Some Comments on Improving Collaboration Skills of the Statistician on a Drug Development Team
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James R. Johnson, PhD Clinical Research and Development BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cary, NC
Key Words Collaboration skills; Communication; Behavior; Attitude; Statistician Reprint Address James R. Johnson, PhD, Clinical Research and Development BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 2425 Kildare Farm Road, Suite 106 Cary, NC 27518 (e-mail: [email protected]).
Some Comments on Improving Collaboration Skills of the Statistician on a Drug Development Team
INTRODUCTION Over the past 20 years, the statistician’s role on a drug development team has evolved to provide strategic statistical services for the management of a product’s development and market potential (1,2,3). Morton (4) also notes that the statistician’s role has evolved to proactively contribute in all phases of the drug development project: problem formation, design, collection, analysis, and reporting. Yet, I have observed many good ideas for integrating practical statistical science into clinical trials at times not seriously considered by the team. The inability of many statisticians to collaborate and communicate effectively must be considered as a leading reason for some of the skepticism and misunderstanding of a statistician’s role on many product development teams. A statistician supporting a drug development team must have the collaboration skills to communicate his or her expertise effectively, to deal with questions and/or resistance, and to carry ideas forward from concept to implementation, so that the entire clinical development team benefits and succeeds. High-performance drug development teams embrace the diversity of scientific skills and expertise each member brings to the team to improve overall team performance and success. Statisticians are key team members responsible and
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The value, roles, and responsibilities of the statistician working on drug development teams in many pharmaceutical companies have evolved into a strategic partner with clinical research in the successful development and registration of new medicines and devices. Collaboration and communications skills are essential for the statistician to realize his or her potential and value to a drug development team. In these comments, I present some thoughts on how statisticians must reexamine their personal attitude, build collegial trust relationships, and improve on collaboration and communications skills to enhance their respective value to a drug development team.
accountable for the statistical aspects of a drug development program. Yet this is not enough. In addition to responsibility and accountability, a statistician must demonstrate the confidence, authority, and leadership to promote the strategic value of statistical science on a drug development team. In this article, I provide some thoughts on collaboration and communication techniques that may help the working statistician to become a more effective team member.
P E R S O N A L AT T I T U D E O F T H E S TAT I S T I C I A N The statistician’s role starts with the attitude that he or she displays to co
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