Epidemiologic Research Program
Program in Epidemiologic Research
Michele Hacker, ScD, MSPH, Program Director
Laura Dodge, MPH, Research Assistant
The Program in Epidemiologic Research supports the many research studies throughout the Department. These studies range from basic science research to focus groups to placebo-controlled randomized clinical trials and often include collaborations with other departments. The Program provides assistance with all elements of the research process, including study design, study implementation, data analysis and manuscript preparation, as well as grant writing. This resource is available to all members of the department to encourage and support their active engagement in research. In particular, the Program aims to foster and advance the research endeavors of residents and fellows.
We are very proud of our clinical, basic science, public health, and educational research projects, which reflect the diversity that is valued in our department. The residents and fellows have successfully conducted a variety of research projects that have led to presentations at national meetings and publications in peer-reviewed journals. Completed and ongoing studies include outcomes following in vitro fertilization, neonatal morbidity among early elective cesarean deliveries, embryo morphology and aneuploidy, timing of antibiotics for cesarean section, sexual satisfaction after hysterectomy, and simulation training for minimally invasive surgery and obstetric complications. Our interdepartmental collaborative efforts are the basis of several successful research developments as well, and they allow significant advances in our understanding of disease and the delivery of health care. Our collaborations on the pathogenesis of preeclampsia have led to exciting research findings and new potential clinical therapies. An ongoing study of gene expression in pregnancies complicated by intrauterine growth restriction holds similar promise.
The Department also places special emphasis on epidemiology and public health policy as it relates to women’s health both in the United States and internationally. One of our chief residents has recently completed research on sexual violence and unintended pregnancies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and will continue to work in the area with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. Another resident is currently investigating knowledge of and attitudes about cervical cancer and HPV vaccination among women in Zambia. Ongoing faculty research includes studies on maternal morbidity and contraceptive use by couples in Afghanistan and the role of angiogenic factors in patients with gestational trophoblastic disease in the Philippines.
