Preface (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/sim.6035 Published online in Wiley Online Library Medical statistics – a subject of increasing breadth and importance Odd O. Aalen, a * † Ørnulf Borgan b and Jan Terje Kvaløy c This special issue of Statistics in Medicine publishes papers from presentations made at the 33rd Annual Conference of the International Society for Clinical Biostatistics held during 19–23 August 2012 in Bergen, Norway, where more than 550 participants from 39 countries participated. A total number of 200 oral presentations as well as about 200 posters were presented at the conference. We would like to thank the authors for their contributions and the reviewers for their hard work, which helped make this interesting special issue. Odd O. Aalen, as the chair of the Scientific Programme Committee for the 33rd Annual Conference, would also like to express his thanks to the Scientific Programme Committee members and the members of the Local Organising Committee, especially the chairman Geir Egil Eide. A striking feature at the conference, which is also reflected in the papers published here, is the increasing impact of statistics in all parts of medicine. The biological mechanisms underlying disease, treatment and risk factors for disease are exceedingly complex. Conclusions about treatment effects, for instance, cannot safely be made on the basis of mechanistic understanding derived from basic biology; the detailed analysis of data collected in experimental and observational studies represents an absolutely necessary complement. It is safe to say that scientific medicine is increasingly dependent on advanced statistical analysis. The biological understanding may be the basis for proposing a treatment or preven- tive measure, but no certainty about the effects can be determined before well designed statistical studies have been carried out. And the results of the studies quite often run counter to what one might believe in advance. A recent feature is the increasing complexity of the data derived in medical research. This yields new challenges, which are now being eagerly tackled by numerous researchers. The perspective of Big Data is making its way into biostatistics and will represent a new and dominant perspective. The papers presented in this special issue cover a broad area of the recent developments in medical statistics and should be an inspiration to people seeking knowledge about present developments of statistics in the medical field. a Department of Biostatistics, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway b Department of Mathematics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway c Department of Mathematics and Natural Science, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway *Correspondence to: Odd O. Aalen, Department of Biostatistics, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1122, 0317 Oslo, Norway. † E-mail: [email protected] Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Statist. Med. 2013, 32 5221–5221 5221

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Preface

(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/sim.6035 Published online in Wiley Online Library

Medical statistics – a subject ofincreasing breadth and importanceOdd O. Aalen,a*† Ørnulf Borganb and Jan Terje Kvaløyc

This special issue of Statistics in Medicine publishes papers from presentations made at the 33rd AnnualConference of the International Society for Clinical Biostatistics held during 19–23 August 2012 inBergen, Norway, where more than 550 participants from 39 countries participated. A total number of200 oral presentations as well as about 200 posters were presented at the conference. We would liketo thank the authors for their contributions and the reviewers for their hard work, which helped makethis interesting special issue. Odd O. Aalen, as the chair of the Scientific Programme Committee for the33rd Annual Conference, would also like to express his thanks to the Scientific Programme Committeemembers and the members of the Local Organising Committee, especially the chairman Geir Egil Eide.

A striking feature at the conference, which is also reflected in the papers published here, is theincreasing impact of statistics in all parts of medicine. The biological mechanisms underlying disease,treatment and risk factors for disease are exceedingly complex. Conclusions about treatment effects, forinstance, cannot safely be made on the basis of mechanistic understanding derived from basic biology;the detailed analysis of data collected in experimental and observational studies represents an absolutelynecessary complement. It is safe to say that scientific medicine is increasingly dependent on advancedstatistical analysis. The biological understanding may be the basis for proposing a treatment or preven-tive measure, but no certainty about the effects can be determined before well designed statistical studieshave been carried out. And the results of the studies quite often run counter to what one might believein advance.

A recent feature is the increasing complexity of the data derived in medical research. This yields newchallenges, which are now being eagerly tackled by numerous researchers. The perspective of Big Datais making its way into biostatistics and will represent a new and dominant perspective.

The papers presented in this special issue cover a broad area of the recent developments in medicalstatistics and should be an inspiration to people seeking knowledge about present developments ofstatistics in the medical field.

aDepartment of Biostatistics, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwaybDepartment of Mathematics, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwaycDepartment of Mathematics and Natural Science, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway*Correspondence to: Odd O. Aalen, Department of Biostatistics, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo,P.O. Box 1122, 0317 Oslo, Norway.

†E-mail: [email protected]

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