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Nolan Wages, Ph.D., and Roy Sabo, Ph.D., have both been named to permanent roles within the Biostatistics shared resource (BSR). Wages joins Massey as BSR’s new assistant director while Sabo has been named faculty director after serving as interim director for the past six months.

Wages (left) comes to Massey after serving as an associate professor in the Division of Translational Research & Applied Statistics in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Virginia (UVA). He was also the co-director of the UVA Center for Early Phase Trials.

“Dr. Wages has developed an outstanding reputation as an early-phase methodologist and collaborator,” said Sabo. “His expertise in Bayesian adaptive Phase I methods will help Massey researchers design and conduct more effective and successful studies. Moreover, his methodological scholarship and innovation will also promote and expand novel lines of early-phase research for Massey researchers, including drug combination studies and seamless phase-transition designs.”

Wages received his Ph.D. in statistics from UVA in 2010. He is part of a national research effort to change the way early-phase clinical trials in oncology are managed, not only through the pursuit of novel statistical methods, but also by focusing on successful implementation of developed methods into real studies. Wages collaborates with cancer center members in tailoring clinical trial designs to meet contemporary research objectives in early drug development. Wages is the principal investigator of current R01 funding entitled “Dose-finding designs for late-onset toxicities.” He is a faculty member for the ASCO/AACR Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Vail Workshop and an associate editor for clinical trials.

After six months serving as interim director, Sabo (right) has officially been named as the permanent faculty director of the BSR.

"I am delighted to announce the appointment of Roy Sabo,” said Paul Fawcett, Ph.D., associate director for shared resources at Massey. “Since assuming the interim directorship, Roy has amply demonstrated John Wooden's adage that the ‘the most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example.’  Through his dedicated efforts, superb organizational skills, and nationally recognized expertise in adaptive clinical trial design, longitudinal and repeated measure data analysis, and Bayesian statistical methodologies, Roy is bringing transformative change to the Biostatistics shared resource that positions Massey for the comprehensive designation."

Over the past six months, Sabo worked with research program leaders to connect BSR personnel with Massey researchers to optimize interdisciplinary teams and promote new lines of research. Sabo has also applied and promoted his experience in Bayesian adaptive clinical trial design to foster support and interest in developing novel approaches to investigating therapy and drug trials. Sabo will continue with the goals of helping grow the number of biostatisticians to support Massey and BSR activities, as well as providing flexible support options for all Massey research members.