EPSRC CASE award

Supervisor: Prof C. Jennison

Project: Efficient Design of Phase II Clinical Trials

Applications are invited for an EPSRC funded research studentship. This a
CASE award for a project supervised jointly by Professor Chris Jennison at
the University of Bath and Dr Simon Kirby at Pfizer in Sandwich, Kent. The
research student will be based in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at
Bath with regular visits to Pfizer for research discussions. In addition,
summer placements at Pfizer will provide opportunity to experience a variety
of statistical work in a major pharmaceutical company.

The research project concerns the design of Phase II clinical trials. These
studies aim to show "proof of concept", confirming that a new treatment has
an effect at an initially selected dose. They also search for the optimal
dose, which should be both effective and safe, to carry forward to a
confirmatory Phase III study. Some of the recent failures of compounds
reaching Phase III are partly attributable to insufficiently rigorous
testing at previous stages for evidence of efficacy or sub-optimal dose
selection.

The aim of this project is to advance the design and analysis of Phase II
trials, appraising existing methods and developing alternatives. The project
will be wide-ranging, covering parametric and non-parametric dose-response
models, and analysing these by frequentist and Bayesian methods. It will
involve optimal design, adaptive design, and sequential planning of
experiments. In problem formulation and the derivation of efficient methods,
it will draw on statistical decision theory.

The collaboration with Pfizer will help ground the research in realistic
examples. It will also provide a test-bed to check that solutions proposed
are practicable. The research student will be stimulated by working in a
fast moving field and the knowledge that he/she is contributing to a crucial
application area.

Application Procedure: To apply for this position, please submit an
application for the MPhil/PhD in Statistics at the University of Bath,
stating under "Research Interests" that you are interested in this project.
More information on PhD research in Bath's Dept of Mathematical Sciences is
available at

http://www.bath.ac.uk/math-sci/postgraduate/

Details of the application procedure may be found at the University's 
postgraduate
admissions pages at

http://www.bath.ac.uk/prospectus/postgrad/apply/

Informal enquiries may also be made directly to Professor Jennison or 
myself.

Alexander Cox

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Dr Alexander Cox               tel:   01225 386187
Dept of Mathematical Sciences  fax:   01225 386492
University of Bath           email: [log in to unmask]
Bath, BA2 7AY, UK            web: http://www.maths.bath.ac.uk/~mapamgc/
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