The Department of Life and Health Sciences invites you to the first talk in their new series of seminars open to the public, starting off with Dr. Tassos C. Kyriakides on 17 October 2016, at 17:30 at the UNESCO Amphitheatre on Main Campus.
About the Seminar: Geography, social determinants of health, grapes, p-values, and clinical trials: Ho: Not strange bedfellows; alpha=0.05
Geography can/will/does (pick your favorite word) determine health; so do grapes and a myriad (ok, maybe an exaggeration) social determinants. Often, research tries to make sense of a zillion ideas, constructs and hypotheses; clinical trials can be considered as the ‘gold standard’ of clinical research with the evidence derived (or pulled) from them (usually) hinging on that ever magical p-value. Immerse yourself and enjoy (or brace for) the brief ride into the world of clinical trials. Come navigate a small corner in this complex and what-seems-to-be-unmanageable web that is richly sprinkled with (usually constructive) input from a plethora of researchers in the quest of the ‘truth’. And no matter how you spell randomized (with a ‘z’ or an ‘s’) or how you call the document that outlines the how-to of a trial (Ops Manual or MOOP), don’t lose sight, even for a minute, (as sometimes happens) of the penultimate goal: the health and well-being of the human. No simulations, nothing but real-life examples.
About the Speaker: Dr .Tassos C. Kyriakides
Tassos C. Kyriakides has worked as a clinical trialist/biostatistician on US and international medical research projects (clinical trials and observational studies) the last twenty years. He has been with the Department of Veterans' Affairs Cooperative Studies Program (VACSPCC-West Haven) as a Senior Biostatistician and he has worked on pivotal clinical trials (CSP#512, the OPTIMA Trial, a multi-national HIV/AIDS treatment clinical trial; CSP#498 a surgical clinical trial (VACSP#498); CSP#589 a PTSD clinical trial). In April 2015, he was appointed as the Acting Deputy Director at VASCPCC-West Haven where he oversees various aspects of the center’s scientific operations including a risk-based monitoring system deployed in one of the center’s clinical trials.
He has served as Global Health Committee Chair, Board of Directors, Association of Yale Alumni in Public Health, where he now serves as President. He has delivered numerous seminars and lectures in academic, research and clinical settings, both locally and internationally. He is a faculty affiliate of the Yale Hellenic Studies Program and a fellow at Yale’s Saybrook College. He enjoys spending time with his three kids, biking, training for triathlons, working at his town’s community farm, traveling and experimenting in the kitchen to satisfy his culinary and oenological passion.
