To give students a practical introduction to statistics as it is used in medical research, including in designed clinical trials, observational epidemiological studies and the special class of models used for analysing time to event data. The course will introduce the statistical methods commonly used when analysing medical data, illustrate how to implement these methods on real data case studies, and discuss some of the wider issues when working with medical data such as ethical implications.

20 lectures

3 tutorials

3 computer lab practical sessions

STATS4006 Biostatistics

Courses prescribed in the Master's-level programme to which the student has been admitted.

90-minute, end-of-course examination (85%), Moodle quizzes (15%)

This course equips students with the knowledge and skills necessary to contribute to clinical trials and epidemiological studies. Students will learn to assist in the design and implementation of such studies, analyse the resulting data, and draw appropriate conclusions. This training prepares them for careers as statisticians working with medical data in various settings, including pharmaceutical companies, government public health departments, or research positions, such as pursuing a PhD. The curriculum provides a theoretical understanding of the statistical techniques and ethical considerations involved in modelling medical data. Hands-on practical classes allow students to apply their learning to real-world case studies. While introducing survival analysis methodologies that will likely be new to students, this course primarily emphasizes the practical application of statistics to address real-world challenges, demonstrating the subject's impact beyond academia. This course is thus particularly suited to students with a genuine interest in applying statistics to solve real-world problems. As an applied course, it draws upon methods learned in other courses to provide practical experience and insights.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ implement the key steps that a statistician would undertake in a real clinical trial, including calculating the sample size required for the trial and fitting a statistical model to analyse the resulting data

■ use a range of epidemiological study designs to estimate the rates of disease in a population and the effects that an exposure has on disease rates.

■ apply statistical techniques to analyse a real sample of survival data, including estimating the survival function and quantifying the effects that covariate factors have on the hazard function for the population under study.

■ draw appropriate conclusions from the results of applying a statistical model to medical data.

■ Derive mathematically key quantities relating to the statistical models applied to epidemiological data.