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Surgery Health Services and Outcomes Research Center

The Surgery Health Services and Outcomes Research Center is a Department of Surgery research endeavor to advance the collaborative study of processes of surgical care, surgical outcomes, and provision of health services through a multidisciplinary approach. The mission of the Center is to enable Yale Surgery faculty, staff, and trainees to perform state-of-the-art surgical outcomes, comparative effectiveness, and health services research.

To carry out that mission, the Center provides access to research support including biostatistical/epidemiological services and data management help across the eleven divisions in the Department of Surgery. Our goal is to provide a secure, successful, and sustainable clinical research experience.

Research/Projects

The activities of the Surgery Health Services and Outcomes Research Center include:

  • Engage in quality research to advance studies of surgery outcomes.
  • Provide study design, biostatistical, and machine learning support services to assist surgeons in building the capacity for research, with a particular focus on developing funded studies.
  • Maintain a database library to empower surgeons and collaborators to utilize large datasets, assist users with the process of complying with all training and regulatory requirements for those datasets*, and streamline the research process by preparing analysis-ready data extracts.
  • Maintain a server equipped with statistical software that can be used to analyze data from any source in a secure manner that is compliant with relevant University, state, and federal policies, laws, and regulations.
  • Provide expertise in study design, database analysis, biostatistical methods and artificial intelligence (including machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing).
  • Provide a centralized service to support the computational needs of researchers within the department.
  • Mentor junior faculty with the aim of developing and executing a multi-year career plan culminating in R01-level funding.

*Note: Access to data will require documentation of completion of the following training courses, available through the Yale Training Management System:

  • HIPAA Privacy and Security for Researchers -OR- Foundational HIPAA Privacy and Security Training
  • Human Subjects Research (CITI) -OR- Human Research Protection Training by OHRP
In addition, there may be Data Use Agreements and/or training requirements specific to the database being requested.
Virtual Office Hours
If you have specific study design or biostatistical analysis questions, we also have virtual office hours on the first and third Tuesday at 2pm. Please email SurgeryResearch@yale.edu with the topic of your question and we will get back to you to schedule an appointment.