U.S. regulatory considerations and case studies for rare diseases
In this talk, I will present an overview of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s policies and practices for encouraging development of products for rare diseases and of evaluating clinical evidence for the safety and effectiveness of such products. I’ll discuss study designs that may be particularly appropriate for rare disease product development, and address some of their statistical implications. Finally, I’ll present case studies of products that were approved for rare diseases using unusual or innovative study designs and/or regulatory pathways.
John Scott is Deputy Director of the Division of Biostatistics in the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, where he has also served as a statistical reviewer for blood products and for cellular, tissue and gene therapies. Prior to joining the FDA in 2008, he worked in psychiatric clinical trials at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and did neuroimaging research with the Neurostatistics Laboratory at McClean Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He has authored or co-authored numerous articles in areas including Bayesian and adaptive clinical trial design and analysis, drug and vaccine safety, data and text mining, and benefit-risk assessment. He holds a Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.A. in Mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis, and is an associate editor of the journal, Pharmaceutical Statistics.
Bayesian methods for the design and interpretation of clinical trials in rare diseases
For studies in rare diseases, the sample size needed to meet a conventional frequentist power requirement can be daunting, even if patients are to be recruited over several years. Rather, the expectation of any such trial has to be limited to the generation of an improved understanding of treatment options. We propose Bayesian approaches for the conduct of rare disease trials comparing an experimental treatment with a control when the primary endpoint is binary or normally distributed. We describe processes which can be used to systematically elicit from clinicians opinions on treatment efficacy in order to establish Bayesian priors for unknown model parameters. The proposed approaches are illustrated by describing applications to two Bayesian randomised controlled trials, namely a study in childhood polyarteritis nodosa and a study in chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis. Once prior distributions have been established, consideration of the extent to which opinion can be changed, even by the best feasible design, can help to determine whether a small trial is worthwhile.
Lisa Hampson is a Lecturer in Statistics at Lancaster University. Her research interests are in clinical trials, including group sequential tests and Bayesian methods for trials in rare diseases and dose-escalation. Her recent research has focused on developing methods for clinical trials of new medicines for children. She holds a PhD in Statistics from the University of Bath.
U.S. regulatory considerations and case studies for rare diseases
In this talk, I will present an overview of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s policies and practices for encouraging development of products for rare diseases and of evaluating clinical evidence for the safety and effectiveness of such products. I’ll discuss study designs that may be particularly appropriate for rare disease product development, and address some of their statistical implications. Finally, I’ll present case studies of products that were approved for rare diseases using unusual or innovative study designs and/or regulatory pathways.
John Scott is Deputy Director of the Division of Biostatistics in the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, where he has also served as a statistical reviewer for blood products and for cellular, tissue and gene therapies. Prior to joining the FDA in 2008, he worked in psychiatric clinical trials at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and did neuroimaging research with the Neurostatistics Laboratory at McClean Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He has authored or co-authored numerous articles in areas including Bayesian and adaptive clinical trial design and analysis, drug and vaccine safety, data and text mining, and benefit-risk assessment. He holds a Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.A. in Mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis, and is an associate editor of the journal, Pharmaceutical Statistics.
Bayesian methods for the design and interpretation of clinical trials in rare diseases
For studies in rare diseases, the sample size needed to meet a conventional frequentist power requirement can be daunting, even if patients are to be recruited over several years. Rather, the expectation of any such trial has to be limited to the generation of an improved understanding of treatment options. We propose Bayesian approaches for the conduct of rare disease trials comparing an experimental treatment with a control when the primary endpoint is binary or normally distributed. We describe processes which can be used to systematically elicit from clinicians opinions on treatment efficacy in order to establish Bayesian priors for unknown model parameters. The proposed approaches are illustrated by describing applications to two Bayesian randomised controlled trials, namely a study in childhood polyarteritis nodosa and a study in chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis. Once prior distributions have been established, consideration of the extent to which opinion can be changed, even by the best feasible design, can help to determine whether a small trial is worthwhile.
Lisa Hampson is a Lecturer in Statistics at Lancaster University. Her research interests are in clinical trials, including group sequential tests and Bayesian methods for trials in rare diseases and dose-escalation. Her recent research has focused on developing methods for clinical trials of new medicines for children. She holds a PhD in Statistics from the University of Bath.
U.S. regulatory considerations and case studies for rare diseases
In this talk, I will present an overview of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s policies and practices for encouraging development of products for rare diseases and of evaluating clinical evidence for the safety and effectiveness of such products. I’ll discuss study designs that may be particularly appropriate for rare disease product development, and address some of their statistical implications. Finally, I’ll present case studies of products that were approved for rare diseases using unusual or innovative study designs and/or regulatory pathways.
John Scott is Deputy Director of the Division of Biostatistics in the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, where he has also served as a statistical reviewer for blood products and for cellular, tissue and gene therapies. Prior to joining the FDA in 2008, he worked in psychiatric clinical trials at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and did neuroimaging research with the Neurostatistics Laboratory at McClean Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He has authored or co-authored numerous articles in areas including Bayesian and adaptive clinical trial design and analysis, drug and vaccine safety, data and text mining, and benefit-risk assessment. He holds a Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.A. in Mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis, and is an associate editor of the journal, Pharmaceutical Statistics.
Bayesian methods for the design and interpretation of clinical trials in rare diseases
For studies in rare diseases, the sample size needed to meet a conventional frequentist power requirement can be daunting, even if patients are to be recruited over several years. Rather, the expectation of any such trial has to be limited to the generation of an improved understanding of treatment options. We propose Bayesian approaches for the conduct of rare disease trials comparing an experimental treatment with a control when the primary endpoint is binary or normally distributed. We describe processes which can be used to systematically elicit from clinicians opinions on treatment efficacy in order to establish Bayesian priors for unknown model parameters. The proposed approaches are illustrated by describing applications to two Bayesian randomised controlled trials, namely a study in childhood polyarteritis nodosa and a study in chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis. Once prior distributions have been established, consideration of the extent to which opinion can be changed, even by the best feasible design, can help to determine whether a small trial is worthwhile.
Lisa Hampson is a Lecturer in Statistics at Lancaster University. Her research interests are in clinical trials, including group sequential tests and Bayesian methods for trials in rare diseases and dose-escalation. Her recent research has focused on developing methods for clinical trials of new medicines for children. She holds a PhD in Statistics from the University of Bath.
U.S. regulatory considerations and case studies for rare diseases
In this talk, I will present an overview of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s policies and practices for encouraging development of products for rare diseases and of evaluating clinical evidence for the safety and effectiveness of such products. I’ll discuss study designs that may be particularly appropriate for rare disease product development, and address some of their statistical implications. Finally, I’ll present case studies of products that were approved for rare diseases using unusual or innovative study designs and/or regulatory pathways.
John Scott is Deputy Director of the Division of Biostatistics in the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, where he has also served as a statistical reviewer for blood products and for cellular, tissue and gene therapies. Prior to joining the FDA in 2008, he worked in psychiatric clinical trials at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and did neuroimaging research with the Neurostatistics Laboratory at McClean Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He has authored or co-authored numerous articles in areas including Bayesian and adaptive clinical trial design and analysis, drug and vaccine safety, data and text mining, and benefit-risk assessment. He holds a Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.A. in Mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis, and is an associate editor of the journal, Pharmaceutical Statistics.
Bayesian methods for the design and interpretation of clinical trials in rare diseases
For studies in rare diseases, the sample size needed to meet a conventional frequentist power requirement can be daunting, even if patients are to be recruited over several years. Rather, the expectation of any such trial has to be limited to the generation of an improved understanding of treatment options. We propose Bayesian approaches for the conduct of rare disease trials comparing an experimental treatment with a control when the primary endpoint is binary or normally distributed. We describe processes which can be used to systematically elicit from clinicians opinions on treatment efficacy in order to establish Bayesian priors for unknown model parameters. The proposed approaches are illustrated by describing applications to two Bayesian randomised controlled trials, namely a study in childhood polyarteritis nodosa and a study in chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis. Once prior distributions have been established, consideration of the extent to which opinion can be changed, even by the best feasible design, can help to determine whether a small trial is worthwhile.
Lisa Hampson is a Lecturer in Statistics at Lancaster University. Her research interests are in clinical trials, including group sequential tests and Bayesian methods for trials in rare diseases and dose-escalation. Her recent research has focused on developing methods for clinical trials of new medicines for children. She holds a PhD in Statistics from the University of Bath.
U.S. regulatory considerations and case studies for rare diseases
In this talk, I will present an overview of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s policies and practices for encouraging development of products for rare diseases and of evaluating clinical evidence for the safety and effectiveness of such products. I’ll discuss study designs that may be particularly appropriate for rare disease product development, and address some of their statistical implications. Finally, I’ll present case studies of products that were approved for rare diseases using unusual or innovative study designs and/or regulatory pathways.
John Scott is Deputy Director of the Division of Biostatistics in the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, where he has also served as a statistical reviewer for blood products and for cellular, tissue and gene therapies. Prior to joining the FDA in 2008, he worked in psychiatric clinical trials at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and did neuroimaging research with the Neurostatistics Laboratory at McClean Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He has authored or co-authored numerous articles in areas including Bayesian and adaptive clinical trial design and analysis, drug and vaccine safety, data and text mining, and benefit-risk assessment. He holds a Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.A. in Mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis, and is an associate editor of the journal, Pharmaceutical Statistics.
Bayesian methods for the design and interpretation of clinical trials in rare diseases
For studies in rare diseases, the sample size needed to meet a conventional frequentist power requirement can be daunting, even if patients are to be recruited over several years. Rather, the expectation of any such trial has to be limited to the generation of an improved understanding of treatment options. We propose Bayesian approaches for the conduct of rare disease trials comparing an experimental treatment with a control when the primary endpoint is binary or normally distributed. We describe processes which can be used to systematically elicit from clinicians opinions on treatment efficacy in order to establish Bayesian priors for unknown model parameters. The proposed approaches are illustrated by describing applications to two Bayesian randomised controlled trials, namely a study in childhood polyarteritis nodosa and a study in chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis. Once prior distributions have been established, consideration of the extent to which opinion can be changed, even by the best feasible design, can help to determine whether a small trial is worthwhile.
Lisa Hampson is a Lecturer in Statistics at Lancaster University. Her research interests are in clinical trials, including group sequential tests and Bayesian methods for trials in rare diseases and dose-escalation. Her recent research has focused on developing methods for clinical trials of new medicines for children. She holds a PhD in Statistics from the University of Bath.
U.S. regulatory considerations and case studies for rare diseases
In this talk, I will present an overview of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s policies and practices for encouraging development of products for rare diseases and of evaluating clinical evidence for the safety and effectiveness of such products. I’ll discuss study designs that may be particularly appropriate for rare disease product development, and address some of their statistical implications. Finally, I’ll present case studies of products that were approved for rare diseases using unusual or innovative study designs and/or regulatory pathways.
John Scott is Deputy Director of the Division of Biostatistics in the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, where he has also served as a statistical reviewer for blood products and for cellular, tissue and gene therapies. Prior to joining the FDA in 2008, he worked in psychiatric clinical trials at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and did neuroimaging research with the Neurostatistics Laboratory at McClean Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He has authored or co-authored numerous articles in areas including Bayesian and adaptive clinical trial design and analysis, drug and vaccine safety, data and text mining, and benefit-risk assessment. He holds a Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.A. in Mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis, and is an associate editor of the journal, Pharmaceutical Statistics.
Bayesian methods for the design and interpretation of clinical trials in rare diseases
For studies in rare diseases, the sample size needed to meet a conventional frequentist power requirement can be daunting, even if patients are to be recruited over several years. Rather, the expectation of any such trial has to be limited to the generation of an improved understanding of treatment options. We propose Bayesian approaches for the conduct of rare disease trials comparing an experimental treatment with a control when the primary endpoint is binary or normally distributed. We describe processes which can be used to systematically elicit from clinicians opinions on treatment efficacy in order to establish Bayesian priors for unknown model parameters. The proposed approaches are illustrated by describing applications to two Bayesian randomised controlled trials, namely a study in childhood polyarteritis nodosa and a study in chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis. Once prior distributions have been established, consideration of the extent to which opinion can be changed, even by the best feasible design, can help to determine whether a small trial is worthwhile.
Lisa Hampson is a Lecturer in Statistics at Lancaster University. Her research interests are in clinical trials, including group sequential tests and Bayesian methods for trials in rare diseases and dose-escalation. Her recent research has focused on developing methods for clinical trials of new medicines for children. She holds a PhD in Statistics from the University of Bath.
PSI Introduction to Industry Training (ITIT) Course - 2025/2026
An introductory course giving an overview of the pharmaceutical industry and the drug development process as a whole, aimed at those with 1-3 years' experience. It comprises of six 2-day sessions covering a range of topics including Research and Development, Toxicology, Data Management and the Role of a CRO, Clinical Trials, Reimbursement, and Marketing.
Joint PSI/EFSPI Visualisation SIG 'Wonderful Wednesday' Webinars
Our monthly webinar explores examples of innovative data visualisations relevant to our day to day work. Each month a new dataset is provided from a clinical trial or other relevant example, and participants are invited to submit a graphic that communicates interesting and relevant characteristics of the data.
PSI Book Club Webinar: Atomic Habits - The Science of Getting Your Act Together
The book club’s usual focus is to read and discuss professional development books. In this short format event you can more easily develop you career without the commitment of reading the whole book - simply listen to the 1-hour long podcast before joining the interactive session on 21 May.
PSI Webinar: Methods and tools integrating clinical trial evidence with historical or real-world data, Bayesian borrowing, and causal inference
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PSI Webinar: Applying the Estimand Framework to Clinical Pharmacology Trials with a Case Study in Bioequivalance
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This 1-hour webinar will be an opportunity to hear about the methodology and first results of the iRISE consortium. iRISE is working towards a better understanding of reproducibility and the interventions that work to improve it. At the end of the presentation there will also be the opportunity to ask questions.
One-day PSI/PHUSE Event: Change Management for Moving to R/Open-Source
This one-day event focuses on the comprehensive management of transitioning to R/Open-Source, addressing the challenges and providing actionable insights. Attendees will participate in sessions covering essential topics such as training best practices, creating strategic plans, making the case to senior management, and managing both statistical and programming aspects of the transition.
This course is aimed at biostatisticians with no or some pediatric drug development experience who are interested to further their understanding. We will give you an introduction to the pediatric drug development landscape. This will include identifying the key regulations and processes governing pediatric development, a discussion on the needs and challenges when conducting pediatric research and a focus on the ways to overcome these challenges from a statistical perspective.
This networking event is aimed at statisticians that are new to the pharmaceutical industry who wish to meet colleagues from different companies and backgrounds.
The program will feature insightful sessions led by distinguished invited speakers, alongside a poster session showcasing the latest advancements in the field. Further details will be provided.
This networking event is aimed at statisticians that are new to the pharmaceutical industry who wish to meet colleagues from different companies and backgrounds.
This is an exciting, new opportunity for an experienced Statistician looking to take the next step in their career. Offered as a remote or hybrid position aligned with our site in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.