Why are you involved in the NUM?
As part of the Network University Medicine, I work as a research assistant at the Institute of Medical Statistics at the University Medical Centre Göttingen on the NAPKON-TIP project. The aim of this project is to establish the first infrastructure for adaptive platform studies in Germany. The interdisciplinary collaboration made possible by the NUM is crucial for the successful planning and implementation of such platform studies. I see my work at NUM as an opportunity to participate in an innovative research project, develop my professional skills and expand my professional network. Through my involvement, I can contribute to the continuous development of high-quality clinical research.
Where do you see the greatest opportunities if all university hospitals conduct joint research?
In my opinion, there is a significant opportunity to promote innovation by pooling expertise and resources and through the intensive exchange of specialist knowledge between university hospitals. In the field of clinical trials, bringing together experts from different disciplines, including medicine, statistics, epidemiology and data science, enables the development and application of innovative study designs and analysis methods. In addition, collaboration between university hospitals enables more effective recruitment of trial participants, particularly for rare diseases, and thus accelerates progress in research into new treatments.
Tell us a technical term from your job that sounds exciting and that only the real experts understand! What does the term mean?
Platform studies are innovative clinical trial designs that aim to test different treatments for a specific disease more efficiently and flexibly. Unlike traditional clinical trials, where one treatment is tested against a control group, a platform trial allows for the simultaneous evaluation of multiple treatments within the same trial structure.
The "platform" refers to the basic infrastructure of the trial, which remains constant while different treatments can be added or removed. This provides more flexibility, enables faster adaptation to new scientific findings and thus speeds up the research process.
What excites you about your job?
As a mathematician and statistician, I am working in the NAPKON-TIP project on the methodological basis for conducting and analysing adaptive platform studies. The dynamic structure of platform studies, in particular the addition of new treatments during the ongoing study, leads to particular challenges in statistical analyses. Dealing with these complex, often unresolved and much-discussed statistical issues offers many opportunities to contribute your own research ideas and constantly opens up new methodological challenges.