Medical Section

The Medical Section aims to provide a forum for discussing a wide range of issues, methods, and findings of interest to statisticians working in medical and health related areas.

The section organises a programme of 5-10 meetings each year on medical and health related themes. These meetings are aimed at a general audience with an interest in medical statistics as well as health care professionals and non-statisticians. The Primary Health Care Statistics Study Group is affiliated with the Medical Section.

Our meetings frequently take place at the RSS, Errol Street, London but we also hold joint meetings with RSS local groups from around the United Kingdom. Such meetings are generally open without charge to RSS fellows and to the general public although some designated ‘fund-raising’ meetings and courses may charge modest fees to recover expenses. If you would like to be informed of any upcoming activities associated with the Medical Section please join the RSSMEDSEC jiscmail distribution list.

Medical Section Officers and Committee members:

Chair: Prof Mike Campbell (University of Sheffield)
Vice Chair: Prof Cindy Billingham (University of Birmingham)
Secretary: Dr Dawn Teare (University of Sheffield)
Meetings Secretary: Dr Gordon Prescott (University of Aberdeen)

Committee members:

Dr Jonathan Bartlett (LSHTM)
Prof James Carpenter (LSHTM)
Dr Richard Emsley (University of Manchester)
Dr Andy Lynch (University of Cambridge)
Dr Moira Mugglestone (National Collaborating Centre for Women's and Children's Health)
Prof Nuala Sheehan (University of Leicester)
Prof Kate Tilling (University of Bristol)

The following recent meetings give a good indication of the richness and variety of the topics covered by the Medical Section;

13 May 2013 Teaching Statistics in Universities: Where to next? Speakers: Nasrollah Saebi,  Kevin McConway, Roger Porkess, Gillian Lancaster, Gill Price, Annie Herbert, Jenny Freeman. This one-day conference was organised the RSS Medical Section and ASLU (Association of Statistics Lecturers in Universities)

3^rd December 2012  Measurement Error. Speakers: Jonathan Bartlett,  Ruth Keogh,  Rosanne McNamee  and Evridiki Batistatou.

5^th October 2012  Trials in rare diseases: Joint RSS Medical Section and MRC Hubs for Trials Methodology Research and the European Network for Cancer Research in Children and Adolescents and the International Rare Cancers Initiative.  Speakers: Norman Breslow,  John Whitehead, Maria Grazia Valsecchi, Keith Wheatley, Lucinda Billingham, Wendy London.

20^th June 2012 RSS Ordinary Meeting (Co-sponsored by Medical Section). A Bayesian approach to complex clinical diagnoses: a case study in child abuse.  Nicky Best, Deborah Ashby, Frank Dunstan, David Foreman, Neil McIntosh.

16th May 2012 RSS Ordinary Meeting (Co-sponsored by Medical Section).Group Sequential Tests for Delayed Responses, Lisa Hampson and Chris Jennison.

25^th April 2012 Bradford Hill Lecture (Co-hosted with LSHTM) Hospital acquired infections-urgent statistical treatment required. Martin Schumacher(Freiberg University).

22^nd March 2012 Prediction Modelling in Health. Speakers: Karel Moons, Ruwanthi Kolamunnage-Dona, Gary Collins.