Marvin Zelen (June 21, 1927 – November 15, 2014) was Professor Emeritus of Biostatistics in the Department of Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH), and Lemuel Shattuck Research Professor of Statistical Science (the first recipient). During the 1980s, Zelen chaired HSPH's Department of Biostatistics. Among colleagues in the field of statistics, he was widely known as a leader who shaped the discipline of biostatistics. He "transformed clinical trial research into a statistically sophisticated branch of medical research."
Zelen was noted for his developing some of the statistical methods and study designs still used in clinical cancer trials, in which experimental drugs are tested for toxicity, effectiveness, and proper dosage. He introduced measures to ensure that data gathered from human trials would be as free as possible of errors and biases—measures that are now standard practice. Zelen helped transform clinical trial research into a well-managed and statistically sophisticated branch of medical science. His work in this area led to significant medical advances, such as improved treatments for several different forms of cancer. His research also focused on improved early detection of cancer; on modeling the progression of cancer and its response to treatment; and on using statistical models to help determine optimal screening strategies for various common cancers, especially breast cancer. Ironically, he died after a prolonged battle with cancer.
One of those experimental design models for randomized clinical trials is known as Zelen's design or Zelen's randomized consent design, in which patients are randomized to either the treatment or to the control group before they give their informed consent. Because the group to which any given patient is assigned is known at the time of consenting, the study patient's consent can be sought conditionally.
In 1962 Zelen was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association.
Education
Diploma - Evander Childs High School, New York City, 1944
B.S. - City College of New York, New York City, mathematics, 1949
M.S. - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, mathematical statistics, 1951 Ph.D. - American University, Statistics, 1957
Work History
1951-1952 - Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey
1952-1961 - National Bureau of Standards (renamed National Institute of Standards & Technology) 1960-1961 - University of Maryland (College Park), Associate Professor 1961-1963 - University of Wisconsin’s Mathematics Research Center 1963-1967 - National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD [Chair, Section on Statistics and Applied Mathematics] 1967-1977 - State University of New York (Buffalo), Professor and Leading Professor 1975 - Founder, President, Chairman of Board, Frontier Science & Technology Research Foundation (a notfor–profit foundation devoted to the advancement of statistical science in clinical trials) 1977-2014 - Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, Professor of Statistical Science [Chair, Department of Biostatistical Science (DFCI)] 1977–2007 - Harvard School of Public Health, Professor of Statistical Science [Chair, HSPH Department of Biostatistics (1981-1990)] 2007-2014 - Harvard School of Public Health, Lemuel Shattuck Research Professor of Statistical Science (established by Derek Bok)
Visiting faculty member: University of California, Berkeley University of Wisconsin - early 1960s (2 years, from 1961 to 1963) Imperial College of Science & Technology (London) - Fulbright Scholar London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (London) Hebrew University
Early life and career before Harvard
Marvin Zelen was born and reared in New York City, where he attended and in 1944 received a diploma from Evander Childs High School. Then, as a mathematics major at City College of New York, he discovered and developed his lifelong interest in statistics and probability. In 1949, he earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics there. After earning a master's degree in mathematical statistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1951, he worked for 10 years at the mathematics lab of the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C. He was the only math lab employee without a doctorate, which he later earned in 1957 at American University.