Fall 2000 Seminar Series - November 28, 2000
University of Minnesota
School of Statistics
College of Liberal Arts
Statistical Challenges in Clinical Pharmacology
Bret Musser
Statistician
Merck & Co., Rahway, NJ
Tuesday, November 28, 2000
4:00 PM,
Vincent Hall
207
Minneapolis, East Bank Campus
Social at 3:30 PM,
300
Ford Hall
Abstract
When statisticians think about clinical trials and the drug development process,
they usually think about Phase III clinical trials. However, clinical drug
development is more than the classic large confirmatory trial. In clinical
pharmacology, the fundamental biological aspects of potential new medicines are
explored: how fast the drug is absorbed, how fast it is eliminated, how the drug
might interact with other drugs, and more. For the statistician, these early
stages of clinical development are often more exciting --- and more difficult
--- than the classic Phase III clinical trial. This talk will present an
overview of the drug development process and briefly discuss the phases of
clinical development. After the general overview, several on-going statistical
problems in clinical pharmacology will be presented.
Bret Musser is a graduate from the School of Statistics. He currently works for
pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. in Rahway, NJ, as a statistician.