Contact Information

Wake Forest School of Medicine
Division of Public Health Sciences

336-716-2011 (Division of PHS)
rdagosti@wakehealth.edu
lwgnkcht@wakehealth.edu

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Medical Center Boulevard
Winston-Salem, NC 27157

Wake Forest School of Medicine

Ralph B. D'Agostino Jr, PhD

Location: Coordinating Center (Wake Forest School of Medicine, NC)
Positions:
Principal Investigator, Professor

Dr. D'Agostino's primary area of statistical research involves developing methods for using propensity scores in medical research. He has published extensively in this area and has presented many lectures and workshops in this topic. In addition to this research, Dr. D’Agostino is the Director of the Biostatistics Core for the Wake Forest School of Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Co-Director of the CDC funded SEARCH (Search for Diabetes in Youth) Data Coordinating Center. He has also been the Principal Investigator on seven other RO1-grants/subcontracts funded by NIH as well as being the lead statistician on numerous other NIH and Foundation funded research projects.

Dr. D'Agostino has published over 185 manuscripts and book chapters in areas of statistical methodology, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and genetics. He has extensive experience in the design and analysis of clinical trials, observational studies and large scale epidemiologic studies including the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study (IRAS), Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease Study (MESA) and the Search for Diabetes in Youth Study (SEARCH).


Lynne E Wagenknecht , DrPH.

Location: Coordinating Center (Wake Forest School of Medicine, NC)
Positions:
Principal Investigator, Professor

Lynne E. Wagenknecht, DrPH, Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Research, is Professor and Associate Director of Public Health Sciences. She is an epidemiologist with an active portfolio of both clinical trials and observational epidemiologic studies in the areas of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. She has a particular interest in study design and implementation of clinical trials. She is the Associate Director of the Research Expertise and Methods program of the Wake Forest Clinical and Translational Science Institute. She is a multiple PI on the Look AHEAD Trial Coordinating Center, which is examining the impact of a behavioral lifestyle intervention on risk of multiple outcomes in obese type 2 diabetics. She also leads the Wake Forest sites of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study and is the PI of the coordinating center for the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study. She is the overall PI of the GUARDIAN Consortium, a collaboration of 7 cohorts examining the genetics of diabetes traits in Hispanics. She is an active mentor, and regularly teaches the Research Grant Preparation course in the Clinical Population and Translational Science graduate program. Dr. Wagenknecht completed a fellowship in the ELAM (Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine) Program for Women in 2009.


Coordinating Center Responsibilities


Major Responsibilities:

  1. Overall study coordination;
  2. Data collection and management; and
  3. Statistical design and analyses

Specific Responsibilities:

  • assist clinic sites with the development of consent forms and HIPAA compliance documentation;
  • maintain the current SEARCH system for registration of participants;
  • solicit and evaluate proposals for the centralized laboratory; implement a subcontract with the selected laboratory, and oversee their procedures, data quality, and progress
  • solicit and evaluate proposals for other potential reading centers and laboratories needed to achieve the scientific goals of SEARCH; implement subcontract(s) with these centers or laboratories, and oversee their procedures, data quality, and progress
  • develop/implement quality control measures for visits, data collection and management;
  • develop and distribute data collection instruments;
  • develop and implement a distributed data entry system;
  • create and organize communication tools, such as web sites, newsletters, brochures, electronic mail, and organize conference calls for study investigators;
  • develop and implement data storage and management systems
  • train clinic staff and data collection personnel at the clinic sites;
  • accumulate and maintain all necessary data files with appropriate confidentiality and security;
  • analyze data collected during the course of the study, and in particular provide biostatistical and operational expertise and advice as needed;
  • prepare progress reports describing annual and cumulative progress of the study, the accrual history of the study, adverse effects, and quality control;
  • participate in periodic meetings with the project officers in person or by telephone as determined by the SEARCH Executive Committee and Steering Committee;
  • coordinate and organize regular Steering Committee (3 times annually) and External Scientific Advisory Committee (1 time per year) meetings;
  • prepare, in collaboration with SEARCH investigators, technical reports, abstracts and manuscripts;
  • provide an orderly closet of all components of the Study
  • prepare the study website to be turned over to the CDC following directions of the project officer in conjunction with other CDC staff.

Geolocation