Wednesday, April 8, 2026
| Time | Event | Room | Title | Instructors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:30 – 9:30am | Continental breakfast | EBC Networking Hall | ||
| 9:30-12:45pm | C1 Short Course | Not yet assigned | An Introduction to Generative Models | Anru Zhang (Duke) |
| C2 Short Course | Not yet assigned | Generalized Pairwise Comparisons: A Practical Guide to the Design and Analysis of Clinically Relevant and Patient-Centric Trials | Johan Vebeeck (Data Science Institute, UHasselt, Belgium) Xiaoyu Cai (Insmed Inc., USA) |
|
| C3 Short Course | Not yet assigned | Orchestrating Analytical Harmony with SAS, R and DuckDB | Joe Madden, (SAS Institute Inc.) | |
| 12:45 – 1:30pm | Lunch | SAS Cafe (Lower Level) Seating Area TBD | ||
| 1:30 – 4:45pm | C4 Short Course | Not yet assigned | Causal Generalist Medical AI | Hongtu Zhu (UNC – Chapel Hill) |
| C5 Short Course | Not yet assigned | AI-Assisted Bayesian Causal ML Methods and Software for Modern Biopharmaceutical Development | Brad Carlin (PhaseV Trials Inc.) Raviv Pryluk (PhaseV Trials Inc.) |
Thursday, April 9, 2026
| Time | Event | Room | Title | Organizers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7:30 – 5:15pm | OpportuNet: Networking Fair | Gallery #1017 | Open during duration of symposium | Taylor Krajewski (Duke) |
| 7:30 – 8:30am | Continental Breakfast | EBC Networking Hall | Roland Matsouaka (Duke) Lisa Wruck (Duke) |
|
| 8:30 – 9:00am | Opening Remarks | Auditorium EBC250 | Welcome Opening Remarks | Yuan Wu (Duke) David Page (Duke) |
| 9:00 – 10:00am | Keynote I | Auditorium EBC250 | Dr. Mark Levenson, Deputy Director, Office of Biostatistics/CDER, FDA | Wanjie Sun (FDA) |
| 10:00 – 10:30am | Break & Poster Session I Presentations | EBC Networking Hall | Roland Matsouaka (Duke) Lisa Wruck (Duke) |
|
| 10:30 – 12:00pm | Session – S1A | Not yet assigned | Recent Advances in AI Health | Anru Zhang (Duke) |
| Session – S1B | Not yet assigned | Advancing Comparative Effectiveness Research for Informed Healthcare Decisions | Haitao Chu (Pfizer) | |
| Session – S1C | Not yet assigned | Advanced Bayesian Clinical Trial Designs in Early Phase Oncology | Kentaro Takeda (Astellas) | |
| Session – S1D | Not yet assigned | Statistical Innovations in Biosimilar and Bioequivalence Studies | Wanjie Sun (FDA) | |
| 12:00 – 1:15pm | Lunch | SAS Cafe (Lower Level) Seating Area TBD | ||
| 12:45 – 1:15 | OpportuNet: Networking Fair | Gallery #1017 | Designated time for networking with sponsor representatives | Taylor Krajewski (Duke) |
| 1:15 – 2:45pm | Session – S2A | Not yet assigned | Biomedicine: Methods, Models, and Applications | Ruitao Lin (MD Anderson, University of Texas) Ying Yuan (MD Anderson, University of Texas) |
| Session – S2B | Not yet assigned | Establishing Logic-respecting Causal Ratio Estimands for Binary and Time-to-Event Outcomes, A Principled Approach | Hong Tian (BeOne Medicines) | |
| Session – S2C | Not yet assigned | Bayesian Innovations in Clinical Trials | Taylor Krajewski (Duke) | |
| Session – S2D | Not yet assigned | How PoS Shapes Portfolio Strategy | Wenqiong Xue (Boehringer Ingelheim) | |
| 2:45 – 3:15pm | Break & Poster Session II Presentations | EBC Networking Hall | Roland Matsouaka (Duke) Lisa Wruck (Duke) |
|
| 3:15 – 5:00pm | Session – S3A | Not yet assigned | Utilizing AI for Real-World Data Analysis in Clinical Trials: Lessons Learned and Regulatory Insights | Anastasia Ivanova (UNC) |
| Session – S3B | Not yet assigned | Poster Lightning Talks | Roland Matsouaka (Duke) Lisa Wruck (Duke) |
|
| Session – S3C | Not yet assigned | New Developments in the Analysis of Hierarchical Endpoints | Roland Matsouaka (Duke) | |
| Session – S3D | Not yet assigned | Multistate Models for Enhancing Clinical Drug Development: Bridging Disease Processes, Biomarkers, and Treatment Outcomes | Shibing Deng (Pfizer) | |
| 5:15 – 7:00pm | Social Mixer – Registration Required | SAS Patio (Lower Level) |
Friday, April 10, 2026
| Time | Event | Room | Title | Organizers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7:30 – 1:15pm | OpportuNet: Networking Fair | Gallery #1017 | Open during duration of symposium | Taylor Krajewski (Duke) |
| 7:30 – 8:30am | Continental breakfast | EBC Networking Hall | ||
| 8:30 – 9:00am | Opening Remarks | Auditorium EBC250 | Welcome Poster Award Presentations DISS Steering Committee Remarks | Herb Pang (Genentech) Roland Matsouaka / Lisa Wruck (Duke) Hong Tian (BeOne Medicines) |
| 9:00 – 10:00am | Keynote II | Auditorium EBC250 | Dr. Udo Sglavo, Vice President, Applied AI and Modeling R&D, SAS Institute Inc. | Fang Chen (SAS Institute Inc.) |
| 10:00 – 10:15am | Break | |||
| 10:15 – 11:45am | Session – S4A | Not yet assigned | AI-Driven Analytics: How Modern-Day Statistical Software Charts the Future of Innovation | Fang Chen (SAS) |
| Session – S4B | Not yet assigned | Conformal Inference for Uncertainty-Aware Machine Learning in Biomedical Research | Ke Zhu (Duke) | |
| Session – S4C | Not yet assigned | Expediate Dose Optimization Using Backfill and Randomization | Ying Yuan (University of Texas) | |
| Session – S4D | Not yet assigned | From Data to Decisions: Bayesian Approaches to Drug Exposure and Dosing | Kevin Gan (ViiV) | |
| 11:45 – 1:15pm | Lunch / Break | SAS Cafe (Lower Level) Seating Area TBD | ||
| 12:30 – 1:15pm | OpportuNet: Networking Fair | Gallery #1017 | Designated time for networking with sponsor representatives. OpportuNet ends at 1:15pm | Taylor Krajewski (Duke) |
| 1:15 – 3:00pm | Session – S5A | Not yet assigned | AI/Machine Learning Applications and Methods in Clinical Trials | Zoe Hua (Servier) |
| Session – S5B | Not yet assigned | Empower Pharmaceutical Developments with Innovative Adaptive Clinical Trials | Kaiyuan Hua (BeOne Medicines) | |
| Session – S5C | Not yet assigned | Advancing Quantitative Benefit–Risk Assessment in Drug Development: Methodologies, Applications, and Regulatory Perspectives | Zhaoyang Teng (Astellas) | |
| Session – S5D | Not yet assigned | Go/No-Go Decision Making of Transitioning to Phase 3 Study in Clinical Development | Kentaro Takeda (Astellas) |
