Core B: Data and Research Methods

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Project Summary Despite their public health significance, interventions focusing on opioid use disorder and overdose often suffer from a lack of rigorous design and evaluation. Throughout phase II of the COBRE on Opioids & Overdose, the Data and Research Methods (DRM) Core will continue to support COBRE project leaders and pilot investigators in overcoming the methodological, analytical, and translational challenges that have traditionally stymied research project success and public health impact. By providing quantitative expertise, research infrastructure, and technological resources, the DRM Core greatly strengthens the rigor of the work produced by COBRE investigators, enhances their data use/management capacity, and provides training opportunities relevant to the entire research to practice pipeline. DRM Core services include: 1) methodological consultation on study design issues such as sampling, matching, survey development, and data harmonization; 2) biostatistical support, such as the use of statistical models, model-building procedures, model specification, and methods to handle missing data; 3) “dashboarding” and other visualization services to generate user-friendly, interactive data outputs for dissemination and translation of information; 4) providing a HIPAA-compliant data management system which will provide multi-tier access, back-ups, and de-identification; 5) providing access and linkage to statewide overdose-related databases, as well as record matching services to enrich outcomes across projects; and 6) providing training on and facilitating the exchange of methodological, computational, and analytic ideas related to the study of overdose and opioid-related harms. In phase II, the DRM Core will offer expertise on best practices for centering racial/ethnic health equity throughout all stages of the research process, and will support investigators as they apply open science principles to their work. DRM Core Director Dr. Brandon Marshall is an established CDC- and NIH-funded investigator with extensive experience in cohort study design, survey development, and the use of advanced quantitative methods, including simulation approaches, to evaluate non-randomized public health interventions. His leadership will be supplemented by highly trained staff with expertise in epidemiological methods, project management, database development, programming, data visualization, and biostatistics.