Dr. Ross Prentice is a preeminent biostatistician whose distinguished career has profoundly shaped statistical methodology for epidemiological and clinical research. He currently holds Professor Emeritus positions in Biostatistics at the University of Washington School of Public Health and in the Cancer Prevention Program at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, where he has been a foundational figure since joining in 1974. After earning his PhD in Statistics from the University of Toronto in 1970, Dr. Prentice established himself as a leading methodologist during his early career at the University of Waterloo before transitioning to his long-standing position at Fred Hutch. Under his leadership, he formalized the Public Health Sciences Division in 1983 and served as its Director, transforming it into a premier hub for research in biostatistics, cancer prevention, and epidemiology. His administrative leadership also included serving as Senior Vice President of the institution and directing the Public Health Sciences Division for nearly three decades.
Dr. Prentice's groundbreaking contributions to statistical methodology include the development of the case-cohort design in 1986, which revolutionized the analysis of large cohort studies by providing an efficient sampling method for time-to-event data. His influential 1989 paper on criteria for valid surrogate endpoints established fundamental principles for clinical trial design that continue to guide research across multiple medical disciplines. As a principal leader of the Women's Health Initiative Clinical Coordinating Center since 1993, he oversaw the design and analysis of landmark studies involving more than 161,000 postmenopausal women, with pivotal findings that hormone replacement therapy increased risks of breast cancer, heart disease, and stroke. This work directly influenced clinical practice, substantially reducing hormone therapy use and preventing an estimated 20,000 breast cancer cases annually in the United States alone. His methodological innovations in multivariate failure time data and nutritional epidemiology through the Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial have become standard approaches used by researchers worldwide.
Beyond his methodological contributions, Dr. Prentice has been instrumental in establishing large-scale research infrastructure that has transformed population health studies, including hosting national data and clinical coordination centers for the Women's Health Initiative which has generated data for over 2,000 scientific papers. He has mentored generations of biostatisticians and epidemiologists, shaping the field through his leadership as a Professor at the University of Washington and his extensive publication record of highly influential methodological papers. His work has been recognized with prestigious honors including the COPSS Presidents' Award in 1986 and the R. A. Fisher Lectureship in 2008, with the citation noting his 'fundamental contributions to the theory and practice of statistical science.' The 2016 Team Science Award from the American Association for Cancer Research acknowledged his collaborative leadership in the Women's Health Initiative, cementing his legacy as a researcher whose work has profoundly impacted both statistical theory and public health practice. Even in his emeritus role, Dr. Prentice continues to influence the field through ongoing methodological research and consultation, ensuring his contributions to statistical science maintain relevance for future generations of researchers.
