Victoria Y Strauss

I provide statistical support for cancer projects, predominately trials, including study design, trial set-up, active trial running, analysis and dissemination. I have been involved in cancer trials such as SPARC (a dose-escalation phase I trial), SCALOP-2 (a dose-escalation phase I trial and a randomised phase II trial with factorial design), and OCTOVA (a randomised phase II trial with analysis taking into account crossover elements).

I serve as an independent statistician on data monitoring and safety committees and trial oversight committees. I regularly provide statistical review of NIHR grants and reports and of peer-reviewed journal articles. Outside trials, I have methodological interests in latent variable modelling and longitudinal data analysis. I have been working on identifying the role of a biomarker in bladder cancer prognosis using competing risk analysis. I am also involved in developing a new approach to evaluate how prostate-specific antigen levels, a biomarker for prostate cancer, change in a particular person over time, using latent variable modelling. 

Before joining the Centre for Statistics in Medicine in 2014, I worked as a Research Fellow in the Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, and as a Research Associate in Biostatistics at the Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre, Keele University. I used novel state-of-the-art statistical techniques, such as propensity score matching to assess delayed school entry for children born preterm, and changing point analysis to study the relationship between gestational age and academic achievement. At Keele, I used latent variable modelling and GP patient records to identify subgroups of musculoskeletal patients in primary care. I also used medical records to define phenotypes, exposure and prognostic factors, and outcomes for musculoskeletal patients. My published outputs span a range of clinical areas, including rheumatology, psychology and paediatrics.  

I obtained a BA degree in Statistics from Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taiwan in 2003, and an MSc degree in Applied Social Statistics from Lancaster University in 2007. I was awarded my PhD in latent variable modelling of general practice patient records (funded by the NIHR and Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre) in 2011 from Keele University.