Competence Center for Methodology and Statistics
The Competence Center for Methodology and Statistics (CCMS) aims at supporting LIH research units and international pharmaceutical industry players, providing them with high quality methodological and statistical services. The objectives of CCMS are to provide high-standard statistical and data-processing support, and to maintain high ethical standards as regards research, the reporting and analysis of statistics and the preparation of data-bases.
Activities
The CCMS provides methodological support in statistical planning and analysis and data handling for various laboratories and research groups in the Luxembourg institute of Health as well as offering training in statistics and support in writing papers. In addition it provides consulting services for the pharmaceutical industry in Europe and the USA, attends Data Safety Monitoring Board worldwide for randomised clinical trials, engages in collaborative research with various external partners for example the WHO and various universities, and gives external courses in statistics not only in the greater Luxembourg region but also worldwide.
CCMS has been involved since 2010 in the data management and statistical analysis of large clinical studies for the treatment of poverty-related infectious diseases on behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO) Special Programme TDR. CCMS is interested in the use of the results by policy makers such to establish new treatment guidelines and can also provide expertise in health economics. Furthermore CCMS support the translational research axis within LIH with its expertise in innovative study designs.
Use and reuse of clinical and epidemiological data through centralised databases and data sharing of pooled studies are another area where CCMS is active with projects on tropical diseases and tuberculosis pharmacovigilance.
CCMS is also part of the WHO capacity building program and thus trains scientists from Africa and Asia in data management and statistics, either by hosting them in the team or by offering on-site training.
Services provided
- Planning of clinical, epidemiological and laboratory studies including sample size or power calculations, design of studies
- Support for grant applications and publications
- Data handling
- Mapping and curation for centralised databases
- Statistical analysis adapted to the design of the study (matched case-control, longitudinal, survival) or clinical trial (cross over, non inferiority)
- Statistical education and training (internal and external short courses)
- Consultancy for commercial organisations
Head of unit
Michel Vaillant, MS in statistical methods, MS in epidemiology, PhD in epidemiology/biostatistics, is the CCMS head of unit since april 2018 after retirement of the former Head, Prof Stephen Senn. He was deputy head of unit since 2013. He has past experience in research in Africa (1995-1997), epidemiology (1997), contract research organisation for pharmaceutical industry (1998-2003) and is with LIH since 2003 first as the single biostatistician in the institution. The unit has now grown up to 9 members.
