Center for Multisite Studies

The Center for Multisite Studies provides support for multisite research projects, defined as studies that use the same research protocols and procedures at two or more sites, usually with a participating investigator at each site. A multi-site study often has a lead site that oversees the administration of the study and often also conducts the same research procedures as participating sites. A multisite study can be a randomized clinical trial, an observational study, or a basic clinical research study.

NYU Langone Health (NYU Langone) has the expertise needed to excel in the design and implementation of multisite studies. NYULH offers a rich infrastructure to support this type of work. This includes extensive administrative health data sources as well as the resources and expertise needed to facilitate engagement with partners to conduct studies. Below we provide an overview of the NYU Langone data infrastructure, sources of methodological support, and partner engagement resources.

Coordinating Center Responsibilities

Coordinating centers oversee design and development of study protocol(s), manage research operations, and support administrative requirements (e.g., reporting to regulatory agencies). They also often provide specialized services essential for study execution:

Clinical Coordinating Centers (CCCs): provide clinical operations and coordination (e.g., identify new sites, develop protocol training materials, and maintain regulatory documents)
Data Coordinating Centers (DCCs): provide computerized systems to collect, manage, monitor, report, and store study data
Coordinating Centers (SCCs): lead study design, provide statistical support, and prepare study-related materials for data safety and monitoring committees (DSMBs)

Data Infrastructure

NYU Langone has access to and deep expertise in using a wide range of data sources for research. Examples of data sources available at NYU Langone include:

Epic Cosmos

Cosmos integrates clinical data from a vast network of organizations utilizing Epic software for patient care. As a participating institution, NYU Langone researchers have access to over 300 million de-identified patient records through the Cosmos database.

PCORNet

PCORNet is a nationwide resource supporting patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research. Operating as a “network of networks,” it standardizes data from eight Clinical Research Networks. NYU Langone participates in the INSIGHT Clinical Research Network, a PCORNet-affiliated consortium of health systems based in New York City and Houston.

Marketscan

Merative MarketScan is one of the largest and longest running proprietary US claims databases used for healthcare research. The database includes de-identified, patient-level longitudinal data for nearly 300 million unique patients. Researchers may access the data by submitting a request to the Population Health Data Hub.

Optum

Optum provides a commercial dataset encompassing insurance claims, electronic health record (EHR) data, and other real-world data sources. Some Optum data has been internally integrated at NYU Langone. Mortality data, primarily derived from the Social Security Death Index for the NYU Langone patient population, is readily accessible in Databricks.

Medicaid Data with HEAL Lab

New York State Medicaid data, managed in collaboration with NYU Langone’s Health Evaluation and Analytics Lab (HEAL), contains billing information for healthcare services. NYU Langone researchers interested in utilizing NYS Medicaid Claims data may submit a proposal to the HEAL Lab.

Veterans Affairs Data

VA data comprises information related to veterans, including health records, benefits, claims, and services, overseen by the US Department of Veterans Affairs. NYU Langone has an established process for applying for access to de-identified VA data nationally, which requires an approved VA IRB study protocol.

OMOP

NYU Langone has formatted data to follow the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) Common Data Model (CDM) which is an open community data standard. OMOP Database integrates data from EPIC, Tumor Registry, and molecular testing from Foundation Medicine and Guardant. It features a dual-database architecture—one containing PHI and a completely de-identified counterpart.

Population Health Data Hub

The Population Health Data Hub, located within the NYU Langone Department of Population Health, serves as a centralized resource to enhance efficiency of research teams. The Hub offers direct analytic support and can help teams to gain access to many of these data sources. The Hub also offers secure geocoding service for NYU Langone research teams. The team maintains the latest AHRQ Social Determinants of Health Data.

Methodological Support

The following resources can support faculty and external partners with design and analytic approaches for multi-site studies:

Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD): offers services to inform efficient study design and use of novel epidemiologic and statistical methods through consultation, collaboration and education.
Data Core: assists researchers in leveraging NYU Langone electronic health records for clinical research. Provides support in electronic data capture and storage, management and integrity, and extraction and sharing.
Center for Biospecimen Research and Development: supports access to biospecimen resources and institution-wide tissue-banking efforts.
Causal Inference Working Group (CIWG): led by an interdisciplinary group of faculty within the Department of Public Health, CIWG provides a forum to engage with emerging causal inference topics in epidemiology, biostatistics, and related fields. Through monthly seminars and networking opportunities, the CIWG strengthens collaborations and advances research on methods needed to identify the causal effect of clinical and public health exposures, treatments, and interventions.

Partner Engagement Resources

NYU Langone boasts deep expertise and a rich array of resources to support partnership engagement in research to support outreach, recruitment, and dissemination activities in multi-site studies. Our multi-sector engagement approach facilitates collaboration with community, health system, municipal, and other stakeholders.

The NYU CTSI’s Community Engagement and Population Health Research (CEPHR) program aims to integrate community engagement (CE) across all stages of research, enhance the capacity of investigators, and improve institutional resources, policies, and procedures. CEPHR’s broad range of services and resources include the delivery of consultations and studios, seminars, workshops and trainings, guidance documents and toolkits. CEPHR supports a comprehensive infrastructure for partnership engagement across the institution, and can facilitate collaboration and connection with community, health systems (including NYU Langone Hospital, NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn, NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island, the Family Health Centers at NYU Langone, and H+H), and municipal settings.
The National Center for Engagement in Diabetes Research (CEDER), consists of a national network of 10 community-based organizations and 18 academic institutions, that foster multi-sector partnership engagement in Type II Diabetes research. CEDER’s consultation and studio services are designed to ensure diabetes-related research integrates multiple perspectives and priorities into all stages of the research process, maximizing impact and action.
The New York University-City University of New York Prevention Research Center (NYU-CUNY PRC) aims to generate, translate, adapt, and scale evidence-based interventions (EBIs) to reduce chronic disease disparities in NYC and nationally.
NYU Langone’s Community Service Plan (CSP) brings together a collection of coordinated, evidence-based programs designed to prevent chronic diseases by reducing risk factors for obesity and cardiovascular disease and decreasing tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke, addressing the intersection of health and housing, supporting disease self-management, and connecting people to resources that address social and health risk factors.
The City Health Dashboard provides data on over 45 measures of health and drivers of health for over 1,200 cities across the U.S and supports a large portfolio of collaborative efforts with municipal and policy partners.
The Congressional District Health Dashboard provides data on over 45 measures of health and drivers of health for all U.S. Congressional Districts, along with detailed information on elected officials and their office contact information. A partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, this initiative supports widespread engagement with many professional, advocacy and political organizations.