Our Faculty

Seamus (J. L. P.) Thompson, PhD, has extensive experience in implementing methodologically innovative clinical trials in close collaboration with clinical leaders using state-of-the-art data management systems. Dr. Thompson directs the Statistical Analysis Center for Clinical Trials (SAC) within the Department of Biostatistics, which offers each trial a dedicated center providing all needed statistical and data management resources and a comprehensive website and web-based trial management capabilities. This approach has allowed the SAC to efficiently apply advanced trial designs developed by Biostatistics faculty members in a series of NIH-funded trials including WARSS (the Warfarin versus Aspirin for Recurrent Stroke Study, which employed a double-blinding algorithm developed by Dr. Thompson); TNK-S2B, comparing two interventions for acute stroke; and QALS, for the neurodegenerative disorder ALS. The largest SAC trial, WARCEF (Warfarin Versus Aspirin for low Cardiac Ejection Fraction), has recruited over 1800 patients in nine countries. The SAC also provides comprehensive statistical and data management capabilities for many national and international projects in epidemiology, including Arsenic Exposure in Bangladesh; the World Trade Center Research Program; the Puerto Rican Asthma Study; Diabetes Mellitus and Periodontal Disease in Children; and HIV in South Africa. Many of these projects originate in the NIEHS Center for Environmental Health in Northern Manhattan, where Dr. Thompson is currently Co-Director of the Integrative Health Sciences Core.

PhD, University of California, 1979

MA, Cambridge University, England, 1974

MA, University of California, 1974

BA, Cambridge University, England, 1971

Mailman School Affiliations:

• NIEHS Center for Environmental Health in Northern Manhattan 

Additional Affiliations:

• Member, Society for Clinical Trials
• Member, American Heart Association
• Member, International Biometric Society

Warfarin vs. Aspirin in Reduced Cardiac Ejection Fraction-STAT
As Statistical Principal Investigator for the WARCEF trial, Dr. Thompson is responsible for the Statistical Analysis and Anticoagulation Data Management Center for this international, multi-center, double-blind, randomized clinical trial to determine whether warfarin or aspirin is better at preventing stroke and death in patients with reduced cardiac ejection fraction.

TNK-S2B
TNK-S2B trial is a multi-center, double-blind, randomized, "seamless" phase II/III study of tenectaplase (TNK) versus standard dose alteplase for treatment of patients with acute ischemic stroke within three hours of onset. As Statistical Principal Investigator Dr Thompson supervises the Data Management Center for TNK, which coordinates the data management and quality control activities of the study sites, and for the analytical and statistical support that enables the investigators to successfully complete the proposed clinical trial.

Integrative Health Sciences Core of the NIEHS Center for Environmental Health in Northern Manhattan (CEHNM)
The mission of CEHNM is to understand and prevent the environmental components of disease. As Co-Director of the Integrative Health Sciences Core, Dr. Thompson is responsible for providing consultative expertise in study design, execution, and statistical analysis to investigators who are planning or conducting research through the Center.