Current Research Interests

Dr. Vickers’ research falls into three broad areas: randomized trials, surgical outcomes research and molecular marker studies. A particular focus of his work is the detection and initial treatment of prostate cancer. Dr Vickers has analyzed the ’learning curve’ for radical prostatectomy. He is working on a series of studies demonstrating that a single measure of prostate specific antigen (PSA) taken in middle age can predict lethal prostate cancer up to 30 years subsequently. He has also developed a statistical model to predict the result of prostate biopsy, work that has been commercialized and is clinically available through Opko Diagnostics. His work on randomized trials focuses on methods for integrating randomized trials into routine surgical practice to compare different approaches to surgery. As part of this work he has pioneered the use of web-interfaces for obtaining quality of life data from patients recovering from radical prostatectomy. Dr. Vickers’ methodological research centers primarily on novel methods for assessing the clinical value of predictive tools. In particular, he has developed decision-analytic tools that can be directly applied to a data set, without the need for data gathering on patient preferences or utilities. Dr Vickers has a strong interest in teaching statistics. He is course leader for the MSK biostatistics course and is author of the introductory textbook “What is a p-value anyway?” In his capacity as Co-Director of the PRO-CEL Core Facility, Dr. Vickers spearheads a number of innovative informatics initiatives throughout MSK, including the Amplio surgical quality assurance system.