Mr Piers Gaunt MSc

Mr Piers Gaunt

Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit
Principal Biostatistician

Contact details

Email
p.gaunt@bham.ac.uk
Address
Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit (CRCTU)
University 麻豆精选
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Piers Gaunt is a Principal Biostatistician within the Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit (CRCTU). His research focus is on improving the efficiency of clinical trials.

Qualifications

  • MSc in Medical Statistics, University of Leicester, 2010
  • BSc (Hons) Chemistry, University of Nottingham, 2001

Biography

Piers Gaunt worked as a scientist and project manager in the pharmaceutical industry prior to returning to academia in 2009 to undertake a Masters in Medical Statistics. Thereafter he joined the CRCTU within the Biostatistics team working in clinical trials in various cancer types and across all phases. He is responsible for the design, supervision, analysis and reporting of several trials within the CRCTU in both adult and paediatric cancer populations, including soft tissue sarcoma, lung, skin and head and neck.

Piers has a keen interest in improving the efficiency of clinical trials across a broad spectrum of areas. Examples of this are (i) in the implementation of efficient clinical trials methodology such as adaptive trial design, (ii) improving the analysis and reporting of clinical trials by writing software programs and driving improvements to aid report generation to facilitate faster interim analyses, and (iii) driving operational efficiency locally within the CRCTU but also nationally via development of guidelines and supporting the UKCRC Registered Clinical Trials Unit Statistical Operational Group. He also is focussed on several local projects to drive process improvement within the CRCTU.

Piers is fully committed to working to improve patient outcomes with an emphasis on survival and quality of life through efficient clinical trials with appropriate statistical methodology.

Teaching

Piers is a co-module lead for the 20-credit Design and Delivery of Further Clinical Trials module within the MSc in Clinical Trials and provides statistical support for students in their dissertations. This module teaches students a large number of contemporary clinical trial topics including; adaptive trial design, non-inferiority trials, trials in surgery, amongst others. 

He also contributes to lectures and assists with small group teaching for the MSc Clinical Trials, MSc in Clinical Oncology, MBChB Medicine and Surgery, BMedSc Medical Science, and provides training for internal staff within the CRCTU.

Other activities

Piers was the vice-chair of the local organising committee for the International Society of Clinical Biostatistics conference that was held in Birmingham in August 2016. 

He is also a member of several external Data Monitoring Committees and Trials Steering Committees for clinical trials run by other UK clinical trials units.

Piers is a member of the Independent Scientific Advisory Panel for both the Bone Cancer Research Trust and the Research Advisory Group for Myeloma UK.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Mehanna, H, Gaunt, P, Kong, A, Hartley, A, Sanghera, P, Forster, M, Sen, M, Paleri, V, Fong, C, Geropantas, D, Srinivasan, D, Garikipati, S, Moleron, R, Casswell, G, Aynsley, E, Ward, A, O'Toole, L, Mirza, A, Firth, C, Humphreys, I, Fulton-Lieuw, T & Nankivell, P 2024, '', Trials, vol. 25, 50.

Kirton, L, Riley, R, Gaunt, P, Brennan, B & Snell, K 2024, '', BMJ open, vol. 14, no. 12, e082941.

Patel, A, Brock, K, Slade, D, Gaunt, C, Kong, A, Mehanna, H, Billingham, L & Gaunt, P 2024, '', BMC Medical Research Methodology, vol. 24, no. 1, 11.

PETNECK2 Research Team, Nankivell, P, Gaunt, P, Gaunt, C, Sissons, J, Liaskou, E, Jefferson, Y, Fulton-Lieuw, T, Mittal, S & Mehanna, H 2024, '', BMC Cancer, vol. 24, no. 1, 823.

Sim玫es, R, Gulliford, S, Seddon, B, Dehbi, H-M, Robinson, M, Forsyth, S, Hughes, A, Gaunt, P, Nguyen, T-G, Elston, S, Mohammed, K, Zaidi, S, Miles, E, Hoskin, P, Harrington, K & Miah, A 2024, '', BMJ open, vol. 14, no. 8, e083617.

Woll, PJ, Gaunt, P, Gaskell, C, Young, R, Benson, C, Judson, IR, Seddon, BM, Marples, M, Ali, N, Strauss, SJ, Lee, A, Kaur, B, Billingham, L & David, H 2023, '', British Journal of Cancer, vol. 129, no. 9, pp. 1490-1499.

Forker, LJ, Bibby, B, Yang, L, Lane, B, Irlam, J, Mistry, H, Khan, M, Valentine, H, Wylie, J, Shenjere, P, Leahy, M, Gaunt, P, Billingham, L, Seddon, BM, Grimer, R, Robinson, M, Choudhury, A & West, C 2023, '', British Journal of Cancer.

Homer, V, Yap, C, Bond, S, Holmes, J, Stocken, D, Walker, K, Robinson, EJ, Wheeler, G, Brown, S, Hinsley, S, Schipper, M, Weir, CJ, Rantell, K, Prior, T, Yu, L-M, Kirkpatrick, J, Bedding, A, Gamble, C & Gaunt, P 2022, '', BMJ, vol. 376, e068177.

Woll, P, Gaunt, P, Danson, S, Steele, N, Ahmed, S, Mulatero, C, Shah, R, Bhosle, J, Hodgkinson, E, Watkins, B & Billingham, L 2022, '', Lung Cancer, vol. 171, pp. 26-33.

Hasan, Z-U, Ahmed, I, Matin, RN, Homer, V, Lear, JT, Ismail, F, Whitmarsh, T, Green, AC, Thomson, J, Milligan, A, Hogan, S, Van-de-Velde, V, Mitchell-Worsford, L, Kentley, J, Bowden, S, Gaunt, P, Wheatley, K, Proby, CM & Harwood, CA 2022, '', British Journal of Dermatology, vol. 187, no. 3, pp. 324-337.

Meade, S, Gaunt, P, Hartley, A, Robinson, M, Cashmore, J, Wagstaff, L, Babrah, J, Bowden, SJ, Mehanna, H & Sanghera, P 2018, '', Clinical Oncology.

Forker, L, Gaunt, P, Sioletic, S, Shenjere, P, Potter, R, Roberts, D, Irlam, J, Valentine, H, Hughes, A, Billingham, L, Grimer, R, Seddon, B, Choudhury, A, Robinson, M, West, CML & David, H 2018, '', British Journal of Cancer, vol. 118, no. 5, pp. 698-704.

Ferry, D, Billingham, L, Jarrett, H, Dunlop, D, Woll, PJ, Nicolson, M, Shah, R, Thompson, J, Spicer, J, Muthukumar, D, Skailes, G, Leonard, P, Chetiyawardana, AD, Wells, P, Lewanski, C, Crosse, B, Hill, M, Gaunt, P & O'Byrne, K 2017, '', European Journal of Cancer, vol. 83, pp. 302-312.

Comment/debate

PETNECK2 Research Team, Nankivell, P, Gaunt, P, Gaunt, C, Sissons, J, Liaskou, E, Jefferson, Y, Fulton-Lieuw, T, Mittal, S & Mehanna, H 2024, '', BMC Cancer, vol. 24, no. 1, 861.

Letter

Wheatley, K, Wilson, JS, Gaunt, P & Marsden, JR 2017, '', Cancer Treatment Reviews, vol. 55, pp. 225-229.