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Improving patient care through medical research
Investigations in the Department of Quantitative Health Sciences encompass collaborative studies, methodological and applied research, development of institutional resources, clinical research career development, and clinical practice efforts.
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Solving real-world problems in clinical research studies
Investigators from the Department of Quantitative Health Sciences play key leadership roles in many of Mayo Clinic's clinical research programs, including studies on cancer; neurology; heart, lung and blood disorders; gastrointestinal diseases; endocrine and metabolic conditions; kidney and urinary disorders; musculoskeletal disorders; and genetic epidemiology.
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Reengineering the clinical research enterprise
With funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Quantitative Health Sciences faculty members lead clinical research education and career development programs as part of a national initiative to develop the next generation of clinical researchers.
Overview
The Department of Quantitative Health Sciences at Mayo Clinic is a multidisciplinary group with hundreds of staff members, located in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona; Jacksonville, Florida; and Rochester, Minnesota, who are dedicated to improving patient care through medical research.
The department's work encompasses:
- Faculty-led research programs.
- Collaborative research.
- Methodological and applied research.
- Development of institutional research resources.
- Clinical research career development.
- Clinical practice efforts.
Solving current clinical problems
Evolving from the department's rich heritage, Quantitative Health Sciences investigators today play key leadership roles in many of Mayo's clinical research programs, including programs in:
- Cancer.
- Endocrine and metabolic conditions.
- Gastrointestinal diseases.
- Genomics, especially genetic epidemiology.
- Heart, lung and blood disorders.
- Kidney and urinary disorders.
- Musculoskeletal disorders.
- Neurology.
Faculty and staff members also conduct leading-edge methods of research on a wide range of areas, such as:
- Analysis of DNA microarray data.
- Attributable risk.
- Bioinformatics.
- Clinical trial design.
- Genetic analysis methods.
- Health economics and utilization.
- Medical terminology standards.
- Molecular epidemiology of various conditions.
- Natural language processing.
- Outcomes analyses.
- Proteomics.
- Quality-of-life measures.
- Survival analysis.
Training future researchers
Faculty members in the Department of Quantitative Health Sciences lead Mayo's clinical research education and career development efforts. These NIH-funded programs are part of a national initiative to reengineer the clinical research enterprise and are directed toward developing the next generation of clinical researchers.
The Department of Quantitative Health Sciences is an exciting and unique research area at Mayo Clinic. The department encourages prospective students, employees and visitors to inquire for more information.
History
The Mayo Clinic Department of Quantitative Health Sciences has a rich heritage dating back to Joseph Berkson, M.D., (chair, 1933-1964) and Leonard T. Kurland, M.D. (chair, 1964-1987). In 1935, Dr. Berkson developed a computerized medical diagnostic coding system, capturing all patient diagnoses and procedures to efficiently facilitate clinical research.
Building on Dr. Berkson's work, in 1966 Dr. Kurland initiated the Rochester Epidemiology Project (REP), which constitutes an unparalleled resource for population-based epidemiologic studies. The REP has received continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for longer than 40 years, resulting in more than 1,500 peer-reviewed publications to date.
Learn more about the department's distinguished history.