Chronic Disease Epidemiology

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What is Clinical research And what do we do
it? Ronald E. LaPorte, Ph.D.
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MRC definition of clinical research
The MRC defines clinical research as research based primarily on patients or ex-patients and designed to answer a question about disease (aetiology, concomitants, diagnosis, prevention, outcome or treatment). In addition to direct clinical examination, it includes the study of blood, biopsy material or post-mortem tissue deriving from the individuals concerned and of normal subjects where such study relates to a disease process being investigated. The definition includes clinical trials, and of course much other work on the clinical characterisation of disease or ill health.
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Broadly defined, clinical research involves the
participation of human subjects in various
aspects of research. It is the linchpin of the
Nation's biomedical research enterprise. Clinical
research ultimately establishes the safety,
effectiveness and availability of new diagnostic,
preventive and therapeutic approaches.
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Why do you want to
be a Scientist?

• Long Hours
• Low pay
• Competition Elite of the Elite
• Nomadic Existence

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Why do you want to be a scientist?

• Passion and Excitement-- the buzz
• Those of us in epidemiology believe that it is
  important, exciting, and it is FUN.
  Kuller, 1991

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ScienceThe Ultimate Game
Rules
Tools
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Rules of Tenure

• Publish
• Teach
• NIH Grants

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Rules of the Game of Science
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Ethics
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Wipe Out
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Scientific Rights

• Disagreement

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Errors
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A scientist can be an alcoholic, a braggart, a
murderer, or even a member of a country club and
will be forgiven. But one instance of
deliberately falsifying data brings about eternal
condemnation by his peers.

• McCain and Segal

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Trust
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PublicationWhy do we publish?

• Communication in Science
• Currency

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Inverse Square Law of Publication

• The Square Root of the Publishing Scientists
  publish 50 of the work.
• Epidemiologists 1600
• 40 people publish 50 of papers

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Where Can Pakistani Scientists Best Compete?
Basic Research Costly Technology
Clinical Research Populations