James Dignam

James Dignam is a Professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Public Health Sciences. He serves as the Executive Director of the Statistics and Data Management Center for NRG Oncology, a National Cancer Institute-sponsored clinical trials group. His research focuses on the design, monitoring, and analysis of cancer clinical trials, statistical methodology for competing risks and hazard function estimation, and sociodemographic influences on cancer prognosis.

• Education: PhD in Biostatistics (University of Pittsburgh, 1994), BA in Mathematics (Saint Xavier College, 1986)

Dr. Dignam's expertise spans biostatistics, clinical trials, and health disparities in cancer. He has developed advanced models for competing risks and prognostic analysis, particularly in prostate and breast cancer. His work addresses obesity and race/ethnicity as factors in treatment outcomes.

Recent publications highlight his leadership in clinical trial methodology, including external control data integration, subgroup analysis techniques, and long-term follow-up studies in prostate cancer. His 2025 work with NRG Oncology emphasizes adaptive trial designs and surrogate endpoints.

• Scientific Awards: 2021 SPAIG Award (ASA), 2019 Society for Clinical Trials Fellow, 1991 Delta Omega Honor Society

Dr. Dignam teaches introductory biostatistics, clinical trials, and survival analysis. He leads major NIH-funded projects like NRG Oncology - Statistical and Data Management Center (U10CA180822) and previously directed studies on obesity in breast cancer (R03CA099508).