Date/Time
Date(s) - 14/02/2023
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

Speaker: Stephen Walter, McMaster University

Title:  Some potential biases in the meta-analysis of clinical trials data

Abstract:  This talk will review two recent issues concerning the meta-analysis of clinical trials.  First, we will examine the impact of stopping a trial early at an interim analysis.  The standard literature has focused on maintaining the nominal type-I error rate for significance testing, but less attention has been paid to the bias that arises in the estimation of a treatment effect from interim data.

Second,we will discuss a recent finding, that the conventional methods for weighting studies involve an inherent bias, something that has apparently not been noticed for decades. I will briefly present some recent work (with Dr Balakrishnan) on developing appropriate correction factors to counteract this bias.

Both of these problems require a little theory to solve them, but there are important practical implications. 

Date/Time: Tuesday February 14, 2023, 3:30 – 5:00 

Location: MDCL 1115