Originally posted on the Faculty of Mathematics website:
Alexandra Bühler co-won a Graduate Research Excellence Award ($2500) for her paper “Multistate models as a framework for estimand specification in clinical trials of complex processes.” Alexandra graduated in 2024 with a PhD in Biostatistics.
“It has been a wonderful surprise to receive recognition for the work I’m so passionate about!” Buhler says. “It makes me feel happy, proud and – most importantly – grateful, as this achievement would not have been possible without the guidance of my PhD supervisors Richard J. Cook and Jerry F. Lawless. They showed me continuous support throughout my entire journey and kept pushing me to grow as an independent researcher. I would also like to thank the SAS department for providing a great research environment. I am eager to continue my research and to build upon the expertise that I have acquired at Waterloo.”
The paper is the first in a series of four papers resulting from Buhler’s PhD research into statistical challenges in late-phase clinical drug development. The awarded paper “contributes to the important question of how randomized phase III trials of complex disease processes should be designed and analyzed to make causal, informed statements about the effects of an experimental treatment.”
Alexandra's co-supervisors Richard Cook and Jerry Lawless remarked that "Alexandra was an exceptional doctoral student and a joy to supervise. It is very gratifying to see her creative and important work recognized through this award. Notably, the same paper was recently recognized as one of the top 10 most cited papers in Statistics in Medicine in 2023."
Congratulations to Sean Monahan (Pure Math) and Sepehr Hajebi (Combinatorics and Optimization) who also received a Graduate Research Excellence Award for their work. Learn more by reading the full award announcement.