Eric A. Ross, PhD, ScM
Assistant Vice President of Biometrics and Information Sciences
Director, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Facility
Director, Population Studies Facility
Research Professor
Research Program
Educational Background
- PhD, Statistics, Temple University, 1996
- ScM, Biostatistics, Bloomberg School of Public Health, The Johns Hopkins University, 1984
- BA, Biological Sciences, University of Delaware, 1980
Memberships
- American Statistical Association, member
- International Biometrics Society, member
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Olga Tchuvatkina, MSManager of Population Studies FacilityFriends Hall - East Wing -
Research Facility
Research Interests
- Development of new randomized phase II clinical trial designs.
- Application of state of the art statistical approaches to rigorously extend the quantitative interpretation of data.
- Large-scale data integration, and the development and application of web-based technologies to enable remote data collection/presentation, health education and new interventions.
Lab Overview
Our research focuses on the development and innovative use of quantitative methods and information technology in cancer research. Our statistical methodology has concentrated on the design of efficient Phase II oncology clinical trials. Our collaborations with numerous investigators conducting clinical, translational, cancer control, epidemiology, and basic science research rigorously extend the quantitative interpretation of results from these disciplines. Improving research efficiency and data quality through the novel application of computer-based methods is another area of active interest. Special areas of investigation include large-scale data integration and the development of web-based technologies to enable remote data collection/presentation, health education and new interventions.
Lab Description
Our research focuses on the innovative use of quantitative methods and information technology in cancer research.
Recently, my statistical methodology research has focused on the creation of more efficient clinical trial designs. In collaboration with Dr. Sam Litwin, we developed a new randomized two-arm, two-stage, phase II design for clinical trials with a binary primary outcome (e.g., response). The goal was to reduce the number of patients needed for rigorous analysis. Conceptually, this new design is a fusion of the Simon two-stage one-sample and traditional two-sample randomized approaches. It overcomes limitations of the one-sample design while requiring much smaller patient numbers than traditional comparative designs through sculpting of the critical region. The new design will identify therapy that has a success rate exceeding historical standards and is better than its simultaneous control. This work was published in Statistics and Medicine.
As Director of Fox Chase’s Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Facility, I am responsible for coordinating and supervising statistical and bioinformatics activities to ensure that all investigators receive high quality support. I provide quantitative expertise for clinical trials, non-therapeutic interventional studies, biomarker analyses, animal model experiments and pre-clinical investigations. My collaborations with numerous investigators conducting clinical, translational, cancer control, epidemiology, and basic science research rigorously extend the quantitative interpretation of results from these disciplines. Many of these investigations extended across multiple studies, involved the analysis of diverse data types and resulted in new insights into cancer treatment, prevention or development. For example, Dr. Plimack and I demonstrated the efficacy of neoadjuvant accelerated methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin in muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). We also analyzed DNA-seq panel data from pretreatment tumors to discover an important molecular profile. This profile is based on mutations in any one of 3 specific DNA-repair genes and it identifies patients who will achieve complete pathologic response with high accuracy. These findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and European Urology, provided support for our development of a phase II, parallel arm, multi-institutional clinical trial to evaluate a risk-adapted approach to treatment of MIBC that could improve quality of life and decrease morbidity. It does so by sparing some patients cystectomy or chemoradiation after neoadjuvant chemotherapy without compromising outcomes.
I also direct Fox Chase’s Population Studies Facility (PSF). In this role I oversee the Cancer Center’s research informatics activities. The PSF provides access to a team of information systems professionals with experience in state-of-the-art software engineering applied to cancer research. Our informatics research facilitates cancer investigations by promoting the use of computer-based methods that improve research efficiency and data quality. Special areas of interest include large-scale data integration, and the development and application of web-based technologies to enable remote data collection/presentation, health education and new interventions.
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