1. How or why did you choose statistics as a career path/study area?

I got into statistics a bit my accident… I started a maths degree and took an optional course in statistics because I’d never done any before (not even at school) and I thought it looked a bit more “mathsy” than some of the other options.  I never looked back. Dropped the idea of a maths degree and switched to statistics.

2. What inspires you about statistics?

Of course, within any discipline, there are many variations, but I really like the practical element of statistics.  I know lots of students actually don’t like this aspect – the problem of translating some half-cooked idea from a researcher into something that has real structure, and is answerable, is not everyone’s cup of tea.  But it ticks all my boxes.  I like working on trying to answer questions to which no-one knows the answer.  It might be a routine type of clinical trial… looking at a new drug for a disease in which it may not have been tested before.  The day you find out the answer is exciting (even if the day before can be a bit nerve-wrecking!)

3. What would you say to students/Early Career Researchers who may be considering statistics as a study option/career choice?

My advice to young students and researchers is to do what you want to do, when you want to do it.  Don’t be worried that your peers are all doing something else… settling in to career paths, buying houses, doing all the things that adults do.  Do things that inspire you – but always keep a look out for opportunities.  That’s how I got into statistics and it’s how I’ve made most of my career choices since.  By all means have plans and goals, but use them to help you along, not constrain you.

Simon has spent 30 years working in clinical trials, mostly in the pharmaceutical industry but also including five years at the UK and European regulatory agencies. He now works as a statistical and regulatory consultant to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies around the world. He specialises in training and consulting on drug development programmes, scientific advice / end of Phase II meetings and preparations for oral explanations and advisory committees. He is particularly well known for his work in the area of developing treatments for rare diseases.

He is a former president of the International Society for Clinical Biostatistics. He is joint editor of Statistics in Medicine, on the editorial board of Translational Sciences of Rare Diseases, and previously joint editor of the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society; he has also served on editorial boards on a number of other journals, including Pharmaceutical Statistics, Controlled Clinical Trials and British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. In 2012 he was elected a Fellow of the Society for Clinical Trials.

He has published widely in statistical and medical journals, is author of one book “Dictionary for Clinical Trials” and is joint editor of the “Textbook of Clinical Trials”, both published by Wiley.

He has served on a variety of data monitoring committees both for industry- and government-sponsored trials. He is chairman of the External Advisory Panel for the Department of Statistics at Oxford University and an Associate on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He formerly served as vice-Chairman of the West London Research Ethics Committee. He has given numerous lectures and courses on statistics and clinical trials all around the world, including courses at the FDA on development and regulatory assessment of orphan drugs.