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Andrew Vickers

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Andrew Julian Vickers
Born (1967-02-11) 11 February 1967 (age 57)
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge, University of Oxford
Scientific career
FieldsOncology, alternative medicine, biostatistics
InstitutionsMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
ThesisHomeopathy and clinical trials (1999)

Andrew Julian Vickers (born 11 February 1967)[1][2] is a biostatistician and attending research methodologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Since 2013, he has also been professor of public health at Weill Cornell Medical College.[3] He is the statistical editor for the peer-reviewed journal European Urology.[4]

Education and career

Vickers received his B.A. from the University of Cambridge in 1989 and his D.Phil. from the University of Oxford in 1999.[5] He joined Memorial Sloan Kettering in 1999 as an assistant attending research methodologist, before being appointed an associate attending research methodologist there in 2006 and an attending research methodologist in 2012.[5]

Research

Vickers is known for his research into prostate cancer screening.[6] In 2011, he published a study which found that PSA velocity—the change in the blood level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA)--was not a more accurate predictor of prostate cancer than comparing PSA levels to a specific threshold.[7] He was responsible for designing the algorithm[8] that is used in the commercial "4Kscore" test[9] for men with elevated PSA. With colleague Hans Lilja, Vickers published a series of studies demonstrating that a single PSA at age 45 - 60 is an extremely strong predictor of the long-term risk of prostate cancer mortality.[10][11][12] Vickers is separately known for his methodological research on prediction modeling - he developed the statistical method known as "decision curve analysis"[13][14] - and empirical research into several forms of alternative medicine, particularly acupuncture.[15] Vickers was the lead author of a 2012 meta-analysis of 29 acupuncture trials published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.[16] Vickers told Reuters that this meta-analysis "provides evidence that [patients with pain] would be justified in considering acupuncture."[17] Vickers leads the "Amplio" surgical quality assurance initiative at Memorial Sloan Kettering[18] and is Director of the "Web Survey" health informatics core facility.[19]

Personal life

Vickers is a competitive runner[20] and plays ultimate frisbee.[21] He has a daughter and two sons.[22][23]

References

  1. ^ "Reference Entry". Who's Who. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
  2. ^ "Andrew Vickers". Library of Congress Name Authority File. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  3. ^ "News and Highlights". Weill Cornell Medical College. July 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  4. ^ "Andrew Vickers". European Urology website. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Andrew J. Vickers CV" (PDF). Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  6. ^ "Rise in PSA protein 'not prostate cancer sign'". BBC News. 25 February 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  7. ^ Vickers, A. J.; Till, C.; Tangen, C. M.; Lilja, H.; Thompson, I. M. (24 February 2011). "An Empirical Evaluation of Guidelines on Prostate-specific Antigen Velocity in Prostate Cancer Detection". JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 103 (6): 462–469. doi:10.1093/jnci/djr028. PMC 3057983. PMID 21350221.
  8. ^ Bryant, Richard J.; Sjoberg, Daniel D.; Vickers, Andrew J.; Robinson, Mary C.; Kumar, Rajeev; Marsden, Luke; Davis, Michael; Scardino, Peter T.; Donovan, Jenny; Neal, David E.; Lilja, Hans (2015). "Predicting high-grade cancer at ten-core prostate biopsy using four kallikrein markers measured in blood in the ProtecT study". Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 107 (7). doi:10.1093/jnci/djv095. ISSN 1460-2105. PMC 4554254. PMID 25863334.
  9. ^ "Elevated PSA? 4Kscore Test helps in prostate cancer biopsy decision making". 4Kscore Test. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  10. ^ Vickers, Andrew J.; Cronin, Angel M.; Björk, Thomas; Manjer, Jonas; Nilsson, Peter M.; Dahlin, Anders; Bjartell, Anders; Scardino, Peter T.; Ulmert, David; Lilja, Hans (14 September 2010). "Prostate specific antigen concentration at age 60 and death or metastasis from prostate cancer: case-control study". BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.). 341: c4521. doi:10.1136/bmj.c4521. ISSN 1756-1833. PMC 2939950. PMID 20843935.
  11. ^ Vickers, Andrew J.; Ulmert, David; Sjoberg, Daniel D.; Bennette, Caroline J.; Björk, Thomas; Gerdtsson, Axel; Manjer, Jonas; Nilsson, Peter M.; Dahlin, Anders; Bjartell, Anders; Scardino, Peter T. (15 April 2013). "Strategy for detection of prostate cancer based on relation between prostate specific antigen at age 40-55 and long term risk of metastasis: case-control study". BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.). 346: f2023. doi:10.1136/bmj.f2023. ISSN 1756-1833. PMC 3933251. PMID 23596126.
  12. ^ Carlsson, Sigrid; Assel, Melissa; Sjoberg, Daniel; Ulmert, David; Hugosson, Jonas; Lilja, Hans; Vickers, Andrew (28 March 2014). "Influence of blood prostate specific antigen levels at age 60 on benefits and harms of prostate cancer screening: population based cohort study". BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.). 348: g2296. doi:10.1136/bmj.g2296. ISSN 1756-1833. PMC 3968958. PMID 24682399.
  13. ^ Vickers, Andrew J.; Elkin, Elena B. (2006). "Decision curve analysis: a novel method for evaluating prediction models". Medical Decision Making. 26 (6): 565–574. doi:10.1177/0272989X06295361. ISSN 0272-989X. PMC 2577036. PMID 17099194.
  14. ^ "Decision Curve Analysis". Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  15. ^ Press Association (15 March 2004). "Needle in a headache". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  16. ^ Vickers, AJ; Cronin, AM; Maschino, AC; Lewith, G; MacPherson, H; Foster, NE; Sherman, KJ; Witt, CM; Linde, K; Acupuncture Trialists', Collaboration (22 October 2012). "Acupuncture for chronic pain: individual patient data meta-analysis". Archives of Internal Medicine. 172 (19): 1444–53. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2012.3654. PMC 3658605. PMID 22965186.
  17. ^ "Acupuncture has limited benefit for chronic pain". Chicago Tribune. Reuters. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  18. ^ "Should Surgeons Keep Score? – Backchannel". Medium. 21 May 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  19. ^ "Andrew Vickers". Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  20. ^ Aschwanden, Christie (30 October 2014). "Introducing Slate's Marathon Time Predictor". Slate. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  21. ^ "What is a p-value anyway? 34 Stories to Help You Actually Understand Statistics". www.pearson.com. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  22. ^ Henning, Justine (21 April 2017). "Science is why my cancer diagnosis isn't a death sentence. Today I march for science". Vox. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  23. ^ Somers, James (12 December 2014). "Should Surgeons Keep Score?". WIRED. Retrieved 7 March 2018.