The SIG Beat

NEWS FROM AND ABOUT THE NIH SCIENTIFIC INTEREST GROUPS

OUTCOMES AND EFFECTIVENESS RESEARCH

BY NANCY MILLER, NIA

Outcomes and effectiveness research (OER) is a field that describes, interprets, and predicts the effect of health-care interventions on endpoints that matter to patients, families, providers, payers, purchasers, and society in general. NIH has long supported a diverse portfolio of OER, including observational and randomized studies comparing different strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat, and monitor many diseases and conditions. With increased public interest, as evidenced by the Congressional legislation that created the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and by NIH’s newly launched Common Fund efforts to support pragmatic clinical trials and to harness the power of “big data,” there is growing need for effective trans-NIH communication.

The Trans-NIH OER Interest Group, a successor to the Trans-NIH Comparative Effectiveness Research Coordinating Committee, will function as a forum for institutes and centers to discuss matters of interest to the OER community. The OER SIG plans to convene eight to 10 meetings annually, serve as a forum for information exchange, and foster a stimulating learning environment—although not engage in policy development.

The OER SIG is chaired by Richard Hodes (NIA) and Michael Lauer (NHLBI). The inaugural meeting was held on Thursday, May 8, 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. in Wilson Hall (Building 1). NIH Director Francis Collins introduced the OER SIG, and Richard Platt (Harvard-Pilgrim) and Rob Califf (Duke University) presented talks on “PCORnet (The National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network): Building the Capacity for Faster, More Efficient, and Less Expensive Clinically Embedded Research.” Contact Nancy Miller (nancy.miller1@nih.gov) for more information and to join the group’s LISTSERV. The next meeting is on Monday, June 9, 12:00–1:30 p.m., in Wilson Hall (Building One).