CERTaIN
Comparative effectiveness research (CER) evaluates and compares the benefits and harms of alternative healthcare interventions.
CER uses data generation (new studies) and data synthesis (comparisons of existing studies) to provide evidence on best practices for improving health care.
The CERTaIN program (Comparative Effectiveness Training and Instruction) at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is offering a training opportunity in cancer CER through a grant funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI, R25 CA257883).
This is a training program for early career cancer investigators (clinical and postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty), encompassing the broad spectrum of healthcare delivery in cancer care.
The CERTaIN program at MD Anderson comprises three educational strategies:
- Online instruction, available through EdX
- Hands-on training workshops
- Methods guidance and support
We will offer 3-day interactive workshops in three different areas of CER at different times each year:
- Observational studies and secondary data analysis
- Pragmatic clinical trials
- Knowledge synthesis
Once accepted to a workshop, trainees will be given access to the online portion of the program, to be completed before attending the workshop.
Trainees will attend the workshop and develop a research protocol.
They will be supported throughout the protocol development process up to one year after completing the workshop.
Applicants must be:
- Junior investigators (fellows, instructors, assistant professors, research scientists) working or training at an academic institution or non-profit research organization.
- Involved in cancer CER.
- U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
Up to 15 applicants will be competitively selected and invited to participate in the workshops.
Participation and travel costs will be covered by the grant (subject to NCI guidelines).
Program Faculty & Staff
Program Director
Maria E. Suarez-Almazor, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Suarez-Almazor is the Barnts Family Distinguished Professor in Cancer Research in The Department of Health Services Research and General Internal Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Suarez-Almazor is an internist and an epidemiologist with experience in Comparative Effectiveness Research and Patient-Centered Outcomes Research.
msalmazor@mdanderson.org
Associate Director
Juan I. Ruiz, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Ruiz is Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Services Research at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Ruiz is a hospitalist and epidemiologist with experience in evidence-based and real-world evidence.
jiruiz1@mdanderson.org
Research Data Coordinator
Andrea Joyce Malabay
Andrea is a Research Data Coordinator in the Department of Health Services Research at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Andrea is a public health researcher with experience in cancer health disparities.
ajmalabay@mdanderson.org
Leader for the Observational Studies and Registries curriculum
Sharon H. Giordano, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Giordano is the Colin Powell Chair for Cancer Research, Chair of the Department of Health Services Research, and Professor of Medicine in the Department of Breast Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Giordano has expertise working with data from cancer registries, claims databases, and linked datasets.
sgiordan@mdanderson.org
Leader for the Pragmatic Clinical Trials curriculum
Barry R. Davis, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Davis is Professor Emeritus of Biostatistics and Data Science at the University of Texas School of Public Health. Dr. Davis was the Guy S. Parcel Chair in Public Health and Professor of Biostatistics and Data Science, and Director of the Coordinating Center of Clinical Trials. Dr. Davis has extensive experience in biostatistics, and broad experience in all aspects of clinical trial study design, methodology and implementation.
barry.r.davis@uth.tmc.edu
Leader for the Knowledge Synthesis curriculum
Maria A. Lopez-Olivo, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Lopez-Olivo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Services Research at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Lopez-Olivo has expertise in evidence-based medicine and its application to clinical decision-making, and translation of evidence into practice.
amlopezo@mdanderson.org
Faculty
María Fernández, Ph.D.
Dr. María Fernández is Vice President of Population Health and Implementation Science at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston) and the founding Co-Director of the UTHealth Houston Institute for Implementation Science. Dr. Fernández is also the Lorne Bain Chair of Public Health and Medicine, Professor of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, and Director of the UTHealth Houston Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research (CHPPR) at the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. Dr. Fernandez has extensive experience developing and evaluating health promotion interventions and conducts research to improve implementation of effective programs that improve health and health equity.
maria.e.fernandez@uth.tmc.edu
Clara Fowler, M.S.L.S.
Clara Fowler currently serves as the Director of the Research Medical Library at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. She is a co-author of international clinical practice guidelines and systematic reviews. Her expertise in education has been recognized through multiple awards including Educator of the Year at MD Anderson and Texas Library Association LIRT Outstanding Service in Library Instruction and the Medical Library Association's Research Advancement Award in Health Sciences Librarianship.
cfowler@mdanderson.org
Kate Krause, M.L.I.S.
Dr. Krause is a senior research librarian at the MD Anderson Cancer Center Research Medical Library. With over 15 years’ experience specializing in systematic reviews, her expertise lies in developing comprehensive search strategies and providing instructional support in research methodology.
KJKrause@mdanderson.org
David Farris, MSIS, AHIP
David Farris is a research services librarians at the MD Anderson Cancer Center Research Medical Library at MD Anderson Cancer Center. He has worked at MD Anderson since 2015, providing his expertise by conducting classes on systematic reviews and evidence synthesis for both researchers and professional librarians. Additionally, he provides support on evidence synthesis projects with MD Anderson faculty and staff.
dpfarris@mdanderson.org
Tianjing Li, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Li is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Epidemiology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. The goal of Dr. Li’s research is to develop, evaluate, and disseminate methods for comparing healthcare interventions and to provide trust-worthy evidence for decision-making. Dr. Li is a world-renowned expert in research synthesis. She has played many leadership roles within the Cochrane Collaboration and served as the President for the Society for Research Synthesis Methodology.
tianjing.li@cuanschutz.edu
Suja S. Rajan, Ph.D.
Dr. Rajan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management, Policy and Community Health at The University of Texas School of Public Health. Dr. Rajan is a health economist and econometrician whose research interests include cancer research and program evaluation. Dr. Rajan has extensive training and research experience in statistical modeling, economic evaluations, econometric analysis, sample survey methods, Monte Carlo simulation and Markov modeling.
suja.s.rajan@uth.tmc.edu
Iakovos Toumazis, Ph.D.
Dr. Toumazis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Services Research at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Toumazis is a mathematician and Industrial Engineer with expertise in comparative modeling analysis specifically on microsimulation modeling and medical decision making under uncertainty.
itoumazis@mdanderson.org
Andrea B. Troxel, Sc.D.
Dr. Troxel is a Professor of Population Health and Director of the Division of Biostatistics at New York University Grossman School of Medicine. Her research integrates the development of novel clinical trial design and analysis approaches and their application to a wide range of areas in medicine and health care. Dr. Troxel is an expert in the design and analysis of pragmatic and adaptive randomized clinical trials and leads several data coordinating centers.
andrea.troxel@nyulangone.org
Richard Wyss, Ph.D., MSc
Dr. Wyss is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a Lead Investigator in the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Wyss works as a data scientist and methodological epidemiologist with training in the theory and application of statistical methods to pharmacoepidemiology. His research is focused on developing robust health analytic tools for evaluating the comparative effectiveness and safety of pharmaceutical drugs using administrative healthcare databases. More recently, his research has become tailored to advancing semi-automated tools for generating evidence from healthcare databases on the effectiveness and safety of newly marketed medical products in population subgroups that are underrepresented in randomized clinical trials.
rwyss@bwh.harvard.edu
Paul Gerardo Yeh, M.D., Dr.P.H.
Dr. Yeh is a Faculty Associate in the Department of Management, Policy, and Community Health at UTHealth School of Public Health. He has experience cost-effectiveness analysis and incorporating decision science microsimulation modeling-based health economic evaluations in health effects of preventive lifestyle and cancer screening interventions.
paul.yeh.1@uth.tmc.edu
Hui Zhao, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Zhao is an Associate Professor and Statistician in the Department of Health Services Research at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Zhao has extensive experience in the design and analysis of observational data, including real world data from claims and other administrative sources.
huizhao@mdanderson.org