Mei-Yin Polley PhD
Assistant Adjunct Professor of Neurological Surgery
Dr. Polley serves as a biostatistician for a broad array of the Brain Tumor Research Center (BTRC) research projects. She provides biostatistical input into the design, analysis, and reporting of the study results. Dr. Polley’s current research effort is focused on supporting the Brain Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant and the P01 project on Imaging and Tissue Biomarkers in the Treatment of Brain Tumors. The SPORE includes five translational research projects and represents the efforts of interdisciplinary teams of investigators from the Neuro-Oncology program of the UCSF Cancer Center. The P01 project aims to integrate advances in technological development of neuro-imaging and tissue biomarkers in the management of patients with brain tumors and to translate this knowledge to optimize delivery of novel agents.
Dr. Polley’s research goal is to adopt efficient statistical methods to improve the design and conduct of human trials at BTRC to directly and accurately address the primary scientific questions. Sound statistical designs facilitate the timeliness of treatment regimen discovery and are economical in terms of sample size and time required to complete a study. Dr. Polley also provides consultation on statistical issues to trainees in the Department of Neurosurgery. These efforts include providing advice on literature review, formulation of key scientific questions, study design, analyses of data and interpretation of results. In conjunction with Dr. Susan Chang and Dr. Kathleen Lamborn, Dr. Polley leads sessions on Evidence-Based Medicine as a formal training forum to Neurosurgery trainees interested in pursuing a career in academic medicine. As a member for the Biostatistics and Computational Biology (BCB) Core of the UCSF Cancer Center, Dr. Polley also serves on the Cancer Center Protocol Review Committee (PRC).
Education, Training, and Previous Positions
- 1995: BA, Statistics, National Taipei University, Taiwan
1998: AM, Statistics, Harvard University
2001, 2005: MS, PhD, Biostatistics, Columbia University
2006-2007: Biostatistics Manager, Amgen Inc.
2007-present: Assistant Adjunct Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, UCSF
Selected Professional Memberships and Appointments
- American Statistical Association
Society for Neuro-Oncology
Associate Editor of Neurosurgery journal
Selected Honors and Awards
- 1994: Academic honor, National Taipei University, Taiwan
1995: Academic honor, National Taipei University, Taiwan
2001-2004: Merck & Co., Inc. Fellowship
2006: The Joseph L. Fleiss Memorial Prize in Biostatistics for an Outstanding Dissertation
2008: Travel scholarship to AACR Cancer Biostatistics Workshop
2009: Award for Excellence in Clinical Research at the 2009 Joint Meeting of the Society for Neuro-Oncology and the AANS/CNS Sections on Tumors (supported by American Brain Tumor Association)
Selected Recent Publications
Polley MY, Lamborn KR, Chang SM, Butowski N, Clarke J, Pradose M. Six-Month Progression-Free Survival as an Alternative Primary Efficacy Endpoint to Overall Survival in Newly-Diagnosed Glioblastoma Patients Receiving Temozolomide. Neuro-Oncology 2009. In Press.
McBride SM, Perez DA, Polley MY, Vandenberg SR, Smith JS, Zheng S, Lamborn KR, Wiencke JK, Chang SM, Prados MD, Berger MS, Stokoe D, Haas-Kogan DA. Activation of PI3K/mTOR Pathway Occurs in Most Adult Low-Grade Gliomas and Predicts Patient Survival. Journal of Neuro-Oncology 2009. In Press.
Schiffman JD, Hodgson JG, Vandenberg SR, Flaherty P, Polley MY, Yu M, Fisher PG, Rowitch DH, Ford JM, Berger MS, Ji H, Gutmann DH, James CD. Combined Oncogenic BRAF Mutation and CDKN2A Inactivation Is Characteristic of a Subset of Pediatric Malignant Astrocytoma. Cancer Research 2009. In Press.
Sanai N, Polley MY, Berger MS. Insular Glioma Resection: Assessment of Patient Morbidity, Tumor Progression, and Survival. Journal of Neurosurgery 2009. In Press.
Liu R, Solheim K, Polley MY, Lamborn KR, Page M, Fedoroff A, Rabbitt J, Butowski N, Prados M, Chang SM. Quality of Life in Low-Grade Glioma Patients Receiving Temozolomide. Neuro-Oncology 11(1): 59-68, 2009.
Polley MY, Cheung YK. Two-Stage Designs for Dose-Finding Trials with a Biologic Endpoint Using Stepwise Tests. Biometrics 64(1): 232-241, 2007.