UTMB Awarded $2.9 million for State-wide Data Management and Analysis Core for Comparative Effectiveness Research

UTMB Awarded $2.9 million for State-wide Data Management and Analysis Core for Comparative Effectiveness Research

As part of $142 million in new grants, the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas, (CPRIT) announced on August 18, 2021 an award of $2,936,731 to Yong-Fang Kuo, PhD, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Community Health and Director of the UTMB Office of Biostatistics. The award supports the establishment of a state-wide resource, The Data Management and Analysis Core (DMAC) for Comparative Effectiveness Research on Cancer in Texas, at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Since 2010, the Data Management and Analysis Core (DMAC) of the Comparative Effectiveness Research on Cancer in Texas (CERCIT) has worked closely with Texas Cancer Registry (TCR) to link multiple large databases, including Medicare and Medicaid, for research use. This new funding will continue the DMAC via the CPRIT-Core Facility Support Award. The DMAC will link TCR databases with nationally representative surveys, to enhance patient-centered outcomes research and the interpretation and applicability of our findings to the Texas population. It will also train new comparative effectiveness research (CER) investigators across Texas academic and research institutions with a large number of underrepresented researchers.

More specifically, the DMAC aims are to 1) support data management and analysis; 2) expand our TCR linkage to nationally representative survey data, and 3) recruit and train new CER investigators from at least 8 Texas academic and research institutions with a large number of underrepresented investigators. Besides purchasing data, we will devote substantial funding to training (didactic workshops and lectures) and pilot awards (salary support and structured multidisciplinary mentoring). At least 12 pilot grant funds from our new partners will initiate CER along the cancer care continuum: screening (prevention and detection); diagnosis and treatment; post-treatment surveillance; and survivorship. DMAC personnel have extensive experience working with federal contractors to receive approval for Data User Agreements and process linkage, plus 10+ years of Texas Medicare and Medicaid data. The new DMAC will extend these datasets to allow the study of longitudinal cohorts with 20+ years of follow-up. We will also provide expertise in study design, data management, and statistical analysis to our current and new users, as well as editing and administrative support. The DMAC will become the hub for cancer CER in Texas.

Additional Key personnel from UTMB include Dr. Goodwin, Dr. Lopez, Dr. Jupiter, and Dr. Yu.

About Dr. Kuo: Yong-Fang Kuo, PhD, is the Don W. and Frances Powell Professor in Aging Research and the director of the Office Biostatistics. Her research assesses patterns of care, treatment toxicities, and health outcomes using a variety of large data sets. She also examines health care delivery focused on hospitalist care and its impact, and the use and effectiveness of primary care provided by nurse practitioners in communities and nursing homes. Her research is widely published in medical and health services research journals. Kuo’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. As a biostatistician, she serves as the director of Biostatistics and Analysis Core for several center grants funded by NIH and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. She has been a biostatistics mentor for more than 80 trainees including junior faculty, pre-doc, and post-doc fellows. Her expertise is in the analyses for comparative effectiveness research, pharmacoepidemiology, and health outcome studies.

About CPRIT: Texans voted in 2007 to create the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) and to invest $3 billion in the state’s unprecedented fight against cancer. On November 5, 2019, Texas voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to continue CPRIT’s work and invest an additional $3 billion for finding and funding the best cancer research and prevention opportunities in the state.

CPRIT is now a $6 billion, 20-year initiative – the largest state cancer research investment in the history of the United States and the second-largest cancer research and prevention program in the world. Its three main goals are to 1) Invest in the research prowess of Texas universities and research organizations; 2) Create and expand life science infrastructure across the state, and 3) Expedite innovation in research and enhance the potential of breakthroughs in prevention and cures. Additional information may be found on the CPRIT announcement page.