Biostatistician specializing in clinical trials, survival analysis, Bayesian methods, and evidence synthesis.
Professional Summary
I am a PhD student in Biostatistics at the Department of Medical Statistics, University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG); I was previously a Research Associate there (2021–2025). My work focuses on meta-analysis of clinical trials (including subgroup comparisons and treatment-by-subgroup effects), time-to-event analysis, and developing reproducible statistical methods and software. I collaborate with medical researchers and teach applied statistics. I have experience in R, SAS, RStan, Shiny, SQL, and Git across national and international research settings.
Key Expertise
Selected Projects
- spsurv (R package, CRAN) — Semi-parametric survival analysis with proportional hazards (PH), proportional odds (PO), and accelerated failure time (AFT) models for right-censored data. Bernstein polynomial baseline; Bayesian or maximum likelihood estimation; Stan integration. Topic of my MSc thesis (UFMG); developed for flexible, reproducible time-to-event analysis.
- bsem (R package) — Bayesian structural equation modeling with rstan: confirmatory factor analysis, path models, latent variables. Includes an interactive Shiny app. I contributed to development as Research Assistant at UFMG (project on business model and ROI for an energy distributor). Applicable to health, psychometric, and business research.
Research & Publications
Submitted work on subgroup comparisons within and across studies in meta-analysis (co-authored with Christian Röver and Tim Friede; submitted to Research Synthesis Methods). Young Researchers Award (Best Presentations), Symposium “Recent Advances in Meta-Analyses”, TU Dortmund. Full list: Google Scholar.
Technical Skills
Statistical programming: R, SAS, RStan, Shiny, SQL, Git, R Markdown. Reproducible analysis workflows and version-controlled reporting.
Methods & tools: Time-to-event and survival analysis; Bayesian inference; meta-analysis; structural equation modeling; biometry support for clinical and medical research.
About Me
I am a PhD student in Biostatistics at the Department of Medical Statistics, University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG); I was previously a Research Associate there (2021–2025). My dissertation is on evidence synthesis of subgroup-specific clinical data (supervisors: Tim Friede, Christian Röver). My work combines methods development (meta-analysis of clinical trials, including subgroup comparisons; time-to-event analysis), statistical programming (R, SAS, RStan, Shiny, SQL, Git; R packages and reproducible workflows), and collaboration with medical researchers. I have several years of teaching experience in applied statistics.
I am motivated by problems where statistical rigor and clear communication of uncertainty matter for clinical or regulatory decisions. I value working in teams that span statistics, medicine, and operations, and I am used to translating methodological choices into actionable analysis plans and reports. I am open to opportunities as a biostatistician, research biostatistician, or statistical programmer in pharmaceutical and clinical research organisations or academic medical institutes in Europe. For a concise overview and key expertise, see the homepage.
Teaching & Feedback
“Das Anbieten eines englischen Moduls war eine tolle Möglichkeit,
gerade auch weil es zu dem Thema passt...; außerdem war unser Dozent sehr kompetent und nett.”
(Offering an English module was a great opportunity... our lecturer was very knowledgeable and friendly.)
Contact
Email: rvpanaro@gmail.com
Based in Göttingen, Germany (CET). EU citizenship (Italy).