Impact of AI on Clinical Development

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.

AIMS SIG - Open-Source Lunch Bites

Topic: R Package Basics. 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, “R Package Basics,” will introduce the fundamentals of working with R packages—covering how to install, load, and manage them effectively to support data analysis and reproducible research. The session will provide a solid starting point, clarify common misconceptions, and offer valuable resources for continued learning.

PSI Mentoring 2026

Date: Ongoing 6 month cycle beginning late April/early May 2026 Are you a member of PSI looking to further your career or help develop others - why not sign up to the PSI Mentoring scheme? You can expand your network, improve your leadership skills and learn from more senior colleagues in the industry.

PSI Book Club Lunch and Learn: Communicating with Clarity and Confidence

If you have read Ros Atkins’ book The Art of Explanation or want to listen to the BBC’s ‘Communicator in Chief’, you are invited to join the PSI Book Club Lunch and Learn, to discuss the content and application with the author, Ros Atkins. Having written the book within the context of the news industry, Ros is keen to hear how we have applied the ideas as statisticians within drug development and clinical trials. There will be dedicated time during the webinar to ASK THE AUTHOR any questions – don’t miss out on this exclusive PSI Book Club event! Haven’t read the book yet? Pick up a copy today and join us. Explanation - identifying and communicating what we want to say - is described as an art, in the title of his book. However, the creativity comes from Ros’ discernment in identifying and describing a clear step-by-step process to follow and practice. Readers can learn Ros’ rules, developed and polished throughout his career as a journalist, to help communicate complex written or spoken information clearly.

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.

Time	Agenda
09:00 - 09:30	Registration and Coffee
09:30 - 9:45	Welcome Karim Malki, Head, Predictive Analytics, UCB
09:45 - 10:45	Understanding activity patterns through wearable devices and AI algorithms Chris Holmes, Professor of Biostatistics in Genomics in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine and the Department of Statistics, University of Oxford
10:45 - 11:30	Why statisticians should be driving machine learning and AI projects Dr Moira Verbelen, Principal Statistician, UCB
11:30 - 11:45	Break
11:45 – 12:30	The need for data science in the new clinical development paradigm Francis Kendall, Senior Director, Biostatistics and Programming, Cytel
12:30 - 13:30	Lunch and Networking
13:30 - 14:15	Technology Showcase Dr Bhushan Bonde, Head of IT - NewMeds Innovation Development, UCB
14:15 - 15:00	Predicting Crohn's disease risk in asymptomatic relatives Dr Ken Hanscombe, Research Associate at King’s College London
15:00 - 15:15	Coffee Break
15:15 - 16:00	Roche's experience developing Advanced Analytics Communities both internally and externally Chris Harbron, Expert Statistical Scientist, Roche
16:00 – 16:45	Panel Discussion
16:45 – 17:00	Closing Remarks
17:00 – 18:00	Drinks Reception and Networking

UCB	Technology Showcase Abstract: This will be a technical demonstration highlighting some of the latest technology available for performing machine learning and other high intensity computational tasks, including a demonstration of Intel’s portable neural compute stick and a look at how new advances, such as quantum computing, will change the technological landscape.
Chris Holmes (University of Oxford)	Understanding activity patterns through wearable devices and AI algorithms Abstract: New measurement technologies such as wearable devices coupled with AI algorithms, that can learn from large scale streaming data, have the potential for improved evaluation and monitoring of treatment interventions. In this talk we review the prospect for AI to better characterise population activity variation through wearable tech including an analysis of accelerometer data from 100,000 participants in UK BioBank.
Frances Kendall (Cytel)	The need for Data Science in the New Clinical Development Paradigm Abstract: This talk will set the stage on why Data Science is needed to support a New Clinical Development paradigm and what are the drivers of change. It will then put forward an idea on what that Paradigm could look like with examples of work that demonstrate this direction.
Moira Verbelen (UCB)	Why statisticians should be driving machine learning and AI projects Abstract: Advancements in computer science have popularised the widespread use of machine learning and AI. Although methods were mainly developed by computer and data scientists, they are rooted in statistical science. Statisticians are ideally placed to guide the implementation of these ‘new’ approaches in pharma. In-depth understanding of statistical concepts and model fitting are essential skills required to avoid pitfalls such as poor algorithm design, overfitting and incorrect interpretation of results. These considerations and the ensuing value of statisticians’ involvement are even more important in clinical development, where datasets tend to be smaller than those typically used for AI.
Ken Hanscombe (King’s College London)	Predicting Crohn's disease risk in asymptomatic relatives Abstract: An application of elastic net and random forest classifiers to Crohn’s disease (CD) risk in asymptomatic first-degree relatives (FDRs) of CD patients, using multiple environmental and genetic predictors.
Chris Harbron (Roche)	Roche's experience developing Advanced Analytics Communities both internally and externally Abstract: Roche has been successful in building an internal advanced analytics community consisting of over 750 data scientists from across the global Roche organization as well as establishing a number of external advanced analytics partnerships. This talk will discuss how Roche have approached this effort as well highlighting some of the successes and challenges, including crowd sourcing the internal community to tackle key scientific research questions using machine learning.

Time	Agenda
09:00 - 09:30	Registration and Coffee
09:30 - 9:45	Welcome Karim Malki, Head, Predictive Analytics, UCB
09:45 - 10:45	Understanding activity patterns through wearable devices and AI algorithms Chris Holmes, Professor of Biostatistics in Genomics in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine and the Department of Statistics, University of Oxford
10:45 - 11:30	Why statisticians should be driving machine learning and AI projects Dr Moira Verbelen, Principal Statistician, UCB
11:30 - 11:45	Break
11:45 – 12:30	The need for data science in the new clinical development paradigm Francis Kendall, Senior Director, Biostatistics and Programming, Cytel
12:30 - 13:30	Lunch and Networking
13:30 - 14:15	Technology Showcase Dr Bhushan Bonde, Head of IT - NewMeds Innovation Development, UCB
14:15 - 15:00	Predicting Crohn's disease risk in asymptomatic relatives Dr Ken Hanscombe, Research Associate at King’s College London
15:00 - 15:15	Coffee Break
15:15 - 16:00	Roche's experience developing Advanced Analytics Communities both internally and externally Chris Harbron, Expert Statistical Scientist, Roche
16:00 – 16:45	Panel Discussion
16:45 – 17:00	Closing Remarks
17:00 – 18:00	Drinks Reception and Networking

UCB	Technology Showcase Abstract: This will be a technical demonstration highlighting some of the latest technology available for performing machine learning and other high intensity computational tasks, including a demonstration of Intel’s portable neural compute stick and a look at how new advances, such as quantum computing, will change the technological landscape.
Chris Holmes (University of Oxford)	Understanding activity patterns through wearable devices and AI algorithms Abstract: New measurement technologies such as wearable devices coupled with AI algorithms, that can learn from large scale streaming data, have the potential for improved evaluation and monitoring of treatment interventions. In this talk we review the prospect for AI to better characterise population activity variation through wearable tech including an analysis of accelerometer data from 100,000 participants in UK BioBank.
Frances Kendall (Cytel)	The need for Data Science in the New Clinical Development Paradigm Abstract: This talk will set the stage on why Data Science is needed to support a New Clinical Development paradigm and what are the drivers of change. It will then put forward an idea on what that Paradigm could look like with examples of work that demonstrate this direction.
Moira Verbelen (UCB)	Why statisticians should be driving machine learning and AI projects Abstract: Advancements in computer science have popularised the widespread use of machine learning and AI. Although methods were mainly developed by computer and data scientists, they are rooted in statistical science. Statisticians are ideally placed to guide the implementation of these ‘new’ approaches in pharma. In-depth understanding of statistical concepts and model fitting are essential skills required to avoid pitfalls such as poor algorithm design, overfitting and incorrect interpretation of results. These considerations and the ensuing value of statisticians’ involvement are even more important in clinical development, where datasets tend to be smaller than those typically used for AI.
Ken Hanscombe (King’s College London)	Predicting Crohn's disease risk in asymptomatic relatives Abstract: An application of elastic net and random forest classifiers to Crohn’s disease (CD) risk in asymptomatic first-degree relatives (FDRs) of CD patients, using multiple environmental and genetic predictors.
Chris Harbron (Roche)	Roche's experience developing Advanced Analytics Communities both internally and externally Abstract: Roche has been successful in building an internal advanced analytics community consisting of over 750 data scientists from across the global Roche organization as well as establishing a number of external advanced analytics partnerships. This talk will discuss how Roche have approached this effort as well highlighting some of the successes and challenges, including crowd sourcing the internal community to tackle key scientific research questions using machine learning.

Time	Agenda
09:00 - 09:30	Registration and Coffee
09:30 - 9:45	Welcome Karim Malki, Head, Predictive Analytics, UCB
09:45 - 10:45	Understanding activity patterns through wearable devices and AI algorithms Chris Holmes, Professor of Biostatistics in Genomics in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine and the Department of Statistics, University of Oxford
10:45 - 11:30	Why statisticians should be driving machine learning and AI projects Dr Moira Verbelen, Principal Statistician, UCB
11:30 - 11:45	Break
11:45 – 12:30	The need for data science in the new clinical development paradigm Francis Kendall, Senior Director, Biostatistics and Programming, Cytel
12:30 - 13:30	Lunch and Networking
13:30 - 14:15	Technology Showcase Dr Bhushan Bonde, Head of IT - NewMeds Innovation Development, UCB
14:15 - 15:00	Predicting Crohn's disease risk in asymptomatic relatives Dr Ken Hanscombe, Research Associate at King’s College London
15:00 - 15:15	Coffee Break
15:15 - 16:00	Roche's experience developing Advanced Analytics Communities both internally and externally Chris Harbron, Expert Statistical Scientist, Roche
16:00 – 16:45	Panel Discussion
16:45 – 17:00	Closing Remarks
17:00 – 18:00	Drinks Reception and Networking

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