scientific design, conduct, analysis & reporting of clinical trials

Lagakos' Symposium

"Impact of Biostatistical Science - Advances in Research:

AIDS, Cancer, Environment"

Marvin Zelen

Marvin Zelen, is the Lemuel Shattuck Research Professor of Statistical Science at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the President of Frontier Science & Technology Research Foundation (FSTRF).

He received his Ph.D from the American University in 1957. He founded the Division of Biostatistical Science at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) in 1977 and served as chair until 1998. He also chaired the Department of Biostatistics from 1980 to 1990 at HSPH. Earlier, he held positions at the National Cancer Institute, the National Bureau of Standards and the State University of New York at Buffalo. Marvin Zelen is an influential leader and an exceptionally accomplished biostatistical scientist. At one point in time he led the Statistical and Data Management Centers of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group, the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, the Veteran’s Administration Lung Cancer Group and the Ludwig Clinical Trial Group, now known as the International Breast Cancer Study Group. He helped found the Statistical Center of the European Organization for the Treatment of Cancer. He has received numerous awards, among them from ASA, ISI, IMS; he is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His contributions include the development of the survival model that served as the forerunner of Cox’s proportional hazards model, the semi-Markov process for analyzing multivariate survival data, his instrumental work on adaptive designs and randomized consent procedures. In addition to his accomplishments in program building, his publications of more than 150 articles on many topics in statistical theory, notably on the modeling of cancer screening, survival analysis and linear models, he is  best known for his work on clinical trials methodology. Marvin Zelen has transformed clinical trial research into a statistically sophisticated branch of medical research. He essentially shaped the effort in developing and popularizing the randomized trial by founding in 1975 and leading FSTRF, a not-for-profit Foundation engaged in large-scale national and international clinical trials in adult cancers and HIV related diseases. More than a thousand hospitals and treatment centers are entering patients on these trials. The Foundation has offices in the United States and Europe, and most recently in Greece.  In 2009, Dr Zelen was awarded American Cancer’s Society Medal of Honor as recognition of his accomplishments in Cancer Research.

Personal Webpage

Frontier Science Foundation-Hellas 2007-2011