Keynote & Invited Speakers
Keynote Speaker
Christel Faes
Hasselt University, Data Science Institute,
Belgium
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Keywords: Spatial statistics, epidemiology, Bayesian inference, non-linear associations
Session: Keynote presentation
Talk: “Modeling the local impact of summer heat on mortality”
Christel Faes is Professor in Statistics at Hasselt University within the Data Science Institute, and is vice- director of the institute (since 2022). Her research interests lies in the geographical investigation of health outcome data, in particular the spatio-temporal spread of infectious disease (spatio-temporal epidemiology); the link between environmental factors and health (spatial epidemiology); and the spatial interaction between cells in the micro-environment (spatial statistics at small resolution). The spatial and spatio-temporal methods are used in public-health context, to identify and understand local health problems. It is in this context that she studies methods of clustered and hierarchical data (non-Gaussian data in particular), spatially correlated data, multivariate data of mixed types and flexible estimation methods. She has experience in human and animal epidemiology (including advanced analysis and interpretation of surveillance data, outbreak data, time series, geo-spatial and spatio-temporal data, often retrieved from linked databases). She published both methodological and applied work.
Invited Speakers
Marta Bofill Roig
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain
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Keywords: Adaptive designs, platform trials, external controls, survival analysis, statistical software
Session: Statistical Methods for Platform Trials
Talk: “Design and Analysis of Platform Trials Incorporating Non-concurrent Controls”
Marta Bofill Roig is a Serra Húnter Fellow (tenure-track lecturer) at
the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC).
Marta graduated in Mathematics and earned a Master’s in Statistics and
Operations Research. After obtaining her PhD in 2020, she worked as a
postdoctoral researcher at the Medical University of Vienna. She joined
the Department of Statistics and Operations Research at the UPC in
September 2024 in her current position.
Her research areas include adaptive designs and survival analysis. In
recent years, she has focused her research on methods and software for
the design and analysis of platform trials, with particular interest in
using non-concurrent control data.
Mariana Nold
University of Jena, Institute of Sociology, Jena,
Germany
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Keywords: Descriptive Statistical Modeling & Model Selection (Applications in Sociology & Medicine); Bayesian Statistics & Modeling, in particular model criticism based on posterior predictive checks; Use of Different Approaches of Statistical Inference in Applied Science, in particular the Role of Statistical Models in Analysis Plans
Talk: “Contrasting Bayesian And Frequentist Model Building For Descriptive Research Questions - A Paired-design Experiment”
I am a statistician who studied statistics in Munich and completed a PhD in Bamberg, focusing on the behavior of convergence in logistic regression models. After my PhD, I worked at the University of Jena Biometry Department. Since 2017, I have been working at the Department of Sociology at Jena University,where I teach Bachelor and Master courses in statistics from both a Frequentist and Bayesian perspective. I am actively involved in the STRATOS project, exploring the contrasts between Bayesian and Frequentist model building. Moreover my research interests include modeling social inequalities using Bayesian workflows and in general studying the use of statistical inference in applied fields, particularly the application, validity, and justification of statistical models.
Stephen Senn
University of Sheffield, Sheffield Centre for Health and
Related Research, UK
Medical University of Vienna, Center for Medical Data Science,
Institute of Medical Statistics, Austria
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Keywords: Components of variation, experimental design, drug development, personalised medicine, small trials
Session: The Siren’s Song of Estimands: Temptations and Perils in ICH E9 (R1)
Talk: “Good Things Come To Those Who Weight – Appropriately.”
Stephen Senn has worked as a statistician but also as an academic in various positions in Switzerland, Scotland, England, France and Luxembourg. From 2011-2018 he was head of the Competence Center for Methodology and Statistics at the Luxembourg Institute of Health. He is the author of Cross-over Trials in Clinical Research (1993, 2002), Statistical Issues in Drug Development (1997, 2007, 2021), Dicing with Death (2003, 2022). In 2009 was awarded the Bradford Hill Medal of the Royal Statistical Society. In 2017 he gave the Fisher Memorial Lecture. He is an honorary life member of PSI and ISCB.