MRC Biostatistics Unit
The Medical Research Council (MRC) has bestowed the new title of MRC Investigator on Programme Leaders (PL) and Programme Leader Track (PLT) researchers at their Units and Intramural Institutes. These individuals are world-class scientists who are either strong leaders in their field already (PLs) or are making great strides towards that goal (PLTs).
At the BSU we have brilliant senior scientific leaders and we wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate them.
Jessica’s research centres on developing statistical methodology for modelling complex multi-outcome data. Applications include exploring the association between lung function and survival in cystic fibrosis patients and dynamic risk prediction of cardiovascular disease.
Stephen’s main area of research is causal inference and specifically methods for Mendelian randomization: the use of genetic variants to understand whether putative risk factors are causally related to specific disease outcomes (target validation).
Daniela’s work focuses on the development of statistical methods for the characterisation of epidemics, including natural history, burden and prediction of future evolution, informing the implementation and evaluation of public health policies. More recently, Daniela’s research has been targeted on carrying out real-time tracking of the COVID-19 pandemic. Daniela is Professor of Statistical Science for Health at the University of Cambridge in the Department of Primary Care and Public Health, and she is Deputy Director at the BSU.
Thomas recently joined the BSU in the Design and Analysis of Randomised Trials theme. Thomas will lead this continuously evolving research theme into a new era, developing new streams of efficient clinical trials tackling current public health challenges, including COVID-19.
Having previously made contributions to the field of statistical systems biology, Paul’s current research profile is at the intersection of precision medicine and statistical functional genomics. He is currently working on developing statistical and machine learning methods for the identification of clinically actionable disease subtypes.
Sylvia’s recent research has focused on modelling and analysis of large data problems such as those arising in genomics. She is particularly interested in developing new analytical strategies for integrative and translational genomics, including statistical methodology for risk stratification, discovering disease subtypes, and large scale hierarchical analysis of high dimensional biomedical and multi-omics data. Sylvia is the Director of the BSU and has held a Research Professorship in the University of Cambridge since 2012. In 2019, Sylvia was awarded a CBE for her services to medical statistics.
Oscar is interested in the development of statistical models for the analysis of large genomic and transcriptomic datasets. Specifically, his goal is to integrate large breast cancer datasets in order to identify biomarkers that can be used to stratify patients and to identify potential drug candidates for specific subtypes. Oscar joined the Unit this year and is leading work in the Statistical Omics (SOMX) theme.
Brian leads the Precision Medicine theme at the Unit. His current research interests are on; Causal Inference, Chronic Disease Epidemiology (in particular related to Inflammatory Arthritis), Dynamic Graphical Modelling of Stochastic Processes, Efficiency, Modelling of Longitudinal and Correlated Data, Multi-state Models and Survival Data, and Stratified Medicine.
Sofia’s current research involves the development of methodology for adaptive experiments that incorporates optimisation ideas from multi-armed bandit problems. In particular, her interests include designing innovative trials that use forward-looking algorithms to incorporate patient benefit objectives and developing robust inference procedures to analyse them. She is also leading a team of statisticians at the Papworth trials Unit collaboration (PTUC).
Chris works to develop integrative statistical methodology for omics analysis of human traits and disease, with a particular focus on understanding the molecular basis of human immune-mediated diseases and their treatment.
The MRC greatly values the leadership and scientific excellence of all its researchers, and this new title will achieve greater recognition for senior leaders. Professor Fiona Watt, MRC Executive Chair, recently said in a blog: “I am very much looking forward to engaging with our MRC Investigators. Based on what they have achieved in their careers so far, I know that they will make the new title synonymous with scientific accomplishment, expertise and integrity.”