Transcript Training Health Professionals in Lifestyle Medicine

Research How-To’s in a
Community Setting
Gregory W. Heath, DHSc, MPH
Director of Research
Definitions
• Clinical Research covers all studies of diseases
and trials of treatments that take place in human
subjects
• Translational Research describes the steps
between a fundamental discovery and its
application in clinical medicine.
Shifting Priorities in Academic
Health Centers
• Explosion in clinical service demands and reduction in financial
margins, side-lines the training of clinician scientists
• Marked increase in numbers of faculty leads to a “dilution”effect
with a decreasing valuation attached to translational and clinical
sciences
• The complexity of knowledge needed to be an effective clinical
or translational scientist is not easily acquired
• Young clinical faculty have trouble finding time to pursue
scholarly aspirations
Community-based Clinical Research
• Collaboration – an enterprise between faculty, residents,
and community partners
• Communication – from the initial stages of a specific
research question through the publication of generalizable
information
• Cooperation - within and between departments,
institutions, agencies, and the general public
• Coordination – among and between clinical investigators,
their partners, and the greater community
There is no amount of grantsmanship
that will turn a bad idea into a good
one……..
But there are many ways to disguise a
good one.
Dr. William Raub
Past Deputy Director, NIH
The Spark of Inquiry
Choosing Your Research Project
• What Makes a Research Project Outstanding?
– Has the potential to lead to seminal observations
– Leads to new ways of thinking
– Lays the foundation for further research in the field
– Clearly defines the importance of the research problem
– Has only two to three interrelated specific aims
– Addresses a difficult problem in a way that seems simple in
retrospect, leaving the reviewers to wonder why they didn't
think of the idea first
– Is written at a level understandable by all reviewers
Research Process
• Define the question and specify the objectives
• Review the relevant literature
Research Process
• Establish the methodology
What is the sample population?
Existing data?
What are the data collection instruments?
What are the problems and how should they
be address?
Any gold standard instruments?
Research Process
• Statistical Considerations
Sample size and power
Univariate approaches
Stratification
Multivariate analysis and modeling
• Pilot Studies
Work out problems
Assess feasibility
Research Process
• Conduct
Develop protocol
IRB Review
Compliance issues
In God We Trust….
All Others Must Bring
Data.
Outcomes of Community-based Clinical
Research
• Clear, effective, and coordinated rules for clinical
research
• Maximally effective human subjects protections
• More comprehensive analysis and sharing of research
data
• Enhanced quality and productivity of the research
enterprise