Professor Deborah Ashby is a statistician working to improve health in populations. Her methodological contributions have explored the utility of novel Bayesian statistical approaches in practice, encompassing efficient design of studies, data-monitoring, safety of medicines, statistical underpinning of evidence-based medicine and the role of formal statistical approaches to risk-benefit decision-making in drug regulation. During the recent pandemic she co-led an investigation into rigorous evaluation of diagnostic tests, was an investigator on studies of Covid prevalence and had an external governance role on national priority Covid-19 trials, using Bayesian approaches to contribute to rapid decision making.
Professor Ashby is Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London where she holds the Chair in Medical Statistics and Clinical Trials. She was previously Director of the School of Public Health and Founding Co-Director of Imperial Clinical Trials Unit. She was awarded the OBE for services to medicine in 2009, appointed an NIHR Senior Investigator in 2010, elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2012 and was President of the Royal Statistical Society for 2019 and 2020.
Professional position
- Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London
