Professor Emeritus, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia
Job Title:
Head, Clinical Trials, Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes
Institution:
St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, BC
Year elected:
2024

CONTACT:

Joel Singer | Faculty

BIOGRAPHY:
I acted as the head of the data management, statistics and
methodology program at the Canadian HIV Trials Network from its inception in 1990
until 2023. I have acted as the lead methodologist on many national and
international trials over many years in a variety of clinical disciplines. These have led
to important publications in major journals including the New England Journal of
Medicine, Lancet and Journal of the American Medical Association. I have been involved in trials in the fields of HIV, intensive care medicine, maternal/fetal health,
cardiology, and nephrology. I co-authored the first paper attempting to identify the
minimal important clinical difference for a quality-of-life index, a paper that has
been cited over 5000 times, and helped develop the Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Questionnaire, the most frequently used questionnaire for trials of ulcerative colitis
which has been translated into over 100 languages. I have been and continue to be
a chair and member of many Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) for clinical trials
including 10 years as chair of the Ontario Clinical Oncology Group DSMB. I did a stint
at the Clinical Trials Review panel for CIHR and have served as a reviewer on a
number of peer review panels.

What is your interest in clinical trials?
My focus is on the methodology and conduct of trials.

Why do you think clinical trials are important?
Clinical trials are the optimal way to determine the efficacy of interventions
when feasible.

What is your personal philosophy about clinical trial training specifically ormentorship in general?
There is a lot that you can learn from classes but learning from “doing” is also
another important aspect of trials. Leadership and communication skills are
essential, and it is here that experience is so important.

FUN FACT:
I haven’t written too many letters to the editor in my lifetime, but the first
one I ever wrote ended up being quoted by then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and I
found out by watching him give an address on the CBC National news.