Public Health Study Design, Conduct, and Analysis
Why Public Health Study Design, Conduct, and Analysis Matter
Getting experimental new therapies to market can often mean the difference between life and death. People across the world who are suffering from diseases and chronic conditions are often waiting in hope that a new therapy or prevention will improve their lives. We need better designed, more effective, streamlined clinical trials in order to get lifesaving treatments to those who need them. We also need better ways to understand the benefits and harms of new drugs and different treatment options and we must carefully monitor and evaluate public health programs in order to ensure they have the maximum positive impact on the populations they serve.
Current Research
Biostatisticians at Gillings are experts in developing new research methodology. The Gillings School is home to the UNC Collaborative Studies Coordinating Center (CSCC), which is housed in the Department of Biostatistics. The CSCC seeks to improve public health by coordinating research, developing innovative methodology, and providing practical training in the application of research methods.
Monitoring and evaluation of public health programs to improve their quality and impact is a hallmark of the Gillings School, spanning all of our departments and programs. Our monitoring and evaluation strengths are epitomized by the MEASURE Evaluation Project, hosted at UNC, which is the USAID Global Health Bureau’s primary vehicle for supporting improvements in monitoring and evaluation in population, health and nutrition worldwide. MEASURE staff help to identify data needs, collect and analyze technically sound data, and use those data for health decision making.
The Gillings Center for Pharmacoepidemiology generates practical, innovative solutions to challenges in the assessment of benefits and harms of medical interventions in real-world settings. Its collaborations range across the pharmaceutical industry, government, and regulatory agencies, The Center offers approaches and solutions that are both scientifically rigorous and pragmatic, aiming to generate valid scientific evidence about outcomes, comparative clinical effectiveness, and appropriateness of health-care interventions and services.
The Innovative Methods Program for Advancing Clinical Trials is a comprehensive program that aims to dramatically improve the health and longevity of people by improving the clinical trial process. This program is a joint venture of Duke University, North Carolina State University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is funded in part by the National Cancer Institute through a program project grant entitled “Statistical Methods for Cancer Clinical Trials.”
Additional Research in the Field of Public Health Study Design, Conduct, and Analysis
CSCC awarded NIH funding to improve health and well-being of young adults at risk for HIV/AIDS
Gillings faculty member leads $10.4M NCI grant to improve clinical trials for cancer patients
Novel biostatistics methodology yields more efficient design and analysis of genomic studies
