Research Services and Facilities

The Epidemiology and Biostatistics Research Core (EBRC) supports Baystate faculty, fellows and residents in clinical research and research education.

The EBRC has a team of epidemiologists, statisticians, and a data scientist with Masters or PhD-level training who have broad expertise in research methods, data analysis, and scientific writing. They have a total of more than 70 years’ experience in clinical research, have published several hundred articles in major scientific journals, and handle more than 200 projects a year.

Research Support

The EBRC collaborates with clinical investigators by:

1. Developing study designs and research protocols, including:
   • Randomization schemes
   • Power analysis and sample size computations
   • Relevant written sections of grants, manuscripts, and presentations
2. Assisting in developing survey instruments
3. Creating databases and data entry schemes in RedCap (Research Electronic Data Capture)  
4. Conducting data analyses, including:
   • Linear regression and ANOVA
   • Logistic regression (unconditional, conditional, multinomial, and ordered)
   • Time-to-event analysis, hierarchical linear modeling, analysis of complex survey designs.
   • Meta-analysis
   • Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial analysis

Research Skills Education

The EBRC helps advance the research skills of faculty, fellows, and residents by:

1. Mentoring individuals in practical statistics, database design and management and study design as part of the research process
2. Mentoring college students interested in the health field and research through Baystate’s  Undergraduate Programs
3. Conducting group seminars on study design, approaches to and interpretations of data analyses and research studies
4. Providing support for reviewing research articles and applying evidenced-based practice methods to article critiques

For More Information

Contact the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Research Core at: biostatistics@baystatehealth

EBRC Team

Paul Visintainer PhD, Director
Alex Knee MS, Biostatistician
Vida Rastegar MPH, Biostatistician
Donna Wilson MS, Biostatistician
Pete St. Marie, Data Scientist

Baystate Education Research and Scholarship of Teaching (BERST) Academy promotes excellence in health professions education by facilitating scholarship and research across all health professions. BERST provides support and collaboration for clinician educators by consulting on the conceptualization and implementation of scholarship and research, from design to writing to dissemination.

BERST Scholarship Opportunities

BERST offers opportunities for health professions educators interested in scholarship and research. These opportunities are available to educators across the system and cover the organization and dissemination of scholarship and research, including research and evaluation design as well as scholarly writing.

Research Areas

Many of our clinician educators publish research and scholarship pertaining to:

Simulation education

Interventions and innovative teaching methods developed and implemented in the Baystate Simulation Center and Goldberg Surgical Skills Lab

Curriculum design

Innovative curricula designed to fill a gap in students’ knowledge or skills

Professional development

Innovative ways that we train our teachers to better prepare future clinicians

Research Support

BERST Scholarship opportunities are led by Rebecca Blanchard, a PhD-trained education researcher with experience in quantitative and qualitative research methods. Dr. Blanchard directly supports clinician educators through BERST by encouraging collaboration and offering guidance on:

• Conceptualizing education projects into education research
• Theoretical or conceptual frameworks
• Instrument selection or design
• Defining outcomes of interest
• Identifying scholarship opportunities, including clinical education conferences and peer reviewed journals

For More Information

Contact the Director of BERST Academy, Rebecca Blanchard, PhD.

The Baystate Research Facility (BRF) is a 25,000 square foot facility that includes ample bench space for basic science research, tissue culture, surgical and procedural rooms, BSL-2 room, histology suite, microscopy suite and additional specialty lab space.  In addition to research space the BRF has private offices, an open community area, three conference rooms and a reception area.

The BRF core team includes individuals trained in laboratory safety, skilled veterinary care, regulatory issues, as well as individuals performing general administrative functions.

Types of research being conducted at the BRF include cancer, diabetes, surgical techniques and training, and device/instrument development. 

Local Oversight

• The Institutional Review Board oversees and evaluates all research involving humans
• The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) oversees and evaluates all animal care and use and is also responsible for initial and continuing review and approval or all animal use protocols. The IACUC assures USDA and OLAW regulations and national standards are met.
• The Institutional Biosafety Committee reviews registrations for Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules, Pathogens, potential Infectious Agents, Biological Toxins, and Human Clinical Trials that involve the use of these materials as mandated by the National Institutes of Health.

Accreditation, Regulation and Membership

• Licensed and registered with the United states Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
• Assurance on file with the Public Health Service Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) 
• American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS)
• Massachusetts Society for Medical Research (MSMR)

For More Information

The Baystate Health Sciences Library offers quality information resources and knowledge services to assist researchers, providing efficient access to thousands of digital and print knowledge resources, major databases and clinical information tools.

Library professionals help provide accurate and timely evidence-based information at the point-of-care or at other convenient locations - and we offer remote access to our electronic resources. We also have scanners, copiers, and collaborative work space. 

Services for Researchers

Visit the Health Sciences Library website for a complete description of our resources and services.

Literature Searches

We do expert online literature searches, conduct classes or consultations on search optimization and advance search techniques, and provide evidence based medicine support - referring to specific levels of evidence and use of PubMed filters, help with critical appraisal, etc.

We have a robust document delivery service (free of charge!) to obtain books and journals and references in your search results.

Current Awareness

We provide search alerts and other current awareness services such as eTOCS and automatic saved search assistance so you can keep up with the latest advances in any field.

Citation Management and More

We assist with citation management using End Note and also support RefWorks. Scopus database includes free-text access to citations in the database Embase, and Scopus also has data on journal and article impact factor and altimetrics, a new way of gauging  the significance of published works. Scopus includes conferences in addition to thousands of peer reviewed journals and is published by Elsevier.

Scholarly Commons

Scholarly Commons is an institutional repository for all scholarly activity at Baystate, consisting of a citation and abstract database to Baystate scholarly output, complete with reporting features, as well as any open access publications. Explore the image and archive galleries and researcher pages complete with publications by Baystate personnel. The company that produces the software works with all the major search engines for very high visibility of the repository contents and helps connect researchers with one another.

For More Information