Clinical Research Center Welcomes New Member & Enhances TriNetX

UH Research & Education Update | September 2021

The Clinical Research Center (CRC) would like to introduce and welcome our new team member – Gina Casselberry. Gina started with us in early July and is currently working as a Clinical Research Business Development Liaison. In this role, she is one of the primary contacts when pharmaceutical/industry sponsors approach University Hospitals as a potential research site. Gina also manages the protocol feasibility assessments for compatibility with our electronic health record prior to study submission to the Institutional Review Board. One of her primary responsibilities is to manage TriNetX queries. TriNetX allows our team to query the UH EMR quickly and accurately using diagnosis codes, procedure codes, visit types, demographics, and more.

TriNetX Enhancements

The CRC has recently finished working with TriNetX and UH IT to enhance TriNetX by including the ability to include clinical notes through Natural Language Processing (NLP). NPL allows queries to capture clinical note phrases that may not be captured in the EMR under the patient’s diagnoses, labs, or medications. We also recently decided to upgrade to an enriched network called Linking 2.0, which brings in a third party national mortality database. This will increase the accuracy of following patient outcomes throughout the TriNetX Research Networks when using it for de-identified research!

Feedback from Rob Trager, DC  | UH Connor Integrative Health Center

“The TriNetX staff at the Clinical Research Center has helped us conduct several retrospective cohort studies on the topic of health service utilization, in which we examine health outcomes in recipients of chiropractic care. They help us with everything from start to finish including protocol building, data analysis, and manuscript writing, and are incredibly efficient and professional. When we are ready for data collection, the TriNetX team meets virtually with us to review our selection criteria, propensity-matched variables, and outcomes in real-time. This team has been invaluable in helping us generate innovative, impactful research that is on track to be published in peer-reviewed journals. All departments should consider collaborating with the UH CRC TriNetX team.”

Special thank you and recognition to our team: Kayla Schlick, Clinical Research Business Development Liaison II; Abe Perez, Clinical Research Biostatistician and Data Scientist; Scott Martin, Clinical Research Biostatistician; and Gina Casselberry, Clinical Research Business Development Liaison.

Recent TriNetX de-identified dataset publications, and abstracts:

Clinical features and outcomes of COVID-19 among people living with HIV in the United States: A multicenter study from a large global health research network (TriNetX). Yendewa, G.A., Perez, J.A., Schlick, K.J., Tribout, H., McComsey, G.A. Published June 1, 2021 in the Infectious Diseases Society of America

Surgical factors rather than patient characteristics predict inpatient vs. outpatient mastectomy for breast cancer patients. Cao, L., Shenk, R., Schlick, K.J., Perez, J.A., Miller, M.E.  Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS)

Association between radicular low back pain and constipation: A retrospective cohort study.  Trager, R. J., Anderson, B., Vincent, D., Schlick, K. J., Perez, J. A., & Dusek, J.  

Bariatric Surgery Protects Against Barrett’s Esophagus and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma: A National Database Study. Hurtado, A., Chandar, A., Martin, S., Perez, J. A., Schlick, K. J., Chak, A. ACG October 2021, Annual Scientific Meeting & Postgraduate Course.

Differential Risk of Colorectal Cancer in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients Treated with Advanced Therapies, Immunomodulators, and 5-Aminosalicylates: A Multi-Research Network Study Utilizing The TrinetX Database. Mansoor, E., Katz, J., Cominelli, F., Perez, J. A., Schlick, K. J., Cooper, G.  ACG 2021

Learn more about the CRC Business Development Office and TriNetX at UH by clicking here.