The Effective Statistician - in association with PSI

In this thought-provoking keynote recording, Manjari Narayan takes us on a journey through one of the most pressing and promising intersections in modern science: the convergence of artificial intelligence, statistics, and biotechnology. Drawing on her extensive experience in both academia and biotech startups, Manjari explores the critical role statisticians can play in AI-driven drug discovery,...

In this special keynote episode, I’m excited to share the recording of Professor Tim Friede’s thought-provoking presentation from The Effective Statistician Conference 2024. Tim, a leading expert in biostatistics and clinical trial design, dives deep into the combination of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and real-world data (RWD)—especially in the context of rare diseases. Drawing from his wo...

In this keynote episode, Professor Sebastian Schneeweiss from Harvard Medical School shares groundbreaking insights from his extensive research into emulating randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using real-world data (RWD). Recorded live at The Effective Statistician Conference 2024, this talk explores whether non-randomized studies based on electronic health records and claims data can reach conc...

In this episode of The Effective Statistician, Alun Bedding takes the mic to explore one of the most underrated yet transformative tools in any professional's career—networking. With the PSI Conference happening, this episode offers timely insights into how statisticians—introverts and extroverts alike—can use networking to build meaningful professional relationships, accelerate their careers, and...

In this episode, Alun Bedding welcomes Emma Crawford for a powerful and personal conversation about building inclusive workplace cultures—ones where every individual can thrive. Emma shares her late diagnosis of autism and how it reshaped her experience and expectations of the workplace. Together, they explore the limitations of the traditional “reasonable adjustments” framework and introduce the...

How can oncologists and healthcare professionals keep up with the ever-growing body of research to make the best decisions for patients? In this episode, I speak with Anna Forsythe, a pharmacologist, health economist, and founder of OncoScope, a groundbreaking platform delivering daily updated systematic literature reviews (SLRs) in oncology. Drawing on decades of experience in pharma and health e...

In this episode, I’m joined by Julia Geronimi from Servier and Dr. Pavel Mozgunov from the University of Cambridge to explore a topic that’s absolutely central to advancing precision medicine—predictive biomarkers. We dive into the challenges of identifying predictive vs. prognostic biomarkers, especially in early-phase clinical trials with limited sample sizes. What makes their approach so exciti...

In this special episode, I’m sharing the recording of a webinar I co-hosted with Cytel on March 20, 2025. I was joined by an expert panel of leaders in statistics and clinical development: Yannis Jemiai, Flaminia Chiesa, and Benjamin Piske. Together, we explored how the role of statisticians is rapidly evolving in response to industry changes, data innovations, and AI-driven transformation. This r...

In this episode, I’m excited to welcome back Katrin Kupas, a statistician with deep expertise in Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and real world evidence (RWE). We dive into how RWE and the new Joint Clinical Assessment (JCA) process in Europe can work together—and where the challenges lie. As the JCA becomes more central in EU regulatory and reimbursement discussions, knowing how and when to us...

As someone who found my way into statistics late—only halfway through university—I often wonder: what if more young people knew about this path earlier? In this episode, I sit down with two wonderful guests and PSI volunteers, Emma Crawford and Alex Spiers, to explore exactly that: how we, as statisticians and scientists, can inspire the next generation. We talk about the why behind investing in S...

Group sequential trials, interim analyses, final analyses, updated analyses… what do these terms actually mean, and why is there so much confusion? In this technical yet highly practical episode, I speak with Kaspar Rufibach, Principal Biostatistician at Roche, to unpack some of the most commonly misunderstood terminology and concepts in clinical trial design and analysis. If you've ever questione...

In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Prof. Holger Fröhlich, who leads the AI and Data Science Group at the Fraunhofer Institute and is an honorary professor at the University of Bonn. We explored one of the hottest topics in healthcare data science right now: synthetic data. Holger and I discussed how synthetic data is generated using AI, what role digital twins could play in the f...

In this episode, I’m diving into a topic that’s very personal to me—working in an English-speaking environment as a non-native speaker. If you’ve ever felt unsure about your English skills in meetings, emails, or presentations, you’re not alone. I’ve been there myself, and I want to share what’s helped me grow more confident and effective over the years. I’ll walk you through practical strategies...

In this episode, I’m once again joined by Daniel Sabanés Bové for a deep dive into one of the most impactful tools for statisticians working with data visualization—R-Shiny. We explore how interactive data visualizations can help you iterate faster, collaborate better across functions, and focus more on the actual scientific questions rather than just coding. Daniel shares some excellent examples...

In this episode, I’m sharing three personal stories where soft skills—or better yet, human skills—made a huge difference in my work as a statistician. Whether it was building trust to access critical data, presenting results in a way that truly resonated, or negotiating a fair contract, these experiences reminded me how essential these skills are alongside our technical expertise.

In this episode, I’m joined once again by Daniel Sabanés Bové to talk all about R packages—why they’re so useful, when to create one, and how to do it effectively. Whether you’re just starting out with writing reusable functions or thinking about building a more robust and reusable R package, you’ll find plenty of hands-on advice in our discussion. Daniel shares his experiences from working at Roc...

In this episode, I welcome back Necdet Gunsoy, who’s now in a new role as the founder of EviMed, a boutique consultancy specializing in health economics, outcomes research, real-world evidence, and market access. We dive into the often tense relationship between statisticians and market access professionals, exploring why these functions struggle to collaborate and, more importantly, how we can wo...

In this episode of The Effective Statistician podcast, I dive into the art of persuasion. As statisticians and data scientists, we often rely on logic and data, but true influence requires more than just being right. Drawing from ancient Greek philosophy, I explore the three pillars of persuasion—ethos (credibility), logos (logic), and pathos (emotion)—and share practical strategies to help you ef...

In this episode of The Effective Statistician, I sit down with Kaspar Rufibach to tackle a topic that affects statisticians every day—how to interpret p-values, confidence intervals, and statistical hypotheses. We explore the differences between Fisher’s and Neyman-Pearson’s approaches, clear up common misconceptions, and discuss how misinterpreting statistical significance can lead to flawed conc...

In this episode of The Effective Statistician, I dive into a crucial skill—building influence within a clinical trial team. As statisticians, we often need to negotiate timelines, advocate for better analysis methods, and ensure clear communication across teams. The stronger our influence, the more impact we can have on study outcomes and, ultimately, patients. I break down the key pillars of trus...

I know firsthand how challenging it can be to manage a heavy workload while maintaining mental well-being. In this episode of The Effective Statistician, I talk with Peter Wehmeier about the five key dimensions of self-management—building strong relationships, setting priorities, making decisions, and taking action. We share practical strategies to reduce stress, strengthen resilience, and take co...

Welcome to another episode of The Effective Statistician! Today, I sit down with Darko Medin to explore how artificial intelligence is transforming biostatistics. Darko works as a biostatistician for companies worldwide and builds digital solutions that push AI’s boundaries. We dive into Bio AI Works, the platform he’s developing to improve AI reliability and eliminate issues like hallucinations i...

In this episode of The Effective Statistician, I explore Slow Productivity by Cal Newport—a book that challenges how we think about work and efficiency. I welcome Alun Bedding and Steve Mallett to discuss how statisticians can apply Newport’s principles: doing fewer things, working at a natural pace, and obsessing over quality. We share our experiences with managing workloads, cutting unnecessary...

In this episode of The Effective Statistician, I talk with Justin Belair about the process of writing a book on causal inference, one of the hottest topics in statistics. Justin explains how he discovered causal inference, what motivated him to write a hands-on technical book, and how he balances theory, real-world applications, and coding exercises. Having written a book myself, I know the challe...