Observational research in epidemic settings: a roadmap to reform
Observational studies are critical tools in clinical research and public health response, but challenges arise in ensuring the data produced by these studies are scientifically robust and socially valuable. Resolving these challenges requires careful attention to prioritising the most valuable resea...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2025-02-01
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| Series: | BMJ Global Health |
| Online Access: | https://gh.bmj.com/content/10/2/e017981.full |
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| author | Marc Lipsitch Nicholas Evans Alexandra L Phelan Stephany N Duda Annette Rid Colin J Carlson Jennifer B Rosen Natalie E Dean John Barugahare Maya B Mathur Emily E Ricotta Fausto A Bustos Carrillo Samuel Angelli-Nichols Adia Benton Emma Chang-Rabley Lisa Federer Mary-Margaret A Fill Elizabeth C LeRoy Natalie M Linton Lauren Sauer Sheena G Sullivan Mackenzie Zendt |
| author_facet | Marc Lipsitch Nicholas Evans Alexandra L Phelan Stephany N Duda Annette Rid Colin J Carlson Jennifer B Rosen Natalie E Dean John Barugahare Maya B Mathur Emily E Ricotta Fausto A Bustos Carrillo Samuel Angelli-Nichols Adia Benton Emma Chang-Rabley Lisa Federer Mary-Margaret A Fill Elizabeth C LeRoy Natalie M Linton Lauren Sauer Sheena G Sullivan Mackenzie Zendt |
| author_sort | Marc Lipsitch |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Observational studies are critical tools in clinical research and public health response, but challenges arise in ensuring the data produced by these studies are scientifically robust and socially valuable. Resolving these challenges requires careful attention to prioritising the most valuable research questions, ensuring robust study design, strong data management practices, expansive community engagement, and access and benefit sharing of results and research materials. This paper opens with a discussion of how well-designed observational studies contribute to biomedical evidence and provides examples from across the clinical literature of how these methods generate hypotheses for future research and uncover otherwise unattainable insights by providing examples from across the clinical literature. Then, we present obstacles that remain in ensuring observational studies are optimally designed, conducted and communicated. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-24f73f00365c4282bc91fabcb2005727 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2059-7908 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Global Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-24f73f00365c4282bc91fabcb20057272025-02-11T08:45:10ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Global Health2059-79082025-02-0110210.1136/bmjgh-2024-017981Observational research in epidemic settings: a roadmap to reformMarc Lipsitch0Nicholas Evans1Alexandra L Phelan2Stephany N Duda3Annette Rid4Colin J Carlson5Jennifer B Rosen6Natalie E Dean7John Barugahare8Maya B Mathur9Emily E Ricotta10Fausto A Bustos Carrillo11Samuel Angelli-Nichols12Adia Benton13Emma Chang-Rabley14Lisa Federer15Mary-Margaret A Fill16Elizabeth C LeRoy17Natalie M Linton18Lauren Sauer19Sheena G Sullivan20Mackenzie Zendt21Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USADepartment of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts, USAJohns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Baltimore, Maryland, USADepartment of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, USADepartment of Bioethics, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USACenter for Global Health Science & Security, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USABureau of Immunization, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, New York, USADepartment of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USADepartment of Philosophy, Makerere University, Kampala, UgandaQuantitative Sciences Unit, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USAEpidemiology and Data Management Unit, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Division of Intramural Research, Bethesda, Maryland, USAEpidemiology and Data Management Unit, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Division of Intramural Research, Bethesda, Maryland, USADepartment of Philosophy, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts, USADepartment of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USAEpidemiology and Data Management Unit, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Division of Intramural Research, Bethesda, Maryland, USAOffice of Strategic Initiatives, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USADivision of Communicable and Environmental Diseases and Emergency Preparedness, Tennessee Department of Health, Nashville, Tennessee, USACDISC, Austin, Texas, USACenter for Infectious Diseases, California Department of Public Health, Sacramento, California, USAGlobal Center for Health Security, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USAWHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, AustraliaEpidemiology and Data Management Unit, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Division of Intramural Research, Bethesda, Maryland, USAObservational studies are critical tools in clinical research and public health response, but challenges arise in ensuring the data produced by these studies are scientifically robust and socially valuable. Resolving these challenges requires careful attention to prioritising the most valuable research questions, ensuring robust study design, strong data management practices, expansive community engagement, and access and benefit sharing of results and research materials. This paper opens with a discussion of how well-designed observational studies contribute to biomedical evidence and provides examples from across the clinical literature of how these methods generate hypotheses for future research and uncover otherwise unattainable insights by providing examples from across the clinical literature. Then, we present obstacles that remain in ensuring observational studies are optimally designed, conducted and communicated.https://gh.bmj.com/content/10/2/e017981.full |
| spellingShingle | Marc Lipsitch Nicholas Evans Alexandra L Phelan Stephany N Duda Annette Rid Colin J Carlson Jennifer B Rosen Natalie E Dean John Barugahare Maya B Mathur Emily E Ricotta Fausto A Bustos Carrillo Samuel Angelli-Nichols Adia Benton Emma Chang-Rabley Lisa Federer Mary-Margaret A Fill Elizabeth C LeRoy Natalie M Linton Lauren Sauer Sheena G Sullivan Mackenzie Zendt Observational research in epidemic settings: a roadmap to reform BMJ Global Health |
| title | Observational research in epidemic settings: a roadmap to reform |
| title_full | Observational research in epidemic settings: a roadmap to reform |
| title_fullStr | Observational research in epidemic settings: a roadmap to reform |
| title_full_unstemmed | Observational research in epidemic settings: a roadmap to reform |
| title_short | Observational research in epidemic settings: a roadmap to reform |
| title_sort | observational research in epidemic settings a roadmap to reform |
| url | https://gh.bmj.com/content/10/2/e017981.full |
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