Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Biometrics, the final touch..... of clinical research


Biometrics department in a CRO is a place where all clinical trial data's are analyzed using software’s (like SAS). The study protocol, Case Report Forms (CRF), Statistical Analysis Plan (SAP) & mock are read by the programmers for data analysis. This data analysis involves:

I. Deriving the dataset:

For example: The raw dataset may contain two variables namely,

a) Birth date of the patient &
b) Visit date of the patient

but it may not contain a variable called: “age”.

In order to derive the variable “age” from birth date and visit date, programmer's write code [age = int ( (visitdt - birthdt) / 365.25 ) + 1;]. Like wise many other variables are derived from the raw dataset to make a derived dataset. These derived datasets make table programming much easier.

II. Listing:

Next step is the listing of data's from the derived datasets (with little or no SAS programming).

III. Tables:

Here the programmer’s subset data according to the mock.

Listings and Tables are done based on these data's:

1) Demographics
2) Patient disposition
3) Vital signs / Lab test
4) Adverse event
5) Study drug
6) Disease progression / Death
7) Efficacy

The ultimate aim of Bio (Biological) metrics (Measurement) is to find out:

1) The difference between treatment groups
2) Change from baseline to end of study and
3) Comparison of patient subsets

Sunday, October 14, 2007

How to remove the deleted page from Google's cache?


Our personal information (submitted to some job search sites) could be seen in Google search. To remove it, first the page has to be deleted from the website. Even after deleting, the page might continue to remain in Google's cache (and they appear in the search result). To delete the page from Google's cache, the following link can be used....

Webpage removal request tool:

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/removals?pli=1

This tool is used to remove:-

  • Sensitive information from Google
  • Outdated or "dead" link in the Google search results
  • Inappropriate webpage or image that appears in SafeSearch filtered results

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Learning Basics of Clinical Trials


Online Test on "Human Participant Protections: Education for Research Teams" developed by NIH is a valuable resource for:
  1. Investigators
  2. Nurse
  3. Data managers and
  4. Statisticians

It helps the user learn:- History, Basics, Informed consent, IRB Review, Ongoing Protections and International Research in Clinical Trials

Login> http://cme.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/learning/humanparticipant-protections.asp

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

List of Universities providing Clinical Research Courses


A) Institute Clinical Research India:
http://www.icriindia.com/parttime.htm

ICRI
Indiranagar, Bangalore
---
B) University of Pune:
http://clinicpune.org/

1. Department of Bioinformatics,
University of Pune, Pune

2. H.V. Desai Eye Hospital
Mohammad Wadi, Hadapsar, Pune

3. A335 Shivalik Enclave,
New Delhi

4. Sankara Nethralaya, 18,
College Road, Chennai

5. T John College 88/1 Gottigere,
Bannerghatta Road Bangalore
---
C) Manipal University:
http://www.crra.manipal.edu/manipaladva.html

Manipal Universal Learning Pvt. Ltd
Airport Road, Bangalore
---
D) Academy for Clinical Excellence: http://www.aceindia.org/
---
Bombay College of Pharmacy,
Kalina, Santacruz, Mumbai