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Research Interest Area: Clinical and Health Services Epidemiology

Clinical and health services epidemiology aims to improve health outcomes by quantifying safety and effectiveness of clinical, preventive, and healthcare interventions.
Overview
Real-world evidence, Learning Health Systems, pragmatic trials, patient-centered outcomes research, and medical product safety and effectiveness are contemporary topics for which clinical and health services epidemiologists have much to offer.
Students with the following interests and are encouraged to explore this research interest areas area, regardless of degree program:
- pharmacoepidemiology
- comparative effectiveness research
- health services epidemiology, hospital epidemiology
- clinical investigation, clinical epidemiology
- a variety of health conditions and patient populations such as infectious diseases, chronic diseases, injuries, older adults, maternal and child health
Faculty
Faculty members primarily working in this area
Ryan Carnahan | Pharmacoepidemiology, aging, psychiatry, dementia and delirium, long-term care, stakeholder engagement |
Mary Charlton | Cancer surveillance and epidemiology, access to care, rural health disparities |
Elizabeth Chrischilles | Pharmacoepidemiology, comparative effectiveness research, pragmatic trials, cancer outcomes research |
Sarah Nash | Cancer surveillance, epidemiology, and prevention; Health services research with a specific focus on cancer screening; Community-engaged research methods |
Michael O’Rorke | Molecular epidemiology, biomarkers of treatment response and prognostication, clinical epidemiology, cancer epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology |
James Torner | Clinical trial methods, neuroepidemiology, musculoskeletal disorders |
Collaborating faculty
Catherine Bradley | Urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, patient-reported outcomes, psychiatric correlates of urinary incontinence |
Lauris Kaldjean | Bioethics, end of life decision-making, goals of care, philosophy and religious beliefs in clinical decision-making |
Enrique Leira | Acute stroke management, evidence-based strategies to improve stroke management in rural areas, novel strategies to enable rural patients to participate in stroke trials |
Barcey Levy | Family medicine, preventive health care, colon cancer screening, practice-based research networks |
Brian Lund | Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety, mental health, older adults |
Nicholas Mohr | Emergency medicine, rural telehealth, predictors and outcomes of interhospital transfer time |
Eli Perencevich | Infectious diseases, health services epidemiology, cost-effectiveness of infection control interventions |
Philip Polgreen | Computational epidemiology, sensors and personal devices for monitoring disease activity and health behaviors |
Kathleen Schneider | Chronic disease management, Medicare and Medicaid program data, quality of care studies |
Marin Schweizer | Infectious disease clinical epidemiology, infection prevention and control, meta-analysis and systematic reviews |
Carolyn Turvey | Psychiatric epidemiology, access to care, patient portals, telemedicine |
Emeritus faculty
Jennifer Robinson | Clinical trials of atherosclerosis modifying agents, cardiovascular disease epidemiology, clinical practice guidelines |
Robert Wallace | Clinical epidemiology, aging, multi-morbidity, disabling illness, clinical trials |
Richard Hoffman | General internal medicine, cancer prevention and control, patient decision-making, comparative effectiveness |
Curriculum
Featured Courses
- EPID:5500 Introduction to Clinical Epidemiology
- EPID:6910 Pharmacoepidemiology
- EPID:6920 Applied Administrative Data Analysis
- EPID:5214 Meta-analysis of Epidemiologic Studies
- EPID:6900 Intervention and Clinical Trials
- EPID:6950 Clinical Research Ethics
Learning Objectives
Students interested in clinical and health services epidemiology are preparing for a career in which they will:
- Evaluate need, use, performance and outcomes of health and healthcare products, procedures, interventions, services and programs
- Advance methods for quantifying health effects of products, interventions, services and programs
- Contribute to optimizing health of patients
- Inform clinical and healthcare practice and policy
- Collaborate and lead multidisciplinary teams to design and conduct observational and interventional research
- Be competent in a family of related research fields including: outcomes research, health services research, clinical epidemiology, pharmacoepidemiology, and clinical effectiveness research
Recommended Plan of Study for the Clinical and Health Services Research Interest Area PhD Elective Requirement
course # | course name | s.h. | semester(s) offered* |
---|---|---|---|
Students interested in clinical and health services epidemiology will take the following four courses: | |||
EPID:5500 | Introduction to Clinical Epidemiology | 3 s.h. | Fall |
EPID: 6910 | Pharmacoepidemiology and Comparative Effectiveness Research | 3 s.h. | Fall even years |
EPID:6920 | Applied Administrative Data Analysis | 2 s.h. | Fall |
HMP:4000 | Introduction to US Healthcare System | 3 s.h. | Spring, Summer (online) |
In addition, students will complete at least 14 s.h. from the following recommended courses. Students should select courses in consultation with their advisor to reflect their research interest area (e.g. pharmacoepi, comparative effectiveness, clinical trials, health services research, or outcomes research). | |||
EPID:5214 | Meta-analysis of Epidemiologic Studies | 3 s.h. | Spring odd years |
EPID:5560 | Introduction to Molecular Epidemiology | 3 s.h. | Spring odd years |
EPID:6071 | Social Epidemiology | 3 s.h. | Fall |
EPID:6900 | Design of Intervention and Clinical Trials | 3 s.h. | Fall |
BIOS:5310 | Research Data Management | 3 s.h. | Fall, Spring |
BIOS:6210 | Applied Survival Analysis | 3 s.h. | Spring |
BIOS:6310 | Introductory Longitudinal Data Analysis | 3 s.h. | Fall |
EPID:6420 | Survey Design and Analysis | 3 s.h. | Spring even years |
BIOS:6610 | Statistical Methods in Clinical Trials | 3 s.h. | Spring |
BIOS:6650 | Causal Inference | 3 s.h. | Spring |
CBH:6205 | Designing and Implementing Interventions | 3 s.h. | Fall |
EPLS:5165 | Introduction to Program and Project Evaluation | 3 s.h. | Spring |
GEOG:4150 | Health and Environment: GIS Applications | 3 s.h. | Fall |
HMP:7550 | Cost Effectiveness and Decision Analysis | 3 s.h. | Fall even years |
HMP:7940 | Primary Data and Mixed Methods | 3 s.h. | Spring |
HMP:7960 | Analytical Issues in Health Services Research I | 3 s.h. | Fall even years |
HMP:7965 | Analytical Issues in Health Services Research II | 3 s.h. | Spring odd years |
PCOL:4130 | Drug Mechanisms and Actions | 3 s.h. | Spring |
PCOL:5136 | Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics | 1 s.h. | Spring |
*Semester(s) offered subject to change due to enrollment, instructor availability, etc. Students should always check the course schedule at MyUI.uiowa.edu for the most up to date version of the course schedule. |
Master’s in Clinical Investigation
Certificate in Translational and Clinical Investigation
Centers and Resources
Centers and Institutes
- Health Effectiveness Research Center
- Preventive Intervention Center
- Institute for Clinical and Translational Science
- Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center