The Translational Informatics, Biostatistics and Epidemiology (TIBE) laboratory led by Dr. Arthur Owora applies novel biostatistical and machine learning methodologies to different (structured and unstructured) and multiple data sources (active and passive) to generate analytics and insights regarding disease etiology, risk, and prognosis. Through collaboration with clinicians, the TIBE laboratory aims to translate such insights to inform effective clinical decision-making at point-of-care including more proactive and personalized care, for improved patient-centered outcomes in real-world healthcare settings.
Research Funding
- K01HL163462 ($648,000) Owora (PI) 12/01/2022-11/30/2026
Title: Developing a Childhood Asthma Risk Passive Digital Marker
Goals: To develop and determine the usability, acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of a childhood asthma Passive Digital Marker (PDM) for early disease detection. Here, a PDM refers to a ML algorithm that can be used to retrieve and synthesize pre-existing ‘Passively’ collected mother/child dyad prognostic data (i.e., medical history) at ages 0-3 years in ‘Digital’ EHR to provide an objective and quantifiable ‘Marker’ of a child’s asthma risk and phenotype at ages 6-10 years.
Role: Project Director - R03HS029088 ($99,998) Owora (PI) 08/01/2022-07/31/2024
Title: Developing a passive digital marker (PDM) for childhood asthma treatment response prediction.
Objective: Develop, validate, and evaluate the predictive performance of a childhood asthma Passive Digital Marker for treatment response prediction (PDM-TR), that is, a machine learning algorithm that can retrieve and synthesize pre-existing ‘passively’ collected mother-child dyad risk/prognostic data in ‘digital’ electronic health record (EHR) to provide an objective and quantifiable ‘marker’ of future treatment response.
Role: Principal Investigator - R01AG078234 ($3, 958,794) Holden/Boustani (MPI) 07/01/2022-06/30/2027
Title: I-CARE 2 RCT: Mobile Telehealth to Reduce Alzheimer’s-related Symptoms for Caregivers and Patients
Goals: This randomized clinical trial tests how telehealth technology can positively affect informal caregivers and patients living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The project will gather data over time to measure the impact of our evidence-based Brain CareNotes mobile telehealth app on informal caregiver burden and patients’ behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, in a diverse Indiana-wide sample.
Role: Co-investigator/ Biostatistician - R25AG078136 ($750,000) Holden/Boustani (MPI) 07/01/2022-06/30/2027
Title: The Agile Nudge University Program
Goals: The overall goal of the proposed Agile Nudge University will be accomplished by first, establishing the Agile Nudge University virtual curriculum; second, recruiting, training, mentoring, and supporting graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and early, mid-career, and senior faculty who are interested in ADRD research; and third, engineering a national collaborative and psychologically safe social network of highly engaged and diverse ADRD scientists through wrap-around online social platform.
Role: Co-investigator - R03HD104841 ($99,990) Walsh-Buhi (PI) 09/21/2021-09/20/2023
The Esthetician’s Perspectives and Practices Study: The objective of this proposed project is to build on the Sexual Health and Estheticians (SHE) Study, focusing on estheticians who serve men, and determine the acceptability of/feasibility for a salon-based intervention.
Role: Co-investigator/Biostatistician - R01DK129936 ($537,993) Kishore (PI) 07/01/2021 – 06/30/2026
Pharmacotherapy in conjunction with lifestyle counseling for management of weight regain after bariatric surgery (PROJECT-BARI). A 12-month, double-blind, RCT to examine the efficacy of anti-obese pharmacotherapy (topiramate and phentermine) on reversing weight regain in subjects with bariatric surgery.
Role: Co-investigator / Biostatistician - R01HL159764 ($2,160,016) Silveyra (PI) 07/01/2021 – 06/30/2025
Sex and gender disparities in the severity and frequency of asthma exacerbations have been extensively reported, yet the biological and hormonal basis of these differences have not been elucidated. This application will investigate the mechanisms by which estrogen triggers inflammation in the male and female asthmatic lung to determine the molecular basis of hormonal triggers of asthma exacerbations in cis and transgender women and lead to the future development of better personalized therapeutic options for lung disease.
Role: Co-investigator / Biostatistician - R21NS129234 ($351,649) Datta/Bangirana (MPI) 08/15/2022 – 07/31/2024
Blood-Biomarkers and Risk Factors of Acute Brain Injury associated with Neurodisability in Ugandan Children [BRAIN-Child]. The objective of this proposal is to explore whether a set of biomarkers can be used in pediatric traumatic brain injury to predict future neurocognitive impairment.
Role: Co-investigator / Biostatistician - R21DC017787 ($38,198 Sub-contract) Riley (PI) 09/23/2020 – 08/31/2023
Improving aphasia outcomes through transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) -mediated attention management. This is an innovative RCT study intervention that will test the hypothesis that participants with aphasia who receive behavioral attention training paired with active anodal tDCS to dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) will demonstrate significantly greater improvement on a behavioral measure of attention than participants who receive behavioral attention training paired with sham tDCS.
Role: Site - PI - R01AG069765 ($5,095,139) Boustani/Galvin/Ben Miled (MPI) 09/01/2020– 05/31/2025
Digital Detection of Dementia (D3) Studies. This project evaluates the predictive performance of two low-cost approaches for the early detection of Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias using patient-reported outcome data, and to evaluate the practical utility and effect of the Passive Digital Marker and the Quick Dementia Rating Scale methods in improving the annual rate of new documented ADRD diagnosis in primary care practices.
Role: Co-investigator / Biostatistician
Recent Publications
(* student mentees/advisees)
- Jamshidi-Naeini J*, Roberts S, Dickinson S, Owora AH, Agley J, Zoh, RS, Chen X, Allison, DB. Factors associated with choice of behavioral weight loss program by adults with obesity. Clinical Obesity. Accepted
- Holler E*, Campbell NL, Boustani M, Dexter P, Ben Miled Z, Owora A. Racial disparities in the pharmacological treatment of insomnia: A time-to-event analysis using real-world data. Sleep Health. 2023 Feb 27:S2352-7218(23)00032-3. doi: 10.1016/j.sleh.2023.02.002. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36858835.
- Beidelman ET*, Parker MA, Zoh RS, Owora AH. Service Utilization among Persons Who Inject Drugs Attending a Syringe Exchange Program in New York State. Subst Use Misuse. 2023 Feb 22:1-8. doi: 10.1080/10826084.2023.2177965. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36814373.
- Chusyd DE, Austad SN, Dickinson SL, Ejima K, Gadbury GL, Golzarri-Arroyo L, Holden RJ, Jamshidi-Naeini Y, Landsittel D, Mehta DT, Oakes JM, Owora AH, Pavela G, Rojo J, Sandel MW, Smith DL, Vorland CJ, Xun P, Zoh R, Allison DB. Randomization, design, and analysis for interdependency in aging research: no person or mouse is an island. Nature Aging. 2022 Dec 22. 2(12): 1101-1111.
- Owora AH. Modeling the Natural Course of Atopic Multimorbidity: Correlates of Early-Life States and Exposures. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2023 Mar 1;207(5):633-634. doi: 10.1164/rccm.202211-2062LE. PMID: 36480962.
