April 23, 2013
Dr. Margaret Gourlay

Dr. Margaret Gourlay

For leading a study that was the first to define appropriate bone density screening intervals for older women, Margaret Gourlay, MD, MPH, has been honored with a Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Award from the Clinical Research Forum.

 
Gourlay is assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine in The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and adjunct assistant professor in UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health.
 
The winning projects are compelling examples of the scientific innovation that results from the nation’s investment in clinical research that can benefit human health and welfare.
 
Gourlay’s study, published in January 2012 in The New England Journal of Medicine, calculated time estimates that doctors can use for bone-density screening in primary care practice, based on a woman’s first bone density T-score at age 65 or older. The study found that when women had good T-scores upon first testing, it took about 15 years for 10 percent of them to develop osteoporosis. Women with lower T-scores on their first tests developed osteoporosis sooner; it took about 1 to 5 years for 10 percent of them to develop osteoporosis.
 
“Dr. Gourlay’s study has proven to be very influential in the field of bone and mineral research, and it has the potential to change the way doctors order bone density tests,” said Eugene P. Orringer, MD, professor of medicine and Gourlay’s nominator for the award.
 
“The results should help doctors target the bone density screening so that they test patients with lower T-scores and thinner bones more frequently,” Orringer said. “The results also mean that older women with very good bone density on their first test don’t need tests to be performed nearly as often as was originally thought.”
 
Gourlay and other winners were honored April 18 during the Clinical Research Forum annual meeting and awards dinner in Washington, D.C.
 
The Clinical Research Forum is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing national leadership in clinical research. Its mission is to generate support for clinical research and promote understanding of its impact on health and health-care delivery. Members are among the nation’s most prestigious academic medical centers and health systems.
 

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Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: David Pesci, director of communications, (919) 962-2600 or dpesci@unc.edu.

 

 

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