Developing and delivering an RSS William Guy Lecture

Careers
Online event hosted by the RSS Medical Statistics Section group, where all three 2024-2025 William Guy Lecturer share their experiences of engaging children in statistics.
Published

March 19, 2026

Abstract

In this talk, I’ll discuss my aims and thought process when developing my RSS William Guy Lecture “From lab to patient: how statistics shapes decisions in medicine” aimed at 11-16 year olds. I’ll also share my experience of delivering the talks throughout the 2024-2025 academic year, including some of the challenges and things I’ve learnt along the way.

Speaker

Nicola Rennie is a data visualisation specialist with a background in statistics and data science, who is interested in understanding how to effectively communicate complex quantitative ideas in an accessible way. She co-authored the Royal Statistical Society’s Best Practices for Data Visualisation guidance and is a member of the Editorial Board of Significance magazine, particularly focused on data visualisation. Nicola is also a committee member and secretary of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) Teaching Statistics Section Group. Previously, she was one of the RSS’s 2024-2025 William Guy Lecturers who recorded and delivered talks aimed at 11-16 year olds on the topic of using data and statistics to shape decision making in medicine and healthcare.

More information on the RSS website.