Steven J. Skates

Developing new statistical methods for early detection of cancer and evaluating their impact through multiple large clinical screening trials is not easy. Just ask Dr. Steven Skates. Building upon his formidable biostatistics expertise, Dr. Skates has spent decades designing early detection methods which accurately diagnose early-stage ovarian cancer when it may be more treatable and curable with existing therapies.

Currently when a woman is suspected of ovarian cancer, she is often screened for a blood biomarker, called CA-125. If the blood test result exceeds the threshold level of 35, she is evaluated further for ovarian cancer. Because ovarian cancer is relatively infrequent, it is crucial that this initial blood test is very accurate. If the initial screening provides too many false positive results, they can overwhelm the true positive cases.

Dr. Skates has a better way to screen women for ovarian cancer that personalizes the blood test to each individual.