Introduction to Statistical Issues in Clinical Trials

Brief Description:

This course covers the basic statistical principles in the design and analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Instructor(s):
Level:

Who Should Take This Course:

Analysts and statisticians at pharmaceutical companies and other health research organizations who need or want to become involved in the design, monitoring or analysis of clinical trials.

Dates:
June 22, 2012 to July 20, 2012
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Registration:
Please read the syllabus tab, noting the prerequisites, text and software requirements.

Register Online -$499
Register Online -$399 (you must be affiliated with a college, university or high school)

Add $50 service fee if you require a prior invoice, or if you need to submit a purchase order or voucher, pay by wire transfer or EFT, or refund and reprocess a prior payment. Please use this printed registration form, for these and other special orders.

Courses may fill up at any time and registrations are processed in the order in which they are received. Your registration will be confirmed for the first available course date, unless you specify otherwise. Multiple course registrations may be entitled to tuition discounts; read more.

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Introduction to Statistical Issues in Clinical Trials

Aim of Course:

This course covers the basic statistical principles in the design and analysis of randomized controlled trials. Participants will learn the basic principles for the design of trials, and sample size determination. They will also learn the appropriate statistical techniques associated with the major types of end points for trials (categorical, count, Normal, non-Normal). Participants will also be introduced to pharmacokinetics and the study of drug concentration data.

Prerequisite(s):

We recommend our Biostatistics 1, Biostatistics 2 and Survival Analysis courses as companions, for those interested in getting the most out of this course.

See registration for 3-course tuition package.

Course Program:

SESSION 1: The Domain

• What is a clinical trial?
• Historical remarks, some diseases and discoveries
• Steps(phases)in drug development
• Scope of clinical trials: new drugs, generics, devices, psychiatric therapy, alternative medicine.
• Role of statistics

SESSION 2: Planning a clinical trial - statistican's inputs

• Principles of design of experiments (replication, local control, randomization)
• Power and sample size
• Bias reduction (blinding)
• Commonly used designs

SESSION 3: Statistical Analysis Plan (SAP) of Clinical Trial

• Trial objectives, hypotheses, choice of techniques, nature of endpoints (illustrated with live cases)
• End point Binary: A Randomizated Evaluation of First-Dollar Coverage for Post-MI Secondary Preventive Therapies (Post-MI FREEE)
• End point - Normal: accuracy study of SoftTouch (a non-invasive device for measurement of peripheral blood biomarkers)
• End point - count data: Pediatric Asthma Alert Intervention for Minority Children With Asthma (PAAL)
• End point - non-Normal: TBTC Study 27/28 PK: Moxifloxacin Pharmacokinetics During TB Treatment

SESSION 4: Illustrative Statistical Analysis of Clinical Trial Data

• One sample problem - reduction in blood pressure
• Two sample problem - anorexia
• K-sample problem - drowsiness due to antihistamines
• Cochrane's Q test - allergic response
• Analysis of Time-concentration data in pharmacokinetic study

Organization of the Course:

This course takes place over the internet, at statistics.com for 4 weeks. During each course week, you participate at times of your own choosing - there are no set times when you must be online. Course participants will be given access to a private discussion board. In class discussions led by the instructor, you can post questions, seek clarification, and interact with your fellow students and the instructor.

The course typically requires 15 hours per week. At the beginning of each week, you receive the relevant material, in addition to answers to exercises from the previous session. During the week, you are expected to go over the course materials, work through exercises, and submit answers. Discussion among participants is encouraged. The instructor will provide answers and comments, and you will receive individual feedback on your homework answers.

Credit:
Students come to The Institute for a variety of reasons:

1. You may be interested only in learning the material presented, and not be concerned with grades or a record of completion.
2. You may be enrolled in PASS (Program in Advanced Statistical Studies) that requires demonstration of proficiency in the subject, in which case your work will be assessed for a grade.
3. You may require a "Record of Course Completion," along with professional development credit in the form of Continuing Education Units (CEU's).

As you begin the class, you will be asked to specify your category.

This course offers continuing education units (CEU's). For those successfully completing the course (generally this means marks of 50% or better on the homework), 5.0 CEU's and a record of course completion will be issued by Statistics.com, upon request.

Course Text:

The required text is Fundamentals of Clinical Trials by Friedman, Furberg, and DeMets.

You may order this text directly from the publisher at a discounted price by clicking here and using the promotional code, AECT15 (this code is case-sensitive), during checkout time. PLEASE ORDER YOUR COPY IN TIME FOR THE COURSE STARTING DATE.

Software:

No specific software is required.

Any standard statistical software package should be able to handle the illustrations and exercises; SAS is the most widely used software in the field of clinical trials. EXCEL and MINITAB will be used for illustrations during the course. It is possible to download free trial version of MINITAB for 30 days. For more information about obtaining free or nominal cost versions of standard software packages, click here.

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Yes, I want to register for:

Introduction to Statistical Issues in Clinical Trials

Instructor(s):
Dates:
June 22, 2012 to July 20, 2012
Course Fee: $499
Academic Discounted Rate: $399

Before registering, please read the syllabus tab, noting the prerequisites, text and software requirements. When you click the register button, you will be taken to our secure transaction page.

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