We are delighted to be hosting an in-person workshop where a recent article entitled: Response-adaptive randomization in clinical trials: from myths to practical considerations and appearing in Statistical Science will be presented and discussed. The original discussion pieces that accompany the paper will be presented as well.

The event, supported by the British Irish section of the Biometric Society, is aimed at the broad scientific community working on the development of methods for response-adaptive clinical trials and their use in practice.

Date & Venue

Thursday 29th February, CRUK Cambridge Institute, Li Ka Shing Centre, Robinson Way, Cambridge CB2 0RE

Keynote Speakers

• Professor William Rosenberger – George Mason University
• Professor Chris Jennison – University of Bath
• Professor Kert Viele – Berry Consultants
• Professor Lorenzo Trippa – Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• Professor Peter Mueller – University of Texas
• Professor Monia Lupparelli (representing Alessandra Giovagnoli) – University of Florence
• Dr Sofía Villar – MRC Biostatistics Unit
• Dr David Robertson – MRC Biostatistics Unit

Registration

Register here: Response-adaptive Randomisation in Clinical Trials, 29 February 2024 | University of Cambridge

Contact

If you have any questions about this workshop, please email: communications@mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk

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Early Career Session

We are excited to announce a call for abstracts for an Early Career Session (ECS) to be held as part of the Response-Adaptive Randomisation in Clinical Trials Workshop on Friday 1st March 2024. The ECS will provide a platform for early career researchers to present their work, network with peers, and learn from internationally recognised experts in the field of response-adaptive designs.

Eligibility

To be eligible to submit an abstract, you must be:

• An early career researcher (e.g., a PhD student, postdoc, or research assistant) 
• Working on research related to response-adaptive designs for clinical trials

How to submit?

Please submit an abstract by Monday 18th December 2023 using the following link: https://forms.gle/Z3pM2JSr5D88o6RJ7

Selection Process

Abstracts will be reviewed by a panel. The panel will select presenters based on the following criteria: 

• The originality and significance of the research
• The clarity and quality of the abstract
• The relevance of the research to the workshop
• Meets the early career eligibility criteria above

Applicants will be notified of the results and the format and date of presentation (talk/poster) by 15th January 2023. 

Support

Some level of travel and accommodation support will be available to presenters who are selected to give talks at the ECS that do not have any other funding available.

Key Dates

• Deadline for abstracts: Monday 18th December 2023
• Notification of results:15th January 2024
• ECS dates: 29th February 2024 – 1 March 2024

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Short Course on Response-Adaptive Methods for Clinical Trials

To compliment the workshop, we will run a short course on Wednesday 28th February 2024 on response-adaptive designs and consider several important aspects of their design and analysis. These concepts will be delivered through a mixture of lectures, practical sessions, and discussions.

Find out more and register: Response-Adaptive Methods for Clinical Trials – In Person Course, 28 February 2024 | University of Cambridge

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Call for Manuscripts

We are pleased to announce a call for manuscripts for a special issue of Statistical Methods in Medical Research (SMMR), a highly-ranked SAGE journal, entitled “The theory and practice of response-adaptive randomization in clinical trials: current and future perspectives ”.

We invite members of the academic community, industry, regulatory agencies and the wider scientific community to submit manuscripts. The submissions should focus on the following topics related to response-adaptive randomization (RAR) in clinical trials:

• Review papers describing the state of the art and open challenges: articles describing contemporaneous applications of RAR in clinical trials, best practice, existing software, etc.
• Original research articles expanding the state of the art on RAR: New statistical methodology and their application to clinical trials including covariate-adjusted response adaptive methods, methods for handling of missing data for the implementation of RAR design, estimation and hypothesis testing issues after RAR (for example, the use of estimands as well as efficiency and validity in finite samples), guidance for simulation studies, use of machine learning or AI in RAR, and approaches to benchmark or compare RAR with other adaptive designs, etc. Both illustrative application via simulation and direct application of new methodology to a specific clinical trial are welcome. The direct use of new methodology into a specific clinical trial is of high interest and thus encouraged to be included wherever possible but not strictly needed.

Submissions on other related topics will be considered but priority shall be given to the topics explicitly mentioned in the list above.

Expression of interest on the review type papers can be submitted before January 15^th 2024. The expression of interest should be presented in a cover letter of no more than 1 page clearly describing the research problem(s) that will be solved, the added value to the current body of knowledge on RAR, the potential implications for practice and the fit within the special issue scope. Expression of interests as well as informal queries on the special issue can be submitted by email to: rarct.smmr@mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk

For the original research articles, manuscripts can be directly submitted online at ScholarOne Manuscripts System https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/smmr. Once you login to the system, go to the “Start New Submission” page. Please select “RARCT” at “Step 1: Type, Title, & Abstract”. Manuscripts can be submitted until June 15th, 2024. Submissions before that deadline are welcome and encouraged. Please also note that all articles will undergo peer review and there is no guarantee of acceptance for a submission. All papers will be peer-reviewed, according to the reviewing principles of SMMR. Accepted papers will be published continuously online on the journal website (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together in the special issue.

A guide for authors and other relevant information for the submission of manuscripts is available on the “Instructions for Authors” page at the journal website https://journals.sagepub.com/author-instructions/SMM Manuscripts are accepted in Word or LaTeX.  

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Oleksandr Sverdlov (alex.sverdlov@novartis.com), Hongjian Zhu (hongjian.zhu@abbvie.com), David Robertson (david.robertson@mrc-bsu.acm.ac.uk) or Sofia S. Villar (sofia.villar@mrc-bsu.cam.ac.uk).