Medical Statistics

Medical statistics is a major area of statistical endeavour and has had a considerable influence on clinical medicine and public health through applications, for instance, to the design and analysis of clinical trials and the epidemiology of chronic and infectious diseases.

The purpose of this Research Group is to foster further research into the theory and application of methodology to medical statistics, to encourage collaboration between its members and to establish the OU’s Department of Statistics as a centre for medical statistics research.

Some examples of medical statistics research carried out by members of the group are:

• Analysis of clinical trial data
• Survival time modelling
• Meta-analysis methods
• Systematic reviews
• Survey design
• Detection of factors associated with hypertension
• Predictors of smoking cessation
• Identifying danger signs among new-borns and mothers
• Modelling pain sensitivity in healthy individuals
• Exploring the genetic basis and biological pathway of pain perception

Some examples of medical statistics research carried out by former members of the group are:

Investigating safety of vaccines

Aims and Objectives

To stimulate and facilitate research into the theory and applications of medical statistical methods, with a view to establishing the OU’s Statistics Group as a centre for Medical Statistics.