PIMS Special Speaker

Recent Advances in Optimal Experimental Designs: A well-designed study is crucial for the success of any scientific investigation. Despite advances in optimal design theory in the last few decades, applications to find efficient designs in many biomedical studies have been sporadic. Part of the reason may be that the theory can be very complicated and the optimal design is not easily determined for a specific problem. I review the mathematical foundations and recent developments in optimal experimental designs. To promote optimal design ideas in scientific research and facilitate practitioners' access to optimal designs, I present a website that generates a variety of optimal designs freely and easily. The user first selects a suitable model from a list of statistical models on the website and an optimality criterion, and then inputs design parameters for his or her problem. The site returns the optimal design and the efficiency of any user-selected design. It is hoped that this site informs and enables practitioners to implement a more efficient design in their work.