Statistical advising from OCBE
OCBE is one of Europe's most active biostatistics groups. The centre is internationally recognized for its research and has numerous collaborations with leading bio-medical research groups nationally and internationally. Because of our profound activity in statistical methodological research, OCBE is able to offer research based advising of the highest quality.
On these pages we present the various types of advisory services we offer and how you can access the service. In addition, there is always the welcomed possibility to walk to our offices and knock on our doors, send an email or make a phone call, to any of OCBE’s staff researchers. In particular, if you already have an established personal contact with one of us at OCBE, you can of course continue existing collaborations and supervisions, and start new projects with the same people at OCBE you already know.
OCBE Advising is available for employees and PhD students at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Oslo (UiO), Oslo University Hospital (OUS), or any other hospital of the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority (HSØ). The free OCBE advising service is funded by HSØ through the Regional Research Support Services, OUS, and the Faculty of Medicine, UiO.
OCBE Advising
The purpose of OCBE Advising is to provide advice and statistical support for all types of biomedical research, including biostatistics, epidemiology, machine learning/AI, big data and biomedical data science. The support is free of charge.
OCBE Advising is a low threshold statistical advising service with short waiting time, suitable for researchers at all levels. It can be used repeatedly for the same project and/or by the same person. With approximately 60 statisticians and epidemiologists available as advisors, OCBE Advising covers a wide range of methodological topics, including classical statistics, epidemiology, and machine learning. We can also provide guidance on the use of AI tools to support statistical analysis and the research process and help with the assessment and interpretation of the output from AI tools, with a focus on ensuring good statistical and research practices. This ensures that research projects will receive relevant and high-quality support.
The advising usually consists of one or a few meetings, with some follow-up as needed. We recommend that the first meeting is held in person and that PhD students bring their supervisor.
Please note that hands-on data management and statistical analyses cannot be expected.
Apply here for the OCBE Advising service. If you have any questions, contact OCBEs Advising Coordinator, Cathrine Brunborg, at ocbeadvising at medisin.uio.no.
Collaborations beyond OCBE Advising
We are always happy to discuss short- or long-term collaborations on research projects that goes beyond what we can offer through OCBE Advising.
New projects of this type are often discussed with the OCBE leadership, to help identify the best match with an OCBE collaboration partner, and to discuss funding options. We are flexible in terms of how to set up collaboration agreements. Please, contact us – preferably already at the funding application stage – for a discussion on what we can do together.
Contact: OCBEs Advising Coordinator, Cathrine Brunborg, at ocbeadvising at medisin.uio.no
Statistics at the Clinical Trials Unit (Oslo University Hospital)
Full-scale statistics packages for clinical trials through the Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) at Regional Research Support Services, OUS
This package includes all statistical tasks in a clinical trial throughout all its phases, including designing the trial, calculating sample size, creating randomization lists, contributing to protocol development, drafting a statistical analysis plan, programming analyses, interpreting results, and assisting with article writing.
The work is done by OCBE and CTU statisticians specially trained as clinical trials statisticians. The cost is usually fixed and equal for all trials, with some adjustments possible. The extent of the statistical work is approximately 450 hours.
Contact: ctu at ous-hf.no or read more at Clinical Trials Unit
OCBE statistics for clinical trials
This is a smaller statistical package for clinical trials, where the statistician does not take all responsibility for the statistics of the trial, and the statistical tasks are shared between the statistician and the trial’s project group. This package may not be suited for trials with complex study designs, drug intervention trials, or trials that require long-term statistical follow-up.
The work is done by experienced statisticians from OCBE and CTU. An estimate of the costs will be made prior to start and may be updated during the course of the work. The extent of the statistical work is approximately 100-150 hours.
Contact: Morten Wang Fagerland, Head of Section for Statistics in Clinical Trials, morten.fagerland at medisin.uio.no
Allocation of advising
OCBE will try to assign the most competent scientist to each advising project of the first two types, though taking into account existing contacts and time availability. The policlinic support is given by a senior OCBE scientist or an experienced postdoc. Sometimes experienced PhD students will also be in charge. The OCBE advisor will rapidly advise on the project, indicate further steps to be done, invite to self-help, or help by others, including OUS data management groups and the Clinical Trial Unit at OUS.
The OCBE scientist will not be able to prepare a policlinic meeting in advance, but the information on the project given through the application form will be used to assign a time slot with a competent advisor. Policlinic support to researchers from regional hospitals will in most cases be carried out over Teams, Zoom, by email or over the phone. On-site policlinic service at regional hospitals can occur in conjunction with larger project meetings, information tours, or courses/seminars arranged by OCBE.