Lehana Thabane

Affiliation: Vice President of Research, St Joseph’s Healthcare
Education: BS, Mathematics, National University of Lesotho; Master’s, Statistics, University of Sheffield; PhD, Statistics, Western University

Growing up in Lesotho in Southern Africa, Lehana Thabane was fascinated by numbers and the information one can get from a single number. As such, he developed a strong interest in mathematics and took all the mathematics courses offered to him as an undergraduate. When he ran out, he took statistics courses because they were closely related to mathematics.

Today, Thabane is a vice president of research and scientific director of the research institute at St. Joseph’s Healthcare, as well as a biostatistics professor in the department of health research methods, evidence, and impact at McMaster University.

Due to his international reputation, Thabane has been elected a member of the International Statistical Institute; fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, American Statistical Association, Society for Clinical Trials, and Canadian Academy of Health Sciences; and honorary foreign associate member of the Academy of Science of South Africa.

Thabane served as the president of the Society for Clinical Trials from 2022–2023 and was honored with the 2022 Statistical Society of Canada Award for Impact of Applied and Collaborative Work and an honorary degree from Stellenbosch University in South Africa for his contribution to clinical trial methodology.

Additionally, Thabane is a member of the editorial board for many journals, including Trials and Clinical Trials. He has co-authored more than 1,000 peer-reviewed manuscripts, leading to significant contributions to science, health care, and delivery of care. Having mentored more than 200 graduate students and junior faculty, he has won several teaching and mentorship awards for his commitment to building capacity in health research and nurturing the next generation of researchers.

Thabane’s proudest accomplishment, however, is becoming the editor-in-chief of the journal Pilot and Feasibility Studies, which is the outcome of many years of hard work by the Pilot and Feasibility Studies Team to establish a forum for dissemination of feasibility and pilot research works from all health disciplines. Today, Pilot and Feasibility Studies is the main journal for all feasibility health studies and handles a huge number of submissions every year.