News

BSU Internship Programme in its 6th consecutive year

24 August 2026

The MRC Biostatistics Unit has been running a thriving internship programme since 2021 and this year, its success continued. Our widely recognised and highly competitive internship programme provides undergraduate students with an interest in data science and knowledge of statistics to join the Unit for 8 weeks, to work on...

Gianmarco Caruso receives Wellcome Early-Career Award Fellowship

20 August 2026

Many congratulations to Gianmarco Caruso on receiving a Wellcome Early-Career Award Fellowship. Gianmarco has been working at the MRC Biostatistics Unit as a Research Associate since 2023 in the Efficient Study Design theme. His five-year Fellowship which will start in early 2027, will be focusing on: Estimation-Driven...

Group photo of BSU staff and students at ISBA 2026

Celebrating fantastic BSU presence and achievements at ISBA 2026

13 July 2026

Staff and students from the BSU joined leading researchers from across the globe at the 18th World Meeting of the International Society for Bayesian Analysis (ISBA) in Japan, showcasing their work and brining home two prestigious awards. The World Meeting is one of the most significant events in the Bayesian statistics...

Photo of BSU researcher explaining precision medicine to a group of school students.

Inspiring the next generation of researchers starts with opportunities like these

7 July 2026

On Wednesday 1 July, we were delighted to welcome a group of Year 8 students from Peterborough to our Unit. Following the success of taking part in the first Cambridge Biomedical Campus School Safari in June 2025, the BSU joined forces once again with AstraZeneca and Form the Future, to organise an immersive day of science...

Pioneering biostatistician appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire

13 June 2026

Many congratulations to Professor Sheila M. Bird on being appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the King's Birthday Honours List 2026 , for her services to statistics. Sheila’s research has significantly contributed to public health through a series of record-linkage studies, focusing on...

Group photo of award winners at ISCB UK 2026, with Jack Hodgkinson stood on the right.

Jack Hodgkinson awarded Best Student Talk at ISCB UK

26 May 2026

Congratulations to Jack Hodgkinson on being awarded the Best Student Talk at the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) UK Conference. The ISCB has emerged as the leading professional society for participants in the field of computational biology and bioinformatics, and organised its first UK based...

Artistic image representing data and stethoscope

International research trial, NOTACS, concludes with pioneering methodological legacy for future of clinical trial designs

12 May 2026

A major randomized, multicentre, adaptive trial evaluating high-flow nasal therapy (HFNT) after cardiac surgery — the Nasal Oxygen Therapy After Cardiac Surgery (NOTACS) trial —has recently published its final clinical results in JAMA Network Open . While the trial concluded that there was no statistically significant...

Image by Abbat from Pixabay - hot water being poured into mug. Black and White image.

Cambridge researchers reveal genes that help us to plan daily tasks

5 May 2026

Researchers at the MRC Biostatistics Unit and the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Cambridge have made an exciting discovery about how our genes affect thinking skills. Published in Nature Communications , the study reveals how our genes influence skills we use every day to plan, organise and make...

Photo of precision medicine game in action at Cambridge Festival 2026

BSU at Cambridge Festival 2026

27 April 2026

On Saturday 21 March, the BSU took part in the Biomedical Campus Day for Cambridge Festival 2026. Photo of capture-recapture activity in action at Cambridge Festival 2026 Cambridge Festival is an annual event coordinated by the University of Cambridge’s Public Engagement team. It is a multidisciplinary festival with a mix...

Artistic graphic with hand touching data points - representing statistics

Improving statistical models using real-world predictions from experts

23 April 2026

Medical research often relies on combining hard data with expert intuition, such as a doctor's clinical intuition. To merge these two types of information, statisticians often use Bayesian models, which capture expert knowledge as mathematical probabilities. This can be difficult to do in practice, because while a doctor...