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Bayesian clinical trials topic for annual BYU Summer Institute of Applied Statistics

Event June 18-20 to feature president of Berry Consultants

The 33rd Annual Summer Institute of Applied Statistics, sponsored by the Brigham Young University Department of Statistics, will be Wednesday through Friday, June 18–20. The topic will be “Bayesian Clinical Trials,” featuring Scott M. Berry of Berry Consultants.

The course will describe recent Bayesian innovations in the design and analysis of clinical trials. The goals are first, more efficient clinical trials and clinical development programs, and second, treating patients more effectively, both those in and outside of trials. The only prerequisite knowledge necessary fo the institute is a basic understanding of statistics and of clinical trials.

Registration information for BYU faculty and students and employees of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can be obtained by contacting Kathi Carter, Department of Statistics, 223 TMCB, Provo, UT 84602,kathi_carter@byu.edu, (801) 422-4506, fax (801) 422-0635, or at the Web page: http://statistics.byu.edu/summer_institute. The registration deadline is June 1.

Berry will provide background on Bayesian designs for clinical trials and give several case studies of the adaptive approach used in actual designs and analyses presented to the FDA. These examples include the possibility of early stopping, seamless phase II and III trials with sequential sampling, using early endpoints to guide sample size, and adaptive dose finding. The cost savings of such an approach are usually substantial.

He received his doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University and his bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota. He spent five years at Texas A&M University in the Statistics Department. As president of Berry Consultants, he has been involved in the design of more than 40 Bayesian clinical trials for pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

He is the past chair of the Statistics in Sports section of the American Statistical Association. He wrote a column, “A Statistician Reads the Sports Pages,” for Chance magazine and has many other sports publications to go with his diverse statistics publications.

Writer: Kathi Carter

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