Biostatistics faculty members Tom Fleming and Betz Halloran sit on the WHO Ad Hoc Expert Group on the Next Steps for COVID-19 Vaccine Evaluation. In a recent New England Journal of Medicine article, the group notes that even though the efficacy of some COVID-19 vaccines appears to be high, reliable information will still be needed on longer-term safety and duration of protection.

"This analysis seems to be subject to the Texas sharpshooter fallacy," where someone first fires a shot at a barn then paints a target around the bullet hole, said panelist and biostatistician Scott Emerson, MD, PhD, of the University of Washington in Seattle.

Professor of Biostatistics Jon Wakefield is co-author of a recent paper that notes the explosion in geographic studies in low- and middle-income countries and investigates the extent to which accounting for the sample design affects the predictive performance at the aggregate level of interest for health policy decisions.

Daniela Witten, professor of biostatistics and statistics, is quoted in this piece that examines how statistical thinking and eugenicist thinking are intertwined and delves into the difficulty of breaking the legacy of eugenics and false objectivity.

Peter Gilbert, research professor of biostatistics and a biostatistician at Fred Hutch, comments on assessing safety and efficacy after an Emergency Use Authorization has been approved. Gilbert has helped design clinical trials for the leading U.S. vaccine candidates.

Six Biostatistics alumni are among the 50 Changemakers recognized by the School of Public Health as part of its 50th anniversary celebration. Congratulations to Garnet Anderson, Gary Churchill, Jeffrey Leek, Kung-Yee Liang, Xihong Lin, and Clarice R. Weinberg.

Professor of Biostatistics Tom Fleming is a member of WHO’s Solidarity Vaccines Trial group. He discusses the group's COVID-19 vaccine mega-trial, to start this month with a small study in Latin America.

Thomas R. Fleming, professor and former chair of biostatistics, received the 2020 Ward Cates Spirit Award from the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN). The honor recognizes Fleming’s dedication, passion, and tireless pursuit of ensuring clinical trials are well designed, properly implemented, and correctly interpreted.