Past Projects

BASIC: The Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi Project
Principal Investigators: Lynda D. Lisabeth, PhD, MPH and Lewis B. Morgenstern, MD
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
The Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi (BASIC) project is an ongoing stroke surveillance study that began in 1999. SABER began providing data management and programming services to support this study in 2014. BASIC is the only ongoing stroke surveillance project focusing on Mexican-Americans. Since the inception of this project, over 5,000 cerebrovascular disease patients have been followed.

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BASIC: Cognitive 
Principal Investigator: Lewis B. Morgenstern, MD
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
This study uses door-to-door surveillance in Nueces County, Texas, a non-immigrant, bi-ethnic community, to determine the prevalence and trajectory over time of cognitive impairment and dementia in Mexican-Americans and non-Hispanic whites. The study will evaluate the roles of vascular disease risk factors, educational attainment and socio-economic status, community resources, and caregiving roles to examine ethnic disparities. SABER provides data management and programming for this study.

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BASIC: Outcomes Among Surrogate Decision Makers In Stroke (OASIS)
Principal Investigators: Darin Zahuranec, MD and Lewis B. Morgenstern, MD 
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Often, people with stroke need help from another person to make decisions about important medical treatments. However, we know very little about the experience and outcomes of these family members who make medical decisions for a loved one with a stroke. This study aims to answer important questions about how doctors communicate with family decision-makers during these difficult times, how people make decisions for stroke patients, and the long-term impact on those who serve as decision-makers for stroke patients. SABER provides data management and programming for this study. 

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BASIC: Sleep Studies
Principal Investigators: Devin L. Brown, MD, MS and Lynda D. Lisabeth, PhD, MPH 
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
The University of Michigan Stroke Program investigates multiple aspects of post-stroke sleep apnea in patients in Corpus Christi, Texas. (1) An NHLBI-funded ancillary study assessed the frequency of sleep-disordered breathing after stroke, and the relationship of this sleep disorder to stroke outcomes. (2) The NINDS-funded sleep apnea study is designed to investigate health disparities related to sleep apnea in stroke patients. (3) An NHLBI-funded ancillary study investigates the association between nocturnal rostral fluid shifts and sleep apnea severity. (4) Finally, an NINDS-funded longitudinal, population-based study of sleep apnea and stroke outcomes is performed to improve the identification and management of important sleep apnea after stroke, provide critical data to plan future clinical trials, and explore a potential target to reduce an important ethnic health disparity. SABER provides data management and programming for these studies.

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CAPTURE: Validating a Unique COPD Case Finding Tool in Primary Care
Principal Investigators: Fernando Martinez, Weill-Cornell and Meilan Han, University of Michigan 
Sponsor: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
CAPTURE is a large prospective study which explores the impact of the CAPTURE screening tool for COPD on clinical care and patient outcomes across a broad range of primary care settings in a cluster randomized controlled clinical trial. The study will enroll approximately 5,000 patients across 100 participating primary care clinics associated with practice-based research networks (PBRNs). Participants will be assessed with the CAPTURE tool and have research spirometry testing. The tool will be compared against the spirometry testing. In addition, participating primary care practices will be randomized in a 1:1 fashion to receiving either a general COPD education module, or a COPD module that includes training on the use of the CAPTURE tool, to assess the 12-month impact on patient outcomes.


EMERGE: Emergency Medicine Education and Research by Global Experts
Principal Investigator: Prashant Mahajan, MD, MPH, MBA 
EMERGE is a pilot project to develop an international network of experts in emergency room departments to collaborate in research and share emergency medicine-related education. SABER is assisting this project by developing a combined dataset derived from electronic medical records from 10 countries (and counting) to describe the departments in each country, to answer research questions, and to create a platform for prospective research initiatives. As the project evolves from pilot stage, SABER will provide project management, software development, and statistical analysis support for its clinical research initiatives.

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MANAGE HF: A Multifaceted Adaptive Mobile Application to Promote Self-Management and Improve Outcomes in Heart Failure
Principal Investigator: Michael Dorsch, PharmD, MS
Sponsor: National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Manage HF is a phase 3, multicenter, 12 week, randomized, and double-blind clinical trial. This study will investigate the effectiveness of two contextual just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs) delivered via a mobile app for patients with heart failure. The clinical worsening intervention targets self-management of behaviors to prevent worsening of a patient’s heart failure symptoms. The dietary sodium intervention promotes lower sodium intake. Eligible participants will be randomized to the dietary sodium intervention, the clinical worsening intervention, both interventions, or no intervention in a 1:1:1:1 manner, stratified by site, gender, and heart failure type (HFpEF versus HFrEF).

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MiACLR: Michigan Initiative for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Rehabilitation
Principal Investigator:  Riann Palmieri-Smith, PhD
Sponsor: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
This study is a single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, and parallel-group clinical trial to examine the combined efficacy of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and eccentric exercise (ECC) to promote the recovery of quadriceps strength, improve physical and biomechanical function, and reduce the risk of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (OA) after anterior cruciate ligament rehabilitation (ACLR).


MOIDS: Missed Opportunities for Improving Diagnosis in Pediatric Emergency Care 
Principal Investigator: Prashant Mahajan, MD MPH MBA 
Sponsor: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) 
MOIDS is an observational study to test an electronic health record (EHR) algorithm for identifying missed opportunities for diagnosis. The EHR-based algorithm and non-EHR measures will be reviewed across 5 pediatric emergency departments retrospectively and iteratively to refine the algorithms. Then the refined and tested algorithms will be applied to all pediatric ED visits at the sites prospectively. Expert reviewers will then assess all identified cases for judgment on whether the cases are missed opportunities, reviewing patient-related factors, patient-provider interactions, diagnostic tests, follow-up and tracking of diagnostic information, and referrals. Inter-rater reliability will be assessed. Frequency of MOIDS and characteristics associated with MOIDS will be assessed, along with the performance characteristics of the algorithm. SABER provides data management and statistical support for this study.

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SLSIII: Scleroderma Lung Study 
Principal Investigator: Dinesh Khanna, MD, MSC 
Sponsor: Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS)
SLS III is an investigator-initiated clinical research study focused on examining the combined anti-fibrotic effects of pirfenidone (PFD) with mycophenolate (MMF) for treating sclerodera-related interstitial lung disease. This research tests whether combining pirfenidone and mycophenolate will result in a more rapid and possibly greater improvement in lung function than when mycophenolate is used alone. While both of these drugs have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat other medical conditions, neither drug has been FDA-approved for the treatment of scleroderma-related lung disease. SABER provides project management, clinical monitoring, data management, software programming, and statistical analysis for this study.Content


SmartHF: Self-care Management Intervention in Heart Failure (SMART-HF): A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial
Principal Investigator: Michael Dorsch, PharmD, MS
Sponsor: AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
The SmartHF study is a multicenter 12-week prospective randomized controlled clinical trial. This study will investigate the effectiveness of an adaptive web application to facilitate guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) optimization in HFrEF patients. Eligible participants will be randomized to the web application intervention or control in a 1:1 manner, stratified by site. The primary outcome is change in GDMT medication quality score generated by the computable algorithm from baseline to Week 12. SABER provides statistical analysis for this study.


Udall: The University of Michigan Udall Center of Excellence for Parkinson's Disease Research
Principal Investigators: Roger Albin, MD 
Sponsor: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Up to 70% of patients with Parkinson's disease fall each year, quadrupling the rate of hip fractures, leading to extended hospitalizations, increased use of skilled nursing facilities and eventual nursing home placement. UM scientists have developed breakthrough evidence that these falls, which are resistant to currently available treatments, arise from the degeneration of brain cells that use the neurochemical acetylcholine. By integrating neuroimaging, behavioral and pharmacological studies in patients with Parkinson's disease and in animal models, we aim to further dissect the relationship between falls and abnormalities in these brain cells, and to develop the data necessary to launch a clinical trial of a novel treatment for these debilitating symptoms of Parkinson's disease. SABER acts as the biostatistics and data management center for this series of studies.

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