Methods Core

The goal of the Methodologic Core is to support high-impact clinical research focusing on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of musculoskeletal diseases. Specifically, the Methodologic Core will provide the contemporary data science infrastructure necessary for studies that leverage electronic health records (EHR), and for trials that collect patient reported outcomes. We will organize around two major themes encompassing multiple activities: confirmatory learning which includes design and analysis of observational studies and randomized trials; and predictive learning which leverages contemporary machine learning and artificial intelligence for processing electronic health records data and other high-dimensional information. The data sciences are driving innovation in clinical research with the linkage of multiple EMR systems opening new opportunities for large-scale clinical learning. Ultimately rigorous research demands new methods for the extraction of reliable information and requires the design of trials that can tailor to the unique characteristics of patients and the context of health care delivery systems. The University of Washington Center for Biomedical Statistics (CBS) has provided informatics and statistical leadership to multiple observational and randomized studies focusing on musculoskeletal disorders and is uniquely positioned to provide the foundation for expanded impact within the broad scope of the NIAMS mission.