Incorporating Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside (i2b2) into Predoctoral Trainee Curriculum to Evaluate Student‐Generated Hypotheses

Abstract

As part of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute pre-doctoral TL1 training program at the Pennsylvania State University, a multidisciplinary team of pre-doctoral trainees representing the Chemistry, Neurosurgery, Nutritional Sciences, and Public Health Sciences departments were introduced to the NIH-sponsored Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside (i2b2) database to test the following student-generated hypothesis: children with iron deficiency anemia (IDA) are at increased risk of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Children aged 4–12 and 4–17 were categorized into IDA and control groups. De-identified medical records from the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (HMC) and the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center (VCUMC) were used for the analysis. Overall, ADHD prevalence at each institution was lower than 2011 state estimates. There was a significant association between IDA and ADHD in the 4–17 age group for all children (OR: 1.902 [95% CI: 1.363–2.656]), Caucasian children (OR: 1.802 [95% CI: 1.133–2.864]), and African-American children (OR: 1.865 [95% CI: 1.152–3.021]). Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) infrastructure is particularly useful for trainees to answer de novo scientific questions with minimal additional training and technical expertise. Moreover, projects can be expanded by collaborating within the CTSA network.

The Relationship Between Iron Deficiency Anemia and Sensorineural Hearing Loss in the Pediatric and Adolescent Population

“…Thus, screening and treatment would be part of currently established procedures. Although the link between correcting IDA and improving hearing health is not established, it is known that both IDA and hearing loss have negative effects related to attention and scholastic performance, which are improved with treatment (Abbas & Valli, 2012;Bener, Kamal, Bener, & Bhugra, 2014;Cortese, Angriman, Lecendreux, & Konofal, 2012;Halterman, Kaczorowski, Aligne, Auinger, & Szilagyi, 2001;Konofal, Lecendreux, Arnulf, & Mouren, 2004;Lahat et al, 2011;Millichap, Yee, & Davidson, 2006;Schieffer, Peters, Richter, Loc, & Pawelczyk, 2015).…”

Utilization of informatics for integrating biology and the bedside to access preliminary outcome data of post-operative complication of spine surgery associated with diabetes mellitus

“…However, improvement and monitoring systems are the most basic function. Pittman et al [15] utilized i2b2 and N2QOD to study time and cost efficiency of i2b2 and Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) system. They recognized errors in human data entry, the time-consuming process, and difficulty extracting accurate coding from different types of note styles, but demonstrated cost effective effectiveness with i2b2 compared to without i2b2.…”

“…In fact, current preliminary data in this study was used for grant application subsequently awarded. Schieffer et al [15] suggested that i2b2 could be utilized to test a predocotoral trainee curriculum, and that student generated research hypotheses could be tested. When the investigators would like to review institutional preliminary data, the result is available within a reasonable time period.…”