Novel Estimation of Inverse Probability Weights Accounting for Attrition b . Abbreviated Title ( Length 26 characters ) : Novel Estimation of IPW 2

I, the first author, confirm that all the coauthors have given their approval for this manuscript proposal. __RLS___ [please confirm with your initials electronically or in writing] First author: Richard L. Smith Address: Department of Statistics and Operations Research, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill NC 27599-3260 Phone: 919-302-7375 (cell) E-mail: rls@email.unc.edu ARIC author to be contacted if there are questions about the manuscript and the first author does not respond or cannot be located (this must be an ARIC investigator). Name: Melinda C. Power Address: 950 New Hampshire Ave NW, Washington DC Phone: (202) 994-7778 E-mail: power@gwu.edu