Every five years, World Statistics Day is celebrated globally to recognise the vital role statistics plays in shaping societies, our research and supporting evidence-based decision-making. The fourth observance, on 20 October 2025, is held under the theme ‘Quality statistics and data for everyone’.
The power of quality data has perhaps never been clearer than during the COVID-19 pandemic, when flexible statistical trial designs enabled scientists to identify life-saving vaccines and treatments in record time. The value of adaptive trial designs such as platform trials was showcased during this period. These designs supported the simultaneous testing of multiple treatments within a single overarching trial, allowing for dynamic decision-making as new information was collected.
What is less widely known is that these adaptive trial designs are most commonly used for oncology. The pandemic demonstrated their effectiveness on a global scale, and the lessons learned have since come full circle – the same statistical thinking that has saved lives for COVID-19 continues to improve outcomes for people with cancer.
At The Institute of Cancer Research, London, our team of statisticians are doing exactly that – applying rigorous statistical methods to turn complex data generated daily into the discoveries that defeat cancer. Among these scientists is Emily Alger, a PhD student in the Clinical Trials and Statistics Unit (CTSU), whose research focuses on incorporating patient-reported outcomes into early-phase dose-finding oncology trials.
A journey into statistics
Emily joined The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in 2022 after completing undergraduate and master’s degrees in Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Warwick. During her penultimate year, she took part in the ICR’s Summer Scholarship Scheme, which solidified her interest in biostatistics – using statistical methods to analyse and interpret data from the biological sciences and medicine – and its real-world impact on patient care.
The experience revealed how theoretical knowledge could be applied to tangible challenges in medicine and inspired her to pursue a PhD under Professor Christina Yap, Professor of Clinical Trials Biostatistics and Group Leader of ICR-CTSU Early Phase and Adaptive Trials.
Emily’s doctoral research focuses on the use of Patient-reported Outcomes (PROs) in early-phase clinical trials. These outcomes capture patients’ own assessments of how tolerable they find treatments. Whilst PROs are commonly utilised in later phase trials, their incorporation within early phase dose-finding trials remains limited. Emily’s project explores how these outcomes can be incorporated into trial decision-making. She’s learnt how statisticians can collaborate with researchers and clinicians to design and analyse trials to incorporate patient-centric outcomes alongside safety and clinical data.
Emily’s work develops adaptive statistical trial designs like those which proved invaluable during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adaptive trial designs in oncology improve efficiency whilst upholding rigorous statistical decision-making to improve patient outcomes.
Emily said: “I’m particularly fascinated by the inter-play between structure and randomness in data. Statistics is a discipline that seeks to uncover relationships amongst noise and randomness. It provides us with tools to interpret data in the presence of noise. The same is true within clinical trials. When it comes to data there will always be uncertainty, but statistics helps up to understand that level of uncertainty and make considered data-driven decisions.”
A discipline built on responsibility
According to Emily, statistics is as much about responsibility as it is about numbers. Emily is acutely aware of how powerful quantitative evidence can be – whether that be when quantitative evidence is used appropriately or when misused. She emphasises the importance of transparency, reproducibility and critical thinking, recognising that the misinterpretation of data can lead to misplaced confidence or missed opportunities.
Emily said: “As artificial intelligence and machine learning fields continue to grow, I think statistics as we traditionally know it has a continued foundational role for good scientific research. Statistical thinking helps us to define clinically meaningful research questions, tailor analysis methods for the setting and ensure output is explainable for its multidisciplinary audience.
“In my view, the partnership between statistics and machine learning is most powerful when grounded in robust methodological principles.”
Emily also believes statisticians have a role to play in demystifying their field. Many people are more statistically literate than they think. In Emily’s opinion, you don’t need to be a statistician to identify weaknesses in experimental designs or assess whether claims of causation are overstated. That being said, the statistics field certainly has a role to play in strengthening the public’s statistical literacy. Encouraging that confidence helps ensure that statistics remains an accessible and trusted part of public discourse.
Building a career in applied statistics
Emily said: “I’m grateful that my work at the ICR was so applied – all the theory I’d learned during my degree was being put into practice. I like to think of statistics like a colouring book or paint-by-numbers – university gives you the outline in terms of theory, whilst applied work fills in the gaps by putting theory into practice. That brings the field to life.”
“As I prepare to submit my PhD thesis and take up a postdoctoral position at the University of Oxford, I reflect on my time at the ICR as a period of transformation – moving from theoretical study to applied research in a multidisciplinary setting. The experience has taught me how to communicate statistical ideas clearly to clinicians and scientists, ensuring that complex analyses can be translated into practical insights.
“By the time World Statistics Day comes around again in 2030, I hope to stay in the field of biostatistics and take on a public-facing role to engage others in the field”.
World Statistics Day 2025 provides an opportunity to celebrate the people and principles that underpin trustworthy data. At the ICR, statisticians like Emily and Professor Yap exemplify this year’s theme by ensuring that every analysis, model and trial contributes to a more accurate understanding of cancer.
Their work demonstrates that behind every breakthrough lies a foundation of careful design, responsible data use and the pursuit of reliable evidence – all with the aim of improving outcomes for patients.