Symposium overview
The Department of Biostatistics at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital will host JUDE-STAT, a scientific symposium celebrating the department’s 50th anniversary and its longstanding contributions to pediatric cancer and rare disease research.
This one-day event will bring together biostatisticians, clinicians, data scientists, translational researchers, and trainees to explore how modern statistical methods support clinical decision-making, scientific discovery, and evidence generation across pediatric research.
The symposium will highlight collaborative approaches in areas including clinical trial design, causal inference, biomarker development, and AI and learning-based research methods.
Theme: Statistical Partnerships and Innovation for Pediatric Cancer and Rare Diseases
JUDE-STAT will explore how biostatistical and analytical approaches support evidence-generation and clinical research in pediatric cancer and rare disease settings.
The program will emphasize cross-disciplinary collaboration and the role of biostatistics in advancing translational and investigator-initiated research across St. Jude and the broader scientific community.
Overview
Event title: JUDE-STAT
Joint Use of Data and Evidence: A STATistical Alliance for Biomedical Impact
Date: September 1, 2026
Location: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Department: Biostatistics
Scientific sessions
The symposium will include an opening keynote speaker, leadership panel session, and three thematic scientific sessions:
Innovations in clinical trial design
Adaptive trial designs, master protocols, external controls, and decision-analytic frameworks to improve efficiency, flexibility, and decision-making in clinical research.
Observational studies, causal inference and long-term outcomes
Rigorous approaches to analyzing survivorship, registry, and natural history data, with emphasis on causal inference and the study of long-term outcomes beyond randomized trials.
Biomarkers, multi-omics and AI
Development, validation, and application of biomarkers and advanced analytical methods, including machine learning and dynamic treatment strategies, to support clinical decision-making in pediatric and rare disease research.
Agenda
Registration
This symposium will be hosted in person only. Registration is free.
Abstract submission
JUDE STAT: Joint Use of Data and Evidence welcomes poster abstract submissions from trainees, postdoctoral fellows, faculty and research staff working in biostatistics, statistics, bioinformatics, computational biology and data science in biomedical research.
Please note that you must be registered as an in-person attendee to submit an abstract.
Abstract submissions are due by August 7.
Abstract Guidelines
Please ensure your submission meets the following requirements:
- You may submit multiple abstracts.
- Abstracts must be written in English.
- Abstracts are limited to 2,000 characters, including spaces.
- Use a concise, descriptive title.
- Include author affiliations with name, degree, institution, city, state and country.
- Use standard, widely accepted abbreviations.
- You may include one table or graphic in .jpg format.
- Abstracts should be single-spaced, written in sentence case, and organized using the following headings:
- Background/Purpose
- Methods
- Results
- Conclusions
How to Submit Your Abstract
All abstracts must be submitted through the Abstract Submission Portal. Email submissions will not be accepted.
Speakers and participation
The symposium will include invited external keynote and session speakers alongside St. Jude faculty and researchers representing biostatistics, data science, clinical research, and related quantitative disciplines.
External speakers: Xiaofei Wang, Duke University; Ji-Hyun Lee, University of Florida; Elizabeth Hill, Medical University of South Carolina; Rafael Irizarry, Harvard University; Bonnie Ghosh-Dastidar, RAND Corporation; Jeffrey Morris, University of Pennsylvania; R. Todd Ogden, Columbia University.
A poster session will provide additional opportunities for faculty, trainees, students, and researchers to showcase data science–driven and methodologically innovative research across the institution.
Additional speaker and program details will be announced as they become available.
About the Department of Biostatistics
For 50 years, the Department of Biostatistics at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has partnered across scientific and clinical disciplines to advance rigorous, collaborative, and innovative approaches to pediatric research.
The department continues to play a central role in supporting study design, evidence generation, data interpretation, and methodological innovation that contribute to improving outcomes for children worldwide.