Comparative Effectiveness Research

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) appropriated $1.1 billion for comparative effectiveness research (CER). The reasons for the investment in CER are clear: Even with the large number of results of clinical trials and biomedical studies that are published every week, there is often insufficient evidence for doctors and patients to make informed judgments regarding the diagnosis and optimal treatment of a disease. In some cases, this happens because evidence to support personalized, patient-centered decisions is unavailable. In other cases, the rapid pace of drug discovery and the profusion of drugs, technologies, and tests make informed decisions challenging. Often, clinical trials compare a new drug to a placebo because this type of comparison is usually the most feasible. However, it would be more informative to conduct high-quality CER studies that directly compare clinically plausible choices and expedite the translation of best therapies into practice. Because there is currently a lack of these studies, the ARRA recently awarded funds to various institutions, including the University of Pittsburgh’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), to train investigators in the field of CER.

As the Research Education and Career Development Core of the CTSI, the ICRE supports extensive educational programs in the basic methods necessary to conduct high-quality CER, including clinical trial design, meta-analysis, decision and cost-effectiveness modeling, and large database analysis. Recently, the ICRE also developed the following new CER courses:

These courses form part of the curriculum for the recently approved Certificate Program in CER.