A statistician wandering through science – a chequered history

Cafe Scientifique

November 10th

Dr Ian Saunders: Senior Principal Research Scientist,
CSIRO Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics, Adelaide



Presented : A statistician wandering through science – a chequered history

Dr. Ian Saunders uses his expertise in statistics to design efficient experiments and analyse complex data.
Dr Saunders utilises his expertise in the areas of statistics and experimental design to analyse biological data.  His current major research focus is on the use of high density genetic marker data to locate disease-related genes.

The main focus of his work is within the Preventative Health National Research Flagship. The aim of this Flagship Program is to identify early indicators of disease. Dr Saunders has played a key role in this, by developing methods for selecting effective disease markers and also by designing and analysing studies for discovering genes related to colorectal cancer.


Dr Saunders first joined CSIRO in 1974, undertaking research and consulting in statistics and applied probability and obtaining a PhD in Statistics from the ANU. 
In 1988 Dr Saunders joined Bond University as Associate Professor of Statistics and Deputy Director of the statistical consulting centre. In 1992 he was appointed Queensland Government Professor of Quality Management at the Queensland University of Technology.
Dr Saunders joined CSIRO again in 1995 and has been part of the Bioinformatics group since 2001.
From 1995-2001, his major focus was research into quality management, developing and applying an approach to organisational performance measurement that integrated definitions of performance with organisational strategic planning and management. From 2001 he has been working on bioinformatics and agriculture and human health. This has included studies of the impact of diet on colonic butyrate content, design and analysis of studies of protein biomarkers in blood, and development of novel methods for the analysis of genetic data using 250000 genetic markers to seek disease-causing genes.