Research

Collaborative Health Studies Coordinating Center

The Collaborative Health Studies Coordinating Center (CHSCC) provides study management and data collection for observational studies and randomized trials, collaborates with foundations and associations to establish national patient registries, and supports statistical analysis and methods development toward a better understanding of the prevention and treatment of disease.  

Spotlight

We are the coordinating center for the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), a medical research study involving more than 6,800 men and women from six race/ethnic groups in the United States. MESA is sponsored by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Overview

About us

The Collaborative Health Studies Coordinating Center is a non-profit, academic organization with over 20 years of experience running multi-site epidemiologic studies and clinical trials spanning multiple disciplines and employing a variety of approaches and methods. Our center prides itself on the collaborative effort of faculty, staff and students from the departments of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Washington. Our team of programmers, biostatisticians, epidemiologists and project managers provides expertise in study design, data collection and management, and statistical analysis. Our mission is to support studies that further scientific inquiry in areas that will ultimately impact public health. We also support the next generation of researchers by offering assistantships to current students and postdoctoral fellowships to recent graduates.

Expertise

The CHSCC is the Data Coordinating Center (DCC) for several large-scale cohort studies, primarily in cardiovascular epidemiology research, and enjoys an excellent reputation for design, coordination, and biostatistical analysis.

  • Epidemiology and Biostatistics: Epidemiology and biostatistics consulting related to study design, power estimation, sample selection, data analysis, interim monitoring, reporting of final results, manuscript preparation, and other aspects of observational studies and clinical trials. 
  • Clinical Operations: Development of study protocol, strategies for recruitment and retention, data collection forms, manual(s) of operations, and quality control procedures 
  • Data Collection Systems: Development of integrated data collection systems using various formats as needed including computer-assisted interviewing, scanned data forms, and web-based transmission of data from sites linked together for recruitment and tracking of participants 
  • Randomization / Distribution: Provision of systems for randomization and distribution of study medications for clinical trials 
  • Reporting: Reports to monitor study progress and provide interim clinical results 
  • Quality Control: Implementation of quality control activities and standardization of procedures through centralized training, site visits, and programming/statistical techniques to maximize data accuracy 
  • Study Communications: Providing leadership for study organization, establishing a website for public and investigator interactions, developing study-wide brochures and newsletters, and planning/organizing all meetings and conference calls. 
  • P&P: Development and maintenance of a platform for submitting, evaluating, and tracking research using study data. Work directly with researchers and the publications committee to facilitate review of new research. 
  • sIRB: For the new MESA contract, the UW HSD agreed to serve as the Single IRB (sIRB) site. The CHSCC is proud to be partnering with the UW Human Subjects Office of Reliances to navigate this transition and will be leveraging this experience to bring the CHS study into sIRB compliance in 2021. 
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