Topics and issues of interest to biostatisticians, statisticians and epidemiologists related to the pharmaceutical industry.
The NISS/Merck Meet-Up Series is an ongoing collaborative forum designed to bring together biostatisticians, statisticians, epidemiologists, and data scientists working in or alongside the pharmaceutical industry. Since 2017, the series has provided a dynamic space for experts to explore emerging methodological challenges, share innovative research, and discuss real-world applications that shape drug development and healthcare decision-making.
Each meet-up focuses on a timely topic at the intersection of statistics, data science, and pharmaceutical practice—ranging from foundational issues in clinical trials to cutting-edge advances in AI and machine learning. The series has a long history of spotlighting both established and emerging ideas, encouraging open dialogue among industry leaders, academic researchers, and government scientists.
Past meet-ups have covered a wide range of impactful themes, including:
"NISS/Merck Meetup on Advancing AI: From Bias Mitigation to Algorithmic Power in Language Models and Healthcare Applications" (Friday, November 17, 2023)
"NISS/Merck Meetup: Conformal Inference: Advancing the Boundaries of Machine Learning" (April 19, 2023)
"NISS/Merck Meetup: Interpretable/Explainable Machine Learning" (September 28, 2022) (Original Event Page)
"NISS/Merck Meet-Up on the use of Statistical and Deep Learning Methods for Biomedical Images" (March 15, 2022) (Original Event Page)
"Diversity and Inclusion the Focus of NISS/Merck Meet-up" (November 4, 2021) (Original Event Page)
"NISS-Merck Meet-up Discusses Open-Source Software in Pharma" (April 21, 2021) (Original Event Page)
"NISS-Merck Meetup Does it Again! Current Vaccine Efficacy Issues Discussed." (January 13, 2021) (Original Event Page)
"NISS/Merck Meetup Reviews the Challenges and Potential in Vaccine Development" (September 16, 2020) (Original Event Page)
"Bayesian Statistics the Focus of Popular NISS/Merck Meetup" (April 27, 2020) (Original Event Page)
"Recent Approaches to Adaptive Trials for Drug Development the Focus of NISS/Merck Meet-Up" (January 15, 2020) (Original Event Page)
"Subgroup Analysis" (September 10, 2019) (Original Event Page)
"Applications of Real World Data" (April 1, 2019) (Original Event Page)
"Statistical Challenges in Immuno-Oncology" (January 22, 2019) (Original Event Page)
"Real World Data and its Applications in the Pharmaceutical Industry" (October 4, 2018) (Original Event Page)
"Applications of Machine Learning in the Pharmaceutical Industry" (April 25, 2018) (Original Event Page)
"Estimands and Sensitivity Analysis in Clinical Trials" (January 23, 2018) (Original Event Page)
"Multiple Endpoints in Clinical Trials" (September 12, 2017) (Original Event Page)