics Shared Resource and biostatistics cores for two NCI SPOREs (breast and pancreatic cancer), I collaborate with oncologists and trialists to translate statistical methods into clinical decision support tools.
Research Overview
Purpose
We build statistical methods and software in partnership with oncology teams to support biomarker discovery, clinical trials, and translational research.
Collaboration with UNC Lineberger researchers shapes our problems and keeps tools aligned with clinical needs, from trial design to data analysis and software delivery.
Machine Learning & Biostatistics
Precision Medicine & Genomics
Software
Collaboration-Driven Methodology
Our statistical methods emerge from embedded clinical partnerships rather than abstract theory. Working directly with UNC Lineberger oncologists, we identify unmet analytical needs in real trials and translate them into rigorous, reproducible computational solutions.
This approach ensures methodological innovations address practical challenges in precision oncology—from single-sample tumor subtyping to adaptive platform designs that integrate serial biomarker data. Close collaboration with cancer researchers allows us to develop tools that are both statistically principled and clinically actionable.
Clinical Impact & Translation
Clinical Translation
PurIST Diagnostic: From Statistical Method to Clinical Tool
The PurIST (Purity Independent Subtyping of Tumors) classifier represents a complete translational research arc—from methodological development to clinical deployment:
- 2020 — Published classification method (Clinical Cancer Research)
- 2021-2024 — Three US patents issued (11,053,550, 17/336,600, 12,000,003)
- 2024 — Analytical validation completed (Journal of Molecular Diagnostics)
- 2024 — CLIA-certification achieved for clinical use
- Present — Licensed to GeneCentric and Tempus Diagnostics; actively used in clinical trials
Reference-free design allows subtype classification from a single RNA sample without matched normals, supporting clinical use in current pancreatic cancer trials.
Active Funding
Current roles
- Co-PI and statistical member for the ARPA-H ADAPT platform (metastatic breast cancer)
- Co-director of NCI breast and pancreatic cancer SPORE biostatistics cores
- PI on DOD-funded LLM clinical trial navigation tool
Recognition & Leadership
Recent Honors
Awards & Recognition
- 2025 — Gillings Research Excellence Award
- 2024 — James E. Grizzle Distinguished Alumnus Award
- 2023 — Teaching Innovation Award, UNC Gillings
- 2021 — Delta Omega Faculty Award, Gillings School of Global Public Health
- 2017 — IBM and R.J. Reynolds Junior Faculty Development Award, UNC-CH
- 2013 — Barry H. Margolin Dissertation Award for best doctoral dissertation
National Leadership
Collaborative Roles
- Breast SPORE Core B Co-Director (P50-CA058223, 2024–2029): Biostatistics support for 4 translational projects, TBCRC trial correlatives, and ctDNA resistance monitoring
- Pancreatic SPORE Core C Co-Director (P50-CA257911, 2022–2027): Integrated quantitative science for 5 SPORE projects spanning organoid models, immunotherapy, and stromal reprogramming
- Lineberger LCCC Biostatistics Shared Resource Associate Director (P30-CA016086): Statistical leadership for 40+ cancer center investigators annually, trial design consultation, grant development, regulatory analytics
- Nature Medicine Statistical Advisory Panel (2024-)
- Associate Editor, Annals of Applied Statistics (2023-)
- V Foundation Scientific Advisory Board (2023-)
- TBCRC Statistical Working Group (2017-)
Recent Invited Talks
Recent Seminar Topics
Recent seminar topics include adaptive oncology statistics, biomarker-driven trial platforms, and AI-assisted decision tools. Talks are typically 45–60 minutes and can be tailored for biostatistics, oncology, or data science audiences. I am happy to meet with students and participate in chalk talks or lab meetings.
Invite Dr. Rashid to speakBayesian adaptive methods for metastatic breast cancer platforms
Presented reinforcement learning, platform-level borrowing, and LLM tools for the ADAPT network.
Replicability, semi-supervised learning and generative AI: recent statistical work in cancer biostatistics
Grizzle Award Lecture covering recent methodological developments in replicable genomic prediction, semi-supervised learning for cancer subtyping, and generative AI applications.
Joint Nonnegative Matrix Factorization and Survival Modeling to Select Clinically-relevant Gene Signatures
Presented joint NMF-survival modeling methods for selecting clinically-relevant gene signatures in cancer genomics.
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For Prospective Students
Interested in PhD training in adaptive trial design, AI/ML, or cancer genomics?
- Courses & Teaching Philosophy
- Current Students & Alumni
- Research Projects
- Software & Tools Training
- Recent Publications
For Clinical Collaborators
Biostatistics support for clinical or translational projects.
Contact the LCCC Biostatistics Shared Resource →For Funders & Reviewers
Evaluating research portfolio, productivity, or collaborative impact?
- Active Funding Portfolio
- Download CV (PDF)
- Publications by Theme
- Training & Mentoring Record
- Translation & Impact
Quick Links
Research Focus
Methodological innovations in adaptive trials, tumor subtyping, and missing data.
Explore research →Software & Tools
Open-source R packages and CLIA-certified diagnostic tools.
Browse software →Funding & Support
ARPA-H, NCI, DOD funding for adaptive platforms and precision oncology.
View grants →News
Press
Oct 09, 2025
UNC Lineberger launches ARPA-H ADAPT metastatic breast cancer platformUNC Lineberger, Gillings Biostatistics, and the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium have launched the ARPA-H ADAPT platform f...
Grant
Oct 03, 2024
DOD invests in patient-centered pancreatic cancer trial navigatorThe U.S. Department of Defense has awarded funding to UNC Lineberger to create an AI-powered clinical trial navigator for pancreatic canc...
Site
Aug 15, 2024
The updated Rashid lab website has gone live!
Award
Apr 26, 2024
Rashid honored with Gillings James E. Grizzle Distinguished Alumnus AwardThe UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health presented Dr. Naim Rashid with the James E. Grizzle Distinguished Alumnus Award for leade...
Latest Updates
Selected Publications
- BiostatDifferential Transcript Usage Analysis Incorporating Quantification Uncertainty Via Compositional Measurement Error Regression ModelingBiostatistics, 2024
- JCGSDeeply Learned Generalized Linear Models with Missing DataJournal of Computational and Graphical Statistics, 2024
- BiometrEfficient computation of high-dimensional penalized generalized linear mixed models by latent factor modeling of the random effectsBiometrics, 2024
- JCODNA mutational profiling in patients with colorectal cancer treated with standard of care reveals differences in outcome and racial distribution of mutationsJournal of Clinical Oncology, 2024
- JASAModeling Between-Study Heterogeneity for Improved Reproducibility in Gene Signature Selection and Clinical PredictionJournal of the American Statistical Association, 2020
- JASAHigh-Dimensional Precision Medicine From Patient-Derived XenograftsJournal of the American Statistical Association, 2020
- CCRPurity Independent Subtyping of Tumors (PurIST), A Clinically Robust, Single-sample Classifier for Tumor Subtyping in Pancreatic CancerClinical Cancer Research, 2020
- Nat GenVirtual microdissection identifies distinct tumor-and stroma-specific subtypes of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomaNature genetics, 2015