Associate Professor
Helen Thompson
Faculty of Science,
School of Mathematical Sciences
Biography
Helen Thompson is an Associate Professor of Statistics in the School of Mathematical Sciences and the Centre for Data Science at QUT. She specialises in statistical modeling and machine learning. With expertise in high-dimensional data analysis, space-time modeling, and optimum experimental design, she has made significant contributions to various fields including health, environment, and social sciences. She has published extensively in leading journals and her work provides valuable insights into complex datasets, uncovering hidden patterns and informing optimal decision-making processes in projects including Optimal Resource Extraction with BHP, Emergency Department Demand Modelling with Queensland Metro South Health and Hospital Services, Great Barrier Reef monitoring programs, and the Australian Cancer Atals.Research discipline:
Mathematical Sciences
Areas of expertise:
- Optimal design of experiments
- Clinical trial design
- Bayesian design
- Spatial modelling and sampling
- Copula modelling
- Stochastic frontier modelling
- Appled statistics
Personal details
Positions
- Associate Professor in Statistics
Faculty of Science,
School of Mathematical Sciences
Keywords
Applied statistics, Bayesian modelling, Spatial modelling, Spatial-temporal modelling, Copula modelling, Optimal spatial sampling, Optimum experimental design, Health statistics, Environmental statistics, Statistical consulting
Research field
Statistics
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (University of Glasgow)
- BSc (Hons) (University of Queensland)
- Bachelor of Science (University of Queensland)
Professional memberships and associations
- Royal Statistical Society
- Statistical Society of Australia
- Institute of Mathematical Statistics
- International Society for Bayesian Analysis
Teaching
Teaching discipline: Mathematical Sciences
Teaching areas:
- Introductory statistics to various cohorts (1st year)
- Introductory mathematics (calculus and linear algebra) to Health Science students (1st year)
- Statistical techniques: experimental design, survival/reliability analysis, multivariate analysis (3rd year)
- Applied statistics: generalised linear models (3rd year)
Experience
Teaching: Helen also has considerable teaching experince in Mathematics and Statistics with other academic institutions in her capacity as Teaching Assistant at the University of Glasgow (2003-2007) and Tutor at the University of Queensland (1999-2001).
Consulting: Some organisations that Helen has provided statistical consultancy for include:
- Queensland Academy of Sport
- Powerlink
- Integrated Open Space Services
Industry Collaboration: Helen's external collaborative research partners include:
- The Developing Foundation (QUT ATN IDTC)
- Princess Alexandra Hospital
- BHP Billiton, The Quantitative Group (CRC ORE)
- Roche Pharmaceuticals (ARC Linkage)
Research Supervision:Below is a list of Helen's completed research students, which includes students whom she associate supervised, and positions taken by the students after completion:
- Gnai Nishani Musafer, PhD (Statistics), "Non-Linear Univariate and Multivariate Spatial Modelling and Optimal Design" (Principal Supervisor), Data Scientist at Dingo Software.
- Darsy Darssan, PhD (Statistics), "Novel Sequential Methods in Dose-Finding Designs: Extension of the Continual Reassessment Method" (Associate Supervisor), Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool.
- Elizabeth Ryan, PhD (Statistics), "Contributions to Bayesian Experimental Design" (Associate Supervisor), Statistician at King's College London.
- Adebayo Aderounmu, PhD (Statistics), "Copula-Based Dependence Modelling of Price Spikes and Contagion-Like Effects in Australian Electricity Markets" (Associate Supervisor), Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Western Ontario.
- Zhengling Xiong, MPhil (Statistics), "Relationship Between Temperature Derivvtives and Electricity Futures" (Associate Supervisor), PhD student at UQ.
- Earl Duncan, BAppSc (Hons) (Statistics), "Optimal Designs for Non-Linear Models with Application to Dose-Finding in Phase I Clinical Trials", PhD student at QUT.
Publications
- Leontyeva, Y., Huang, Y., Cramb, S., Cameron, J., Baade, P., Mengersen, K. & Thompson, H. (2025). Bayesian Spatial Relative Survival Model to Estimate the Loss in Life Expectancy and Crude Probability of Death for Cancer Patients. Statistics In Medicine, 44(3-4). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/255263
- Gilholm, P., Mengersen, K. & Thompson, H. (2020). Identifying latent subgroups of children with developmental delay using Bayesian sequential updating and Dirichlet process mixture modelling. PLoS ONE, 15(6). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/229086
- Gilholm, P., Mengersen, K. & Thompson, H. (2021). Bayesian Hierarchical Multidimensional Item Response Modeling of Small Sample, Sparse Data for Personalized Developmental Surveillance. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 81(5), 936–956. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/229172
- Musafer, G. & Thompson, H. (2017). Non-linear optimal multivariate spatial design using spatial vine copulas. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 31(2), 551–570. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/98746
- Musafer, G., Thompson, H., Wolff, R. & Kozan, E. (2017). Nonlinear multivariate spatial modeling using NLPCA and pair-copulas. Geographical Analysis, 49(4), 409–432. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/105734
- Mahendran, A., Thompson, H. & McGree, J. (2023). A model robust subsampling approach for Generalised Linear Models in big data settings. Statistical Papers, 64(4), 1137–1157. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/246160
- De Silva, D., Fisher, R., Radford, B., Thompson, H. & McGree, J. (2024). Model-robust Bayesian design through generalised additive models for monitoring submerged shoals. Annals of Applied Statistics, 18(4), 2705–2729. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/254662
- Darssan, D., Thompson, H. & Pettitt, T. (2014). Incorporating adverse event relatedness into dose-finding clinical trial designs. Statistics in Medicine, 33(7), 1146–1161. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/70709
- Ryan, E., Drovandi, C., Thompson, H. & Pettitt, T. (2014). Towards Bayesian experimental design for nonlinear models that require a large number of sampling times. Computational Statistics and Data Analysis, 70, 45–60. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/56522
- Duwalage, K., Burkett, E., White, G., Wong, A. & Thompson, M. (2021). Identifying and quantifying general practice-type emergency department presentations. EMA - Emergency Medicine Australasia, 33(6), 1049–1058. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/228776
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Helen, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Selected research projects
- Title
- Innovative Bayesian Statistics for Enhanced Decision Making for Pharmaceutical Drug Development
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- LP0991062
- Start year
- 2010
- Keywords
- Bayesian Adaptive Design; Bayesian Decision Procedures; Design for Dose Escalation; Optimal Design; Simulation Modelling; Bayesian Computation
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Current supervisions
- New Statistical and Machine Learning Insights into Cancer
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Distinguished Professor Kerrie Mengersen, Associate Professor Susanna Cramb - Turning predictions into decisions: innovation to facilitate spatio-temporal decision-making in the agricultural sciences
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Distinguished Professor Kerrie Mengersen - New methods in Bayesian design to monitor submerged shoals off the coast of Western Australia
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor James McGree - Explainable Machine Learning for Ecological Modelling
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Dr David Warne - Combining Survey and Administrative Data for Analysis
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Gentry White - Optimal Partitioning Strategies for Statistical Regionalisation
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Gentry White - Automated Methods for Identifying Labor Market Areas
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Gentry White - Advancing Point-Process Models for Complex Spatiotemporal Data Analysis
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Gentry White - RLUR Model with Meteorological Data integration for Ultrafine Particle forecasting
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Distinguished Professor Lidia Morawska, Dr Rohan Jayaratne
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- Integrating machine learning and Bayesian statistics in spatial small area analysis: Methods and application (2024)
- Multivariate anisotropic spatial modelling and sampling design using copulas (2023)
- Statistical Modelling of Public Hospital Emergency Department Presentations (2022)
- Methods for Personalised Predictive Modelling of Developmental Milestones for Children with Disabilities (2021)
- Urban Ambient Particles: Long-term Spatio-temporal Trends and Impacts of Different Control Measures (2021)
- Transformed Statistical Distributions with Applications to Financial Data and Modelling of Financial Systems (2019)
- Non-Linear Univariate and Multivariate Spatial Modelling and Optimal Design (2016)
- Contributions to Bayesian Experimental Design (2014)
- Novel Sequential Methods in Dose-Finding Designs:Extensions of the Continual Reassessment Method (2014)
Completed supervisions (Masters by Research)
Supervision topics
The supervisions listed above are only a selection.