Master of Science in Clinical Research: Specialty Tracks
Trainees pursuing the Master of Science in Clinical Research must choose a specialty track. Four tracks are available:
- Effectiveness, Outcomes, and Quality Research Track
- Clinical Trials Research Track
- Health and Behavior Research Track
- Translational Research Track
The descriptions below include a partial list of relevant courses for each track. Trainees must complete the specialty track requirements. The list of elective courses is intended only as a suggestion of other courses that may be of interest. Trainees may work with their advisors to select other relevant courses that are offered in the schools of the health sciences.
Effectiveness, Outcomes, and Quality Research Track
Director: Mark Roberts, MD, MPP
The Effectiveness, Outcomes, and Quality Research Track uses components of the training program developed under the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) Innovation Award and the fellowship program in the Division of General Internal Medicine to offer courses in health services research methodology.
| Course number | Course title | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLRES 2021 | ANOVA and Regression | 1 | Fall |
| CLRES 2022 | Logistic Regression | 1 | Fall |
| CLRES 2023 | Survival Analysis | 1 | Spring |
| CLRES 2024 | Nonparametric Statistics | 1 | Spring |
| CLRES 2080 | Master's Thesis Research | 3 | All Terms |
| CLRES 2100 | Outcomes and Effectiveness Research Methods | 2 | Spring |
| CLRES 2120/ HSADM 2220* | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | 1 | Fall |
| Course number | Course title | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| BCHS 3002 | Health Survey Methods | 3 | Spring |
| CLRES 2121/ HSADM 2217 | Clinical Decision Analysis | 1 | Fall |
| CLRES 2122* | Advanced Methods in Decision and Cost-Effectiveness Analyses | 1 | Fall |
| CLRES 2124 | Directed Study in Decision and Cost-Effectiveness Analyses | 1–3 | Fall/Spring |
| CLRES 2130 | Health Services Research Using Secondary Data: Didactic Course | 1 | Spring |
| CLRES 2131 | Health Services Research Using Secondary Data: Project Course | 3 | Spring |
| CLRES 2400 | Qualitative Research Methods | 1 | Spring |
| CLRES 2410 | Translating Research into Practice | 1 | Spring |
| HPM 2028 | Microeconomics Applied to Health | 3 | |
| HPM 2105 | Health and Medical Care Organization | 2 | Fall |
| HPM 2125 | Health Economics | 3 | Fall |
| HPM 2135 | Health Policy | 2 | Fall |
| MEDEDU 2140 | Medical Writing and Presentation Skills | 1 | All Terms |
* Must take one of these two courses
Clinical Trials Research Track
Director: Charity Moore, PhD
The Clinical Trials Research Track provides training related to the design, performance, and analysis of clinical studies and relevant principles of pharmacology. Trainees are encouraged to develop a protocol for a study involving human subjects and then to direct the study and analyze the results. A project such as this could be developed in conjunction with the research endeavors of the Pittsburgh Clinical Research Network. The mentor and graduate committee appointed to work with each trainee will provide guidance in the identification of an appropriate project.
| Course number | Course title | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLRES 2080 | Master's Thesis Research | 3 | All Terms |
| CLRES 2120 | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | 1 | Fall |
| CLRES 2800 | Fundamentals in Clinical Trials | 1 | Spring |
| CLRES 2810 | Statistical Methods and Issues in Clinical Trials | 1 | Spring |
| CLRES 2820 | Special Topics in Clinical Trials | 1 | Spring |
| Course number | Course title | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLRES 2021 | ANOVA and Regression | 1 | Fall |
| CLRES 2022 | Logistic Regression | 1 | Fall |
| CLRES 2023 | Survival Analysis | 1 | Spring |
| CLRES 2024 | Nonparametric Statistics | 1 | Spring |
| CLRES 2100 | Outcomes and Effectiveness Research Methods | 2 | Spring |
| CLRES 2140 | Best Practices in Clinical Research | 1 | Spring |
| CLRES 2320 | Clinical Trials Practicum | 2–3 | Fall/Spring |
| EOH 2302 | Molecular Approaches: Toxicology | 2 | |
| EPIDEM 2850 | Introduction to Pharmacoepidemiology | 2 | Fall |
| MEDEDU 2140 | Medical Writing and Presentation Skills | 1 | All Terms |
| PHARM 2001 | Pharmaceutical Analysis | 3 | |
| PHARM 3027 | Interactions of Drug and Disease: Kinetic and Dynamic Issues | 1–2 | Fall/Spring |
Health and Behavior Research Track
Director: Karen A. Matthews, PhD
The Health and Behavior Research Track focuses on behavioral factors involved in the etiology and treatment of physical illness, with an emphasis on intrapersonal, interpersonal, and sociocultural processes and how they interact.
| Course number | Course title | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLRES 2080 | Masters Thesis Research | 3 | All Terms |
| PSY 2252 | Psychological Therapies: Behavioral Medicine Interventions | 2 | Spring |
| PSY 2502 | Health Fundamentals | 3 | Spring |
| In Development | Introduction to Mind/Body Relationships and Health | TBD | TBD |
| In Development | PMBC Summer Institute: Basic Pathways Linking Behavior and Disease | TBD | TBD |
| Course number | Course title | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPIDEM 2400 | Psychosocial Factors in Disease | 2 | Spring |
| PSY 2520 | Psychoneuroimmunology | 3 | Spring |
| PSY 2530 | Social Psychology and Health | 3 | Spring |
| PSY 2532 | Health Judgment and Decision Making | 3 | Spring or Fall |
| PSY 2560 | Human Cardiovascular Psychophysiology | 4 | Spring |
| PSY 3245 | Seminar in Addiction | 3 | Fall |
| In Development | Sleep and Health | TBD | TBD |
| Journal Club(s) in (a) Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine; (b) Psychoneuroimmunology; or (c) Sleep |
Translational Research Track
Director: Shanta Zimmer, MD
The Translational Research Track is appropriate for trainees interested in how discoveries and findings from basic research can be turned into studies of human subjects. Discoveries in basic sciences, especially the sequencing of the human genome and microbiologic advances, offer extensive opportunities for applications related to new and improved strategies for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases.
| Course number | Course title | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLRES 2080 | Master's Thesis Research | 3 | All Terms |
| CLRES 2700 | Fundamentals of Bench Research | 3 | Summer |
| Course number | Course title | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| CLRES 2021 | ANOVA and Regression | 1 | Fall |
| CLRES 2022 | Logistic Regression | 1 | Fall |
| CLRES 2023 | Survival Analysis | 1 | Spring |
| CLRES 2024 | Nonparametric Statistics | 1 | Spring |
| CLRES 2100 | Outcomes and Effectiveness Research Methods | 2 | Spring |
| CLRES 2320 | Clinical Trials Practicum | 2–3 | Fall/Spring |
| CLRES 2730 | From Benchtop to Bedside: What Every Scientist Needs to Know | 1 | |
| EOH 2304 | Biomarkers and Molecular Epidemiology | 2 | Fall |
| EPIDEM 2171 | Cancer Epidemiology | 2 | Summer |
| HUGEN 2025 | Human Genetics Seminar | 0 | Fall |
| HUGEN 2031 | Chromosomes and Human Disease | 3 | Fall |
| HUGEN 2034 | Introduction to Human Biochemical and Molecular Genetics | 3 | Spring |
| HUGEN 2040 | Molecular Basis of Human Inherited Disease | 3 | Fall |
| HUGEN 2048 | Linkage Analysis in Human Genetics | 3 | |
| IDM 2002 | Molecular Virology | 2 | Spring |
| IDM 2004 | Viral Pathogenesis | 2 | Fall |
| INTBP 2000 | Foundations of Biomedical Science | 8 | Fall |
| INTBP 2030 | Introduction to Biocomputing | 2 | Spring |
| MEDEDU 2140 | Medical Writing and Presentation Skills | 1 | All Terms |
| MSBMG 2520 | Eukaryotic Molecular Genetics | 2 | Spring |
| MSBMG 2530 | DNA Repair, Mutagenesis, and Carcinogenesis | 3 | |
| MSBMG 3520 | Current Topics in Cellular, Molecular, and Structural Biology | 1 | |
| MSCMP 2730 | Molecular Mechanisms of Tissue Growth and Differentiation | 3 | Spring |
| MSCMP 2740 | Molecular Pathology | 3 | Spring |
| MSCBMP 2852 | Research Seminar: Cell Biology Membrane Traffic | 1 | Fall |
| MSCBMP 2880 | Cell Biology of the Normal and Disease State | 3 | Spring |
| MSCMP 3750 | Angiogenesis | 3 | Spring |
| MSIMM 2210 | Comprehensive Immunology | 2 | Spring |
| MSIMM 2230 | Experimental Basis of Immunology | 2 | Spring |
| MSIMM 3220 | Contemporary Topics in Immunology | 1 | Fall |
| MSIMM 3230 | Immunology and Human Disease | 2 | |
| MSMPHL 3310 | Cancer Biology and Therapeutics | 3 | |
| MSMPHL 3360 | Molecular Pharmacology | 2 | Fall |
| MSMVM 2420 | Experimental Virology | 1 | Spring |
| MSMVM 2470 | Contemporary Topics in Molecular Virology and Microbiology | 1 | Fall |
