Jonsson Funk, Michele L.

Institution: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Grant Title: Doubly Robust Elimination: Best Practices for Comparative Effectiveness Research
Grant Number: K02 HS17950
Duration: 5 years (2008-2013)
Total Award: $753,000

Project Description: The proposed research has six aims:

1. Quantify the degree to which doubly robust (DR) estimation leads to bias reduction relative to standard methods.
2. Evaluate estimated standard errors under a broad range of conditions.
3. Determine the optimal covariate types for inclusion in the component models.
4. Validate a new approach to variable and model-form selection.
5. Develop and test strategies specific to DR estimation for the identification of non-uniform treatment effects.
6. Identify conditions under which DR methods perform worse than standard methods.

Career Goals: Dr. Jonsson Funk is the Director, Methods Core, Center for Women's Health Research, at the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill. She is also a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at UNC, Chapel Hill and is part of the core faculty at the UNC/GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Center for Excellence in Pharmacoepidemiology and Public Health. The grantee intends to focus her career on the development and application of advanced methods for causal inference (doubly robust estimators, in particular) to questions of comparative effectiveness and safety.

Progress to Date: The grantee has a manuscript accepted for publication in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Work is continuing on Aim #3. Regarding Aim #6, unexpected behavior was identified when the propensity score model was null even if the outcome regression models are correctly specified.

Future Plans: The grantee will run simulations, develop and submit a manuscript related to Aim #3. Additionally, she will test initial runs for Aim #4 and finalize protocols and data sources for Aim #7.

Highlights and Specific Accomplishments:

• Research Fellow, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research.
• Honorary Research Fellow, HIV Division, Medical Research Council, London, UK.

K-Generated Publications: None thus far.

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