15/07/2026
"Biostatistics doesn't give you the Truth, it gives you the probability of being right"
Dr. Ebogo Belobo Jean Thierry, Research Officer at CRSPP/IMPM, spoke at a scientific seminar held at IMPM on Tuesday, July 14th, 2026. His presentation was titled "Biostatistics in the Service of Biomedical Research"
He began by explaining why statistics have become essential in medical research today: with increasingly large and complex datasets, it's easy to draw the wrong conclusions if the analysis isn't rigorous. A single figure is never enough - one must always look at the variability in the data, meaning how much results differ from one patient to another.
He emphasized a point that is often misunderstood: a statistically "significant" result doesn't necessarily mean it's important in practice. He gave a striking example: across 10,000 patients, a tiny difference - barely noticeable for any individual patient - can appear "significant" simply because the sample is very large. Conversely, with only 10 patients, a huge difference might not reach significance, simply because the sample is too small. In other words: a statistically strong result isn't always a clinically useful one, and a "non-significant" result isn't always proof that there's no effect.
He also recalled a simple but often overlooked rule: always look at your data visually before running a statistical test. He showed that very different datasets can produce exactly the same averages - the only way to catch this is to visualize the data, not just summarize it with numbers.
He closed his presentation with a few simple habits to adopt before drawing conclusions from a study: check that the sample is truly representative, look at the data before testing it, and never rely on a single number alone to validate or reject a result.
Dr. Ebogo Belobo concluded with this message: "Biostatistics doesn't give you the Truth. It gives you the probability of being right." A good researcher, he reminded the audience, is not one who is always right - but one who knows how to measure their own doubts.
He is among the researchers recently trained by IMPM's IBHI-Lab as part of the SRG-MERCK-IMPM project cohort, which aims to strengthen bioinformatics, artificial intelligence, and advanced biostatistics for the cost-effective deployment of new tools to fight schistosomiasis.
Ministère de la Recherche Scientifique et de l'Innovation
