Past PSI Events

Conferences

PSI Webinar: Integrating transcriptomics into early safety screening

Time: 14:00 – 15:00 UK Time
Presenter: Bie Verbist

Click here to view the presentation slides.

Abstract

Broad toxicology profiling takes traditionally place at the interface between discovery and development when a potential drug candidate is selected. However, it would be both time- and cost-wise better if mechanism (target)-related toxicity and compound-chemistry related toxicity is addressed earlier, when discussions on novel drug targets take place and compound series are identified and optimized. As the traditional in-vivo and in-vitro toxicity testing is rather low-throughput, they can’t be used in these early stages of the drug discovery process. Therefore a paradigm shift in toxicity testing needs to take place to move to high-throughput cell-based assays to reveal key pathways and proteins linked with toxicity end points. I will present some explorations and case studies where both transcriptional profiling and imaging techniques are explored to flag early potential toxicity issues already during the drug development process where the findings could still influence the final candidate selection. 


About the Presenter: Bie Verbist

psi webinarBie Verbist studied medicinal chemistry at KU Leuven, Belgium and finished PhD in 2005 on the design and synthesis of potential β‐turn mimetics in the group of Prof.Dr.G.Hoornaert. Following this, she started as a post-doc at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium where she was involved in the design, synthesis and validation of new biological entities within the therapeutic areas pain and internal medicine, for three years. Afterwards, she went back to university to follow a one-year MaNaMa in statistical data analysis. In 2011, after a short period of working as a scientific collaborator at Ghent University on qPCR data, she started a second PhD to search for low-frequency variants in viral populations using Illumina deep sequencing technologies under supervision of Prof.Dr. O. Thas and in close collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium. In 2014, Bie joined Johnson & Johnson as a Principal Biostatistician in the non-clinical statistics department to support oncology projects within discovery with a focus on omics data analysis. 

To access the recording, please visit the Video-on-Demand Library.

Scientific Meetings

PSI Webinar: Integrating transcriptomics into early safety screening

Time: 14:00 – 15:00 UK Time
Presenter: Bie Verbist

Click here to view the presentation slides.

Abstract

Broad toxicology profiling takes traditionally place at the interface between discovery and development when a potential drug candidate is selected. However, it would be both time- and cost-wise better if mechanism (target)-related toxicity and compound-chemistry related toxicity is addressed earlier, when discussions on novel drug targets take place and compound series are identified and optimized. As the traditional in-vivo and in-vitro toxicity testing is rather low-throughput, they can’t be used in these early stages of the drug discovery process. Therefore a paradigm shift in toxicity testing needs to take place to move to high-throughput cell-based assays to reveal key pathways and proteins linked with toxicity end points. I will present some explorations and case studies where both transcriptional profiling and imaging techniques are explored to flag early potential toxicity issues already during the drug development process where the findings could still influence the final candidate selection. 


About the Presenter: Bie Verbist

psi webinarBie Verbist studied medicinal chemistry at KU Leuven, Belgium and finished PhD in 2005 on the design and synthesis of potential β‐turn mimetics in the group of Prof.Dr.G.Hoornaert. Following this, she started as a post-doc at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium where she was involved in the design, synthesis and validation of new biological entities within the therapeutic areas pain and internal medicine, for three years. Afterwards, she went back to university to follow a one-year MaNaMa in statistical data analysis. In 2011, after a short period of working as a scientific collaborator at Ghent University on qPCR data, she started a second PhD to search for low-frequency variants in viral populations using Illumina deep sequencing technologies under supervision of Prof.Dr. O. Thas and in close collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium. In 2014, Bie joined Johnson & Johnson as a Principal Biostatistician in the non-clinical statistics department to support oncology projects within discovery with a focus on omics data analysis. 

To access the recording, please visit the Video-on-Demand Library.

Training Courses

PSI Webinar: Integrating transcriptomics into early safety screening

Time: 14:00 – 15:00 UK Time
Presenter: Bie Verbist

Click here to view the presentation slides.

Abstract

Broad toxicology profiling takes traditionally place at the interface between discovery and development when a potential drug candidate is selected. However, it would be both time- and cost-wise better if mechanism (target)-related toxicity and compound-chemistry related toxicity is addressed earlier, when discussions on novel drug targets take place and compound series are identified and optimized. As the traditional in-vivo and in-vitro toxicity testing is rather low-throughput, they can’t be used in these early stages of the drug discovery process. Therefore a paradigm shift in toxicity testing needs to take place to move to high-throughput cell-based assays to reveal key pathways and proteins linked with toxicity end points. I will present some explorations and case studies where both transcriptional profiling and imaging techniques are explored to flag early potential toxicity issues already during the drug development process where the findings could still influence the final candidate selection. 


About the Presenter: Bie Verbist

psi webinarBie Verbist studied medicinal chemistry at KU Leuven, Belgium and finished PhD in 2005 on the design and synthesis of potential β‐turn mimetics in the group of Prof.Dr.G.Hoornaert. Following this, she started as a post-doc at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium where she was involved in the design, synthesis and validation of new biological entities within the therapeutic areas pain and internal medicine, for three years. Afterwards, she went back to university to follow a one-year MaNaMa in statistical data analysis. In 2011, after a short period of working as a scientific collaborator at Ghent University on qPCR data, she started a second PhD to search for low-frequency variants in viral populations using Illumina deep sequencing technologies under supervision of Prof.Dr. O. Thas and in close collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium. In 2014, Bie joined Johnson & Johnson as a Principal Biostatistician in the non-clinical statistics department to support oncology projects within discovery with a focus on omics data analysis. 

To access the recording, please visit the Video-on-Demand Library.

Journal Club

PSI Webinar: Integrating transcriptomics into early safety screening

Time: 14:00 – 15:00 UK Time
Presenter: Bie Verbist

Click here to view the presentation slides.

Abstract

Broad toxicology profiling takes traditionally place at the interface between discovery and development when a potential drug candidate is selected. However, it would be both time- and cost-wise better if mechanism (target)-related toxicity and compound-chemistry related toxicity is addressed earlier, when discussions on novel drug targets take place and compound series are identified and optimized. As the traditional in-vivo and in-vitro toxicity testing is rather low-throughput, they can’t be used in these early stages of the drug discovery process. Therefore a paradigm shift in toxicity testing needs to take place to move to high-throughput cell-based assays to reveal key pathways and proteins linked with toxicity end points. I will present some explorations and case studies where both transcriptional profiling and imaging techniques are explored to flag early potential toxicity issues already during the drug development process where the findings could still influence the final candidate selection. 


About the Presenter: Bie Verbist

psi webinarBie Verbist studied medicinal chemistry at KU Leuven, Belgium and finished PhD in 2005 on the design and synthesis of potential β‐turn mimetics in the group of Prof.Dr.G.Hoornaert. Following this, she started as a post-doc at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium where she was involved in the design, synthesis and validation of new biological entities within the therapeutic areas pain and internal medicine, for three years. Afterwards, she went back to university to follow a one-year MaNaMa in statistical data analysis. In 2011, after a short period of working as a scientific collaborator at Ghent University on qPCR data, she started a second PhD to search for low-frequency variants in viral populations using Illumina deep sequencing technologies under supervision of Prof.Dr. O. Thas and in close collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium. In 2014, Bie joined Johnson & Johnson as a Principal Biostatistician in the non-clinical statistics department to support oncology projects within discovery with a focus on omics data analysis. 

To access the recording, please visit the Video-on-Demand Library.

Webinars

PSI Webinar: Integrating transcriptomics into early safety screening

Time: 14:00 – 15:00 UK Time
Presenter: Bie Verbist

Click here to view the presentation slides.

Abstract

Broad toxicology profiling takes traditionally place at the interface between discovery and development when a potential drug candidate is selected. However, it would be both time- and cost-wise better if mechanism (target)-related toxicity and compound-chemistry related toxicity is addressed earlier, when discussions on novel drug targets take place and compound series are identified and optimized. As the traditional in-vivo and in-vitro toxicity testing is rather low-throughput, they can’t be used in these early stages of the drug discovery process. Therefore a paradigm shift in toxicity testing needs to take place to move to high-throughput cell-based assays to reveal key pathways and proteins linked with toxicity end points. I will present some explorations and case studies where both transcriptional profiling and imaging techniques are explored to flag early potential toxicity issues already during the drug development process where the findings could still influence the final candidate selection. 


About the Presenter: Bie Verbist

psi webinarBie Verbist studied medicinal chemistry at KU Leuven, Belgium and finished PhD in 2005 on the design and synthesis of potential β‐turn mimetics in the group of Prof.Dr.G.Hoornaert. Following this, she started as a post-doc at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium where she was involved in the design, synthesis and validation of new biological entities within the therapeutic areas pain and internal medicine, for three years. Afterwards, she went back to university to follow a one-year MaNaMa in statistical data analysis. In 2011, after a short period of working as a scientific collaborator at Ghent University on qPCR data, she started a second PhD to search for low-frequency variants in viral populations using Illumina deep sequencing technologies under supervision of Prof.Dr. O. Thas and in close collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium. In 2014, Bie joined Johnson & Johnson as a Principal Biostatistician in the non-clinical statistics department to support oncology projects within discovery with a focus on omics data analysis. 

To access the recording, please visit the Video-on-Demand Library.

Careers Meetings

PSI Webinar: Integrating transcriptomics into early safety screening

Time: 14:00 – 15:00 UK Time
Presenter: Bie Verbist

Click here to view the presentation slides.

Abstract

Broad toxicology profiling takes traditionally place at the interface between discovery and development when a potential drug candidate is selected. However, it would be both time- and cost-wise better if mechanism (target)-related toxicity and compound-chemistry related toxicity is addressed earlier, when discussions on novel drug targets take place and compound series are identified and optimized. As the traditional in-vivo and in-vitro toxicity testing is rather low-throughput, they can’t be used in these early stages of the drug discovery process. Therefore a paradigm shift in toxicity testing needs to take place to move to high-throughput cell-based assays to reveal key pathways and proteins linked with toxicity end points. I will present some explorations and case studies where both transcriptional profiling and imaging techniques are explored to flag early potential toxicity issues already during the drug development process where the findings could still influence the final candidate selection. 


About the Presenter: Bie Verbist

psi webinarBie Verbist studied medicinal chemistry at KU Leuven, Belgium and finished PhD in 2005 on the design and synthesis of potential β‐turn mimetics in the group of Prof.Dr.G.Hoornaert. Following this, she started as a post-doc at Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium where she was involved in the design, synthesis and validation of new biological entities within the therapeutic areas pain and internal medicine, for three years. Afterwards, she went back to university to follow a one-year MaNaMa in statistical data analysis. In 2011, after a short period of working as a scientific collaborator at Ghent University on qPCR data, she started a second PhD to search for low-frequency variants in viral populations using Illumina deep sequencing technologies under supervision of Prof.Dr. O. Thas and in close collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development in Beerse, Belgium. In 2014, Bie joined Johnson & Johnson as a Principal Biostatistician in the non-clinical statistics department to support oncology projects within discovery with a focus on omics data analysis. 

To access the recording, please visit the Video-on-Demand Library.

Upcoming Events

PSI Training Course: Effective Leadership – the keys to growing your leadership capabilities

This course will consist of three online half-day workshops. The first will be aimed at building trust, the backbone of leadership and a key to becoming effective. This is key to building a solid foundation. The second will be on improving communication as a technical leader. This workshop will focus on communication strategies for different stakeholders and will involve tips on effective communication and how to develop the skills of active listening, coaching and what improv can teach us about good communication. The final workshop will bring these two components together to help leaders become more influential. This will also focus on how to use Steven Covey’s 7-Habits, in particular Habits 4, 5 and 6, which are called the habits of communication. The workshops will be interactive, allowing you to practice the concepts discussed. There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion. There will also be reflective time where you can think about what you are learning and how you might experiment with it.

PSI Introduction to Industry Training (ITIT) Course - 2026/2027

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.

PSI Career Young Virtual Event (Q1 2026)

This networking event is aimed at statisticians that are new to the pharmaceutical industry who wish to meet colleagues from different companies and backgrounds.

Inclusive and Impactful Conference Contributions

This webinar brings together three bitesize complementary sessions to help PSI contributors create conference presentations and posters that communicate clearly and inclusively. Participants will explore how to refine their message, prepare materials effectively, and adopt practical habits that support confident, accessible delivery. A focused, supportive session designed to elevate every contribution.

AIMS SIG - Open-Source Lunch Bites

Our monthly webinar series allows attendees to gain practical knowledge and skills in open-source coding and tools, with a focus on applications in the pharmaceutical industry. This month’s session, “Graphics Basics,” will introduce the fundamentals of producing graphics using the ggplot2 package.

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.

Strategic role of statisticians for JCA

Join our Health Technology Assessment (HTA) European Special Interest Group (ESIG) for a webinar on the strategic role of statisticians in the Joint Clinical Assessment (JCA). The introduction of the JCA marks a new era for evidence generation and market access in Europe. As HTA requirements become more harmonized and methodologically demanding, the role of statisticians has evolved far beyond data analysis. Today, statistical expertise is central to shaping clinical development strategies, designing robust comparative evidence, and ensuring that submissions withstand the scrutiny of EU-level assessors. In this webinar, we explore how statisticians contribute strategically to successful JCA outcomes.

Statisticians in the Age of AI: On Route to Strategic Partnership

A 90-minute webinar featuring two case studies from Bayer and Roche demonstrating how statisticians successfully integrated into AI programs, followed by interactive discussion on strategies for elevating statistical expertise in the AI era.

PSI Career Young Virtual Event (Q2 2026)

This networking event is aimed at statisticians that are new to the pharmaceutical industry who wish to meet colleagues from different companies and backgrounds.

PSI Career Young Virtual Event (Q3 2026)

This networking event is aimed at statisticians that are new to the pharmaceutical industry who wish to meet colleagues from different companies and backgrounds.

PSI Career Young Virtual Event (Q4 2026)

This networking event is aimed at statisticians that are new to the pharmaceutical industry who wish to meet colleagues from different companies and backgrounds.

Latest Jobs

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ICON PLC - Senior Biostatistician

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Novartis - Associate Director, Statistical Programming

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Pierre Fabre - Lead Statistician – Real World Evidence -CDI- M/F

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Pierre Fabre - Lead Statistician- Clinical Trials M/F

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Plus-Project - Senior Statistician

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Veramed - Senior or Principal Statistician - UK/EU (Remote/ Hybrid/ Office)

We have an opportunity for an experienced high level Senior or Principal Statistician to join us on a permanent basis.

Veramed - Senior Statistical Programmer

We are looking for Senior Statistical Programmers in the UK to join Veramed, where you'll deliver high-impact programming solutions in an FSP-style capacity, while advancing your career in a supportive, growth-driven environment.