ICSA Mentor–Mentee Roundtable Lunch
About Mentor–Mentee Roundtable Lunch Program
The ICSA Applied Statistics Symposium plans to offer a Mentor–Mentee Roundtable Lunch Program as part of the 2026 in-person meeting. This interactive session is designed to foster career guidance, networking, and knowledge sharing between students, early-career statisticians, and experienced professionals in the pharmaceutical and biostatistics fields.
The 2026 Mentor–Mentee Roundtable Lunch will be held during a scheduled lunch hour (65 minutes) and will follow a structured, rotating roundtable format to maximize engagement and exposure to multiple mentors.
Session Format
Duration: 65 minutes (Lunch Hour)
Structure:
- Welcome & Introduction (2 minutes)
Brief overview of session goals, mentor introductions, and explanation of the rotation process. - Roundtable Mentoring Discussions (3 rotations × 20 minutes each)
- Each table will host 2–3 senior statisticians serving as mentors.
- Mentees (students and early-career statisticians) will participate in small groups.
- Mentors rotate between tables every 20 minutes, allowing mentees to interact with multiple experts.
- Closing Summary (3 minutes)
Key takeaways and acknowledgments
Lunch:
A complimentary lunch will be provided for all registered participants.
Interaction Style
The session is highly conversational, and participant driven. Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Career development and advancement in pharmaceutical statistics
- Transitioning from academia to industry
- Day-to-day work in biopharma and biotech organizations
- Regulatory submissions and cross-functional collaboration
- Statistical challenges in drug development
- Emerging industry trends (e.g., real-world evidence, Bayesian methods, AI/ML in clinical trials)
Target Audience
- Undergraduate and graduate students in statistics, biostatistics, data science, or
related fields - Early-career statisticians (0–3 years of experience)
- Individuals interested in transitioning into the pharmaceutical or biotech industry
Participation is open to ICSA members and registered symposium attendees.
Mentors and Organizers
- Mentors: To be announced
- Organizer: Yushi Liu
- Co-Organizers: Hanfei Xu, Jun Zhao, Hongzhe Li, Hongtu Zhu, Xun Chen, Yabing Mai, Wei Shen, Hongyu Zhao, and Rong Chen
Logistics and Additional Notes
- The symposium organizers will coordinate lunch catering and room arrangements.
- A large meeting room with round tables will be required, depending on the number of registrants.
- The symposium organizers reserve the right to modify or cancel the session due to low enrollment or logistical constraints.
Registration Process
To participate as a mentee in the roundtable discussions, attendees must register for both the symposium and the Mentor–Mentee Roundtable Lunch session.
This event is open to ICSA members only (ICSA membership is free for students).
Deadline:
Please refer to the official ICSA 2026 Symposium registration deadline.