# Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry

Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry, abbreviated to PSI, is an organisation for the promotion of statistical thinking in order to improve the quality of research and development in the pharmaceutical industry.

## History

PSI is a non-profit organisation formed in 1977 which was later converted to a company limited by guarantee, a process which was completed in January 2003. PSI achieves its vision by providing a forum for regular discussion of statistics and matters relating to the practice of statistics in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as promoting good statistical practice within the industry.
PSI's membership is around 1000 statisticians from across the Pharmaceutical Industry and academia. About 80% of these are UK based. PSI hosts an annual three day conference for its members, as well as several one-day meetings and training courses. It publishes a quarterly newsletter "SPIN" and sponsors the international journal "Pharmaceutical Statistics", published by John Wiley & Sons.
PSI is a member of the European Federation of Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry (EFSPI).

## PSI Conference

PSI has held an annual conference every year since 1978. In its early years the conference was typically held at an English university, but later moved to hotel conference facilities. The first conference to be held outside the United Kingdom was in 2008, but since then the venue has tended to alternate between the UK and other European venues outside the UK. The full list of conference locations is shown below:
The PSI annual conference :
| Year | Location | PSI Chair |
| 1978 | The Falcon Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon | Jorgen Seldrup, Geigy |
| 1979 | University of Oxford, Jesus College, Oxford | John Lewis, ICI |
| 1980 | University of Cambridge, Newnham College, Cambridge | John Lewis, ICI |
| 1981 | University of Nottingham, Lincoln Hall, Nottingham | Alan Ebbutt, Ciba-Geigy |
| 1982 | University of York, Wentworth College, York | Chris Hallett, Roche |
| 1983 | University of Bristol, Wills Hall, Bristol | Chris Hallett, Roche |
| 1984 | University of Oxford, St Hilda's College, Oxford | David Robinson, Glaxo |
| 1985 | University of Sheffield, Sorby Hall, Sheffield | David Robinson, Glaxo |
| 1986 | University of Southampton, The Murray Building, Southampton | John Shelton, Searle |
| 1987 | The Cairn Hotel, Harrogate | John Shelton, Searle |
| 1988 | The Prince of Wales Hotel, Southport | Richard Hews, Pfizer |
| 1989 | Atlantic Tower Hotel, Liverpool | Cynthia Haliburn, SK&F Labs |
| 1990 | The Viking Hotel, York | Alec Vardy, Duphar |
| 1991 | The Grand Hotel, Bristol | Alec Vardy, Duphar |
| 1992 | Hospitality Inn, Brighton | Phil Poole, Sterling Winthrop |
| 1993 | The Grand Hotel, Bristol | Phil Poole, Pfizer |
| 1994 | Hilton National Hotel, Coventry | Mick Godley, Zeneca |
| 1995 | The Imperial Hotel, Blackpool | Mick Godley, Zeneca |
| 1996 | De Vere Royal Bath Hotel, Bournemouth | David Morgan, HMR |
| 1997 | Stratford Moat House Hotel, Stratford-upon-Avon | David Morgan, HMR |
| 1998 | The Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate | Andy Grieve, Pfizer |
| 1999 | De Vere Grand Harbour Hotel, Southampton | Andy Grieve, Pfizer |
| 2000 | Stakis Metropole Hotel, Brighton | John Chapman, Quintiles |
| 2001 | Carden Park Hotel, Chester | John Chapman, Serono |
| 2002 | Sopwell House Hotel, St Albans | Sue McKeown, Procter & Gamble |
| 2003 | Tortworth Court Hotel, Wotton-under-Edge | Sue McKeown, Procter & Gamble |
| 2004 | Carden Park Hotel, Chester | Kerry Gordon, Quintiles |
| 2005 | City Hall, Cardiff (Joint meeting with Royal Statistical Society) | Kerry Gordon, Quintiles |
| 2006 | Tortworth Court Hotel, Wotton-under-Edge | Paul Worthington, Chiltern International |
| 2007 | Carden Park Hotel, Chester | Paul Worthington, Takeda |
| 2008 | The Hotel, Brussels (Joint meeting with EFSPI) | Sara Hughes, GlaxoSmithKline |
| 2009 | Hilton Metropole Hotel, Brighton | Sara Hughes, GlaxoSmithKline |
| 2010 | Midland Hotel, Manchester | Stephen Pyke, Pfizer |
| 2011 | Cotswold Water Park, South Cerney | Stephen Pyke, Pfizer |
| 2012 | The Belfry, Sutton Coldfield | Katherine Hutchinson, Quanticate |
| 2013 | Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow | Katherine Hutchinson, Quanticate |
| 2014 | The Tower Hotel, London | Robert Cuffe, ViiV Healthcare |
| 2015 | Millennium Gloucester Hotel, London | Robert Cuffe, ViiV Healthcare |
| 2016 | Pullman Hotel, Berlin | Mark Morris, Conatus Pharmaceuticals |
| 2017 | Grange Tower Bridge Hotel, London | Nigel Howitt, Covance |
| 2018 | Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam | Nigel Howitt, Covance |
| 2019 | Queen Elizabeth II Centre, London | Nigel Howitt, Covance |
| 2020 | Webinar Series | Lucy Rowell, Roche |
| 2021 | Online Conference | Lucy Rowell, Roche |
| 2022 | Gothia Towers, Gothenburg | Chrissie Fletcher, GSK |
| 2023 | Novotel London West, London | Chrissie Fletcher, GSK |
| 2024 | | |

## Footnotes

* ^ The abbreviation PSI is chosen in preference to the more literal SPI to avoid connotations with the word "spy", and to tie in with the Greek letter Ψ - Greek letters playing a substantial part in statistics. Ψ was the original logo of PSI.
* ^ The 2020 conference had been scheduled to take place in Barcelona but was changed to a Webinar series because of the Covid-19 pandemic.