We are a group of statisticians working at CROs and pharmaceutical industry supporting preclinical drug discovery on animal and cell based experiments. As a group, our focus is on diverse range of preclinical topics such as;
We organise webinars and workshops on topics and methodological developments in preclinical research and now have a list of over 50 affiliates on our e-mail distribution list.
Core Committee (L-R): (* not present in the picture)
| Name | Company/Institution |
| Denise Federico | Evotec |
| Luc Essermeant | Sanofi |
| Eloisa Brook | GSK (chair) |
| Dorothee Tamarelle | Sanofi |
Jan Serroyen* | Janssen |
| Bernd Igl* | Boehringer Ingelheim |
| Ezgi Tanriver-Ayder* | GSK |
| Sarah Vandepaer* | GSK |
| Helena Geys* | Janssen |
We see our mission as bridging preclinical knowledge and expertise within the pharmaceutical industry and academia to provide a forum to collaborate, discuss and advance statistical topics related to Research, Discovery (including efficacy models), Regulatory and Investigative Toxicology/Safety Assessment. We also hope to encourage the development of relevant statistical methodologies and promote the involvement of statisticians in these areas.
Find out more about us and our objectives in our video overview:
PSI Pre-clinical Special Interest Group has a
series of regular FREE webinars dealing with statistical topics faced in
pre-clinical and related fields. The presentations run for an hour, with
approximately 45 min presentation and a Q&A session in the remaining time.
See section below for details of this webinars. Please note that
these events take place online via Zoom, and have a limited number of places
available.
The PSI Pre-Clinical Special Interest Group seminars for 2025 are planned as follows:
Date | Title | Presenter | |
19 March 2025 | AI in Medicinal Products | Dr Liam Childs, AI working group lead - Paul Ehrlich Institute | To access video on demand, click here |
| 24 June 2025 | Methodology and first results of the iRISE (improving Reproducibility In SciencE) consortium | Rachel Heyard, | To access video on demand, click here |
| 23 September 2025 | AI agents for drug discovery and development | James Zou, Associate professor of Biomedical Data Science at Stanford University | To register, click here |
| 18 November 2025 | tbd | tbd |
|
The PSI Pre-Clinical Special Interest Group seminars for 2024 were as follows:
Date | Title | Presenter | |
26 March 2024 | Mixed-Level OMARS Designs for Quantitative and Categorical Factors: Theory and Application | Professor Peter Goos, KU Leuven | To access video on demand, click here |
| 8 October 2024 | Efficient R&D: SVEM and Advanced DOE in Preclinical Toxicity Testing | Phil Kay and Chandra Ramnarayanan, JMP | To access video on demand, click here |
| 26 November 2024 | Virtual Control Groups in Toxicity Studies | Lea Vaas, Bayer | To access video on demand, click here |
Registration for our workshop on 7-8th October in Verona, Italy is now open !
Places are extremely limited so please book soon if you can make it.
Our workshop will take place over two half-days, bringing together experts from industry, academia, and regulatory institutions to discuss key challenges and innovations in pre-clinical research.
This year's workshop focuses on reproducibility, translatability, and methodological advancements in pre-clinical studies, with dedicated sessions on optimal study design, virtual control groups, and statistical tools like SAS and R. The agenda includes invited presentations, interactive round table discussions, and ample opportunities for networking and collaboration, both during structured sessions and informal social events.
The event is designed to foster knowledge exchange, encourage cross-sector dialogue, and support the development of best practices in the evolving landscape of pre-clinical research.
For more details and where to register please visit the PSI website: PSI Pre-Clinical Workshop - October 2025
We held our first face-to-face workshop since 2019 in Paris this year. It was wonderful to connect with old and new faces.There was great engagement in the sessions; we all learnt something and had fun too!
Day | Title | Presenter(s) |
1 | Application of experimental design in animal research: theory and practice | Simon Bate, GSK |
| 2 | Analysing Pre-clinical experiments | Odile Coudert, Ipsen & Bernard Franq, GSK |
| Statistics in Toxicology | Philip Jarvis, Novartis & David Lovell, University of London |
Please email us if you are interested in contributing to PSI Preclinical SIG or would like to join our mailing list.
