Stat Cafe - Dr. Alex Asher, StataCorp
Sample-Size Calculations for Medical Studies
- Time: Wednesday, 4/22/2026 from 11:30AM to 1:00PM
- Location: BLOC 503
Description
Since graduating from the Department of Statistics at Texas A&M in 2018, Alex has worked at StataCorp writing software for the design and analysis of clinical trials. This Stat Cafe talk will discuss sample-size computations for clinical trials, starting with simple fixed-sample designs with closed-form solutions and ranging to more complex adaptive designs and calculations via simulation. We will conclude with a real-world consulting example.
Our Speaker
Alex Asher is a Senior Biostatistician and Software Developer at StataCorp LLC, where he specializes in methods for the design and analysis of clinical trials. He holds a PhD in statistics from Texas A&M University, where he focused on developing methodology for cancer research. Known to invert covariance matrices with his bare hands, Alex’s interests include biostatistics, semiparametrics, machine learning, statistics education, and Bayesian statistics.