Matt Sydes, Professor of Clinical Trials & Methodology

Matt is responsible for co-leading the unit's Trial Conduct Methodology programme with the Unit’s Director, Max Parmar. This work is to develop evidence-based ways to improve how clinical trials are run.

Particular areas of interest include: the use of routinely-collected electronic health records (EHR) to support and run trials, with Health Data Research UK; running academic-led trials with a view to regulatory use and submission; proportionate and efficient monitoring of clinical trial; implementation of novel designs into practice, particularly platform / master protocols; better clinical trial data sharing; and communication of trial findings.

Matt teaches on the UCL Institute of Clinical Trials and Methodology's MSc in Clinical Trials and supervises a number of PhD and MSc students. Matt leads UCL's short course on Data Monitoring Committees and has served on many IDMCs and TSCs for national and international trials.

Matt chairs the Scientific Committee for ICTMC 2022, the next International Clinical Trials and Methodology Conference, and is on the executive committee for the NIHR-MRC Trials Methodology Research Partnership (TMRP). He sits on several funding panels, including MRC’s Better Methods Better Research.

Matt is 20% seconded to lead the Data-Enabled Trials theme for the BHF Data Science Centre, led by Health Data Research UK.

Selected publications

Love SB et al. Monitoring in practice - How are UK academic clinical trials monitored? A survey. Trials. 2020;21(1):59 >>> [Senior author]

Lensen S et al. Access to routinely collected health data for clinical trials - review of successful data requests to UK registries. Trials. 2020;21(1):398 >>> [Senior author]

Lane JA et al. A third trial oversight committee: Functions, benefits and issues. Clin Trials. 2020;17(1):106-12 >>> [Senior author]

Choodari-Oskooei B et al. Adding new experimental arms to randomised clinical trials: Impact on error rates. Clin Trials. 2020;17(3):273-84

Schiavone F et al. This is a platform alteration: a trial management perspective on the operational aspects of adaptive and platform and umbrella protocols. Trials. 2019;20(1):264 >>> [Senior author]

Morris TP et al. Proposals on Kaplan-Meier plots in medical research and a survey of stakeholder views: KMunicate. BMJ Open. 2019;9(9):e030215 >>> [Senior author]

Morrell L et al. Mind the gap? The platform trial as a working environment. Trials. 2019;20(1):297

Hague D et al. Changing platforms without stopping the train: experiences of data management and data management systems when adapting platform protocols by adding and closing comparisons. Trials. 2019;20(1):294 >>> [Senior author]

Embleton-Thirsk A et al. Impact of retrospective data verification to prepare the ICON6 trial for use in a marketing authorization application. Clin Trials. 2019;16(5):502-11

Diaz-Montana C et al. Implementing monitoring triggers and matching of triggered and control sites in the TEMPER study: a description and evaluation of a triggered monitoring management system. Trials. 2019;20(1):227

Sydes MR et al. Adding abiraterone or docetaxel to long-term hormone therapy for prostate cancer: directly randomised data from the STAMPEDE multi-arm, multi-stage platform protocol. Ann Oncol. 2018;29(5):1235-48 >>> [1st author; Trial_statistician]

Stenning SP et al. Triggered or routine site monitoring visits for randomised controlled trials: results of TEMPER, a prospective, matched-pair study. Clin Trials. 2018;15(6):600-9 >>>
Parker CC et al. Radiotherapy to the primary tumour for newly diagnosed, metastatic prostate cancer (STAMPEDE): a randomised controlled phase 3 trial. Lancet. 2018;392(10162):2353-66 >>> [Senior author; Corresponding_author]

James ND et al. Abiraterone for Prostate Cancer Not Previously Treated with Hormone Therapy. N Engl J Med. 2017;377(4):338-51 >>> [Senior author; Trial_statistician]

Marina NM et al. Comparison of MAPIE versus MAP in patients with a poor response to preoperative chemotherapy for newly diagnosed high-grade osteosarcoma (EURAMOS-1): an open-label, international, randomised controlled trial. Lancet Oncol. 2016;17(10):1396-408 >>> [Senior author (joint); Trial_statistician; Corresponding author]

James ND et al. Addition of docetaxel, zoledronic acid, or both to first-line long-term hormone therapy in prostate cancer (STAMPEDE): survival results from an adaptive, multiarm, multistage, platform randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2016;387(10024):1163-77 >>> [2nd author; Trial_statistician; Corresponding author]

Sydes MR et al. Sharing data from clinical trials: the rationale for a controlled access approach. Trials. 2015;16(1):104 >>> [1st author; Corresponding author]

Dearnaley DP et al. Escalated-dose versus control-dose conformal radiotherapy for prostate cancer: long-term results from the MRC RT01 randomised controlled trial. Lancet Oncol. 2014;15(4):464-73 >>> [Senior author; Trial_statistician; ; Corresponding author]

Sydes MR et al. Flexible trial design in practice - stopping arms for lack-of-benefit and adding research arms mid-trial in STAMPEDE: a multi-arm multi-stage randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2012;13(1):168 >>> [1st author; Corresponding_author]

DAMOCLES study group et al. A proposed charter for clinical trial data monitoring committees: helping them to do their job well. The Lancet. 2005;365(9460):711-22 >>> [Group author]

Research Interests

• Late phase randomised controlled trials
• Improved conduct of clinical trials
• Electronic health records
• Academic trials for regulatory use
• Applications of novel trial methods
• Dissemination and use of trial data
• Trial oversight committees
• International collaboration

Research Areas

• Cancer
• Methodology