Westat, Inc.

NHLBI recognizes Westat's expertise in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), in-depth knowledge of omics data, and proven experience establishing and managing collaborative research networks. ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has selected Westat to establish the Artificial Intelligence Coordinating Center (AI-CC), recognizing Westat's extensive expertise in AI and ML. The AI-CC will serve as a central hub for coordinating various research initiatives, bringing together AI and scientific experts to collaborate on innovative approaches to analyzing and interpreting the vast omics data resources available through the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program. TOPMed, for which Westat serves as the Administrative Coordinating Center (ACC), integrates whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and other omics data (e.g., metabolic profiles, epigenomics, protein and RNA expression patterns) with molecular, behavioral, imaging, environmental, and clinical data from large, well-characterized cohorts. This comprehensive dataset supports precision medicine by providing insights tailored to individuals' unique genetic and environmental backgrounds. As the AI-CC for NHLBI Westat will: Enhance data integration and analysis: Apply advanced AI and ML techniques to integrate and analyze diverse datasets, providing deeper insights into biological processes. Promote collaborative research: Foster collaboration among AI and scientific experts to develop innovative solutions for analyzing TOPMed data. Improve health outcomes: Apply AI-driven insights to identify sex and gender-related differences in health outcomes, leading to more effective medical interventions. Support broader NHLBI research: Extend AI applications to other NHLBI research areas, such as imaging and omics data in radiomics and radiogenomics, to advance the understanding of chronic lung diseases like idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Westat's Clinical Research Practice is well-positioned to implement and operate the AI-CC, leveraging its strong team of AI and ML experts, established processes, and familiarity with TOPMed data. "Our expertise in AI and ML methods, knowledge of multi-omics health data, and experience in managing large-scale biomedical research projects like TOPMed, uniquely positions us to lead the AI-CC," notes Kevin Wilson, PhD, a Vice President in the Clinical Research Practice. "We are excited to bring our multidisciplinary approach and apply our advanced analytical techniques to TOPMed data to improve research outcomes." Sunitha Mathew, MS, who heads Westat's Clinical Research Practice, stated, "Our experience with the TOPMed ACC and the OTA mechanism allows us to efficiently and effectively leverage existing infrastructure and procedures for soliciting, supporting, and monitoring research. As the TOPMed ACC, we bring hands-on experience with TOPMed data access, availability, and structure." In addition to the AI-CC, Westat supports other NHLBI Coordinating Centers, including the Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation Study IV–Pediatric (REDS-IV-P) DCC, the Maternal Morbidity and Mortality (3M) ACC, and the Community Engagement Technical Assistance Center (CETAC)/Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) CC. About Westat () Westat is a leader in research, data collection and analysis, technical assistance, evaluation, and communications. Our evidence-based findings help clients in government and the private sector accelerate advancements in health, education, transportation, and social and economic policy. Since 1963, our dedication to improving lives through research and our approach to projects grounded in investigative curiosity, equity, statistical and data rigor, adaptive methods, and advanced technology are why clients find exceptional value in our work. SOURCE Westat WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED

Westat is committed to continuing the trusted partnership with NIH/NIDA and FDA/CTP on the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study to understand tobacco use patterns and impacts on public health. ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Institutes of Health's (NIH's) National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) have announced the award of a third contract to Westat to continue to support the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study. Westat has supported the study since its inception in 2011. The PATH Study is a uniquely large, long-term study of tobacco use and health in the United States. It provides the ability to follow participants over time, looking at how and why people start, continue, discontinue, and re-start using tobacco. It examines how the use of different tobacco products affects health, including cardiovascular and respiratory health. Findings help inform FDA's actions related to tobacco products under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Westat's team is a seamless integration of hundreds of Westat staff experts—tobacco regulatory scientists, survey statisticians and methodologists, data and biospecimen collection experts, data scientists and IT staff, and experienced field interviewers—who have contributed to the PATH Study for many years in collaboration with distinguished academic organizations and industry-leading operational subcontractors. For this new contract, Westat will continue using innovative design and data collection approaches for data continuity and higher response rates to deliver useful data and analysis products to NIH/NIDA and FDA/CTP. "Our work will build on the knowledge we have gained during the past 12 years of supporting the PATH Study and a foundation of over 35 years of tobacco research," notes Charles Carusi, PhD, a Westat Vice President and the project director for the PATH Study. "We are honored to continue this work and enhance and extend the PATH Study's impact on tobacco regulatory science while meeting NIDA's and FDA's need for sound science." This project is supported with Federal funds from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Health and Human Services, under contract to Westat (Contract Nos. HHSN271201600001C and 75N95024C00003) and through interagency agreements between NIH NIDA and FDA CTP and is also supported through a collaboration between NIDA and the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, the Office of Disease Prevention, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and the National Library of Medicine. About Westat () Westat is a leader in research, data collection and analysis, technical assistance, evaluation, and communications. Our evidence-based findings help clients in government and the private sector accelerate advancements in health, education, transportation, and social and economic policy. Since 1963, our dedication to improving lives through research and our approach to projects grounded in investigative curiosity, equity, statistical and data rigor, adaptive methods, and advanced technology are why clients find exceptional value in our work. SOURCE Westat

A nationwide U.S. study of more than 893,000 adults provides solid evidence confirming that mRNA booster immunizations extend protection against moderate and severe COVID for four to five months. These findings provide a more complete understanding of the effectiveness and durability of third and fourth doses of the mRNA vaccines, informing policymakers and providing individuals with confirmation of the importance and value of boosters. A nationwide U.S. study of more than 893,000 adults provides solid evidence confirming that mRNA booster immunizations extend protection against moderate and severe COVID for four to five months. These findings, published in The BMJ, provide a more complete understanding of the effectiveness and durability of third and fourth doses of the mRNA vaccines, informing policymakers and providing individuals with confirmation of the importance and value of boosters. Vaccine effectiveness provided by boosters waned less against severe disease than against moderate disease in all age groups according to the new study which was conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) VISION Network. "While there have been recommendations for booster shots for a while, until now we haven't had strong evidence of their effectiveness and how long that effectiveness lasts," said study co-author Brian Dixon, PhD, of the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health. "In our new study, we looked at tens of thousands of patients in multiple states, seen over a year and a half. Our analysis provides compelling evidence, both of the effectiveness of boosting to increase immunity, and that this immunity begins to wane after four or five months, indicating additional booster doses are necessary. "The recommendations to get boosted that were issued by the CDC months ago, were, in fact, the right recommendations," said Dr. Dixon. "Booster doses are necessary to maintain a high level of immunity to severe COVID." The bivalent booster, available since early September 2022, targets both historic strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the Omicron variants (BA.4 and BA.5) currently circulating in the U.S. and globally. Building on their initial, preliminary analysis, published in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, in the new study, the VISION Network scientists analyzed data from patients seen at 261 hospitals, 272 emergency departments and 119 urgent care clinics in 10 states across the U.S. from January 17, 2021 to July 12, 2022. The data covered periods of Omicron dominance (including subvariants BA.4 and BA.5), as well as the previous periods of Delta and pre-Delta dominance. The new study is published in The BMJ. The authors found that in the Omicron period mRNA vaccine protection against severe COVID-19 was initially high (89 percent) but waned after primary vaccination. Focusing on the durability of boosters against hospitalization, (i.e., severe disease), the study found that effectiveness increased markedly after a booster shot, waning again about four to five months after the booster. Protection increased again following a second booster. The protection and waning pattern with Moderna and Pfizer boosters were similar. "If it has been four months or longer since your last COVID booster, or if you had the initial two shots and have never received a booster, you should strongly consider a bivalent booster, which targets ancestral strains of the COVID virus plus subvariants Omicron BA.4 and BA.5," said study co-author Shaun Grannis, M.D., M.S., Regenstrief Institute Vice President for Data and Analytics. "The evidence that boosters can keep you healthy is compelling. Combining a COVID booster with an annual flu shot will help you make it through the respiratory disease season." Dr. Grannis also is a professor of family medicine with IU School of Medicine. The BMJ study authors estimate that booster shots to counteract waning could prevent 300 hospitalizations in the U.S. for severe COVID per week. They note that the strengths of their new study include the "number and diversity of sites and inclusion of outcomes of varying severity as well as a sample size large enough to detect modest waning of vaccine protection." Cases were compared with controls tested during the same week in the same geographic area, allowing the researchers to distinguish differences in vaccine effectiveness attributable to the waning of vaccine-induced immunity from those attributable to the ebb and flow of variants. The CDC collaborated with seven U.S. healthcare systems plus the Regenstrief Institute, to create the VISION network to assess COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness. In addition to Regenstrief Institute, other members are Columbia University Irving Medical Center, HealthPartners, Intermountain Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, University of Colorado and Paso Del Norte Health Information Exchange (PHIX). Regenstrief contributes data and expertise to the VISION Network. Regenstrief Institute authors of this VISION Network study, "Waning of vaccine effectiveness against moderate and severe covid-19 among adults in the US from the VISION network: test negative, case-control study," in addition to Drs. Dixon and Grannis, are William F. Fadel, PhD, Nimish Ramesh Valvi, DrPH, MBBS, and former Institute president and current affiliate scientist Peter Embi, M.D. All authors of the study are Jill M. Ferdinands, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Suchitra Rao, MBBS, MSCS, University of Colorado; Brian E. Dixon, PhD, MPA, Regenstrief Institute and IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health; Patrick K. Mitchell, ScD, Westat; Malini B. DeSilva, M.D., MPH, HealthPartners Institute; Stephanie A. Irving, MHS, Kaiser Permanente Northwest; Ned Lewis, MPH, Kaiser Permanente Northern California; Karthik Natarajan, PhD, Columbia University Irving Medical Center and New York Presbyterian Hospital; Edward Stenehjem, M.D., M.S., Intermountain Healthcare; Shaun J. Grannis, M.D., M.S., Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine; Jungmi Han, B.S., Columbia University Irving Medical Center; Charlene McEvoy, M.D., MPH, HealthPartners Institute; Toan C. Ong, PhD, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Allison L. Naleway, PhD, Kaiser Permanente Northwest; Sarah E. Reese, PhD, Westat; Peter J. Embi, M.D., M.S., formerly with Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine; Kristin Dascomb, M.D., PhD, Intermountain Healthcare; Nicola P. Klein, M.D., PhD, Kaiser Permanente Northern California; Eric P. Griggs, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; I-Chia Liao, MPH, Baylor Scott & White Health; Duck-Hye Yang, PhD, Westat; William F. Fadel, PhD, Regenstrief Institute and IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health; Nancy Grisel, MPP, Intermountain Healthcare; Kristin Goddard, MPH, Kaiser Permanente Northern California; Palak Patel, MBBS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Kempapura Murthy, MPH, MBBS, Baylor Scott & White Health; Rebecca Birch, MPH, Westat; Nimish R. Valvi, DrPH, Regenstrief Institute; Julie Arndorfer, MPH, Intermountain Healthcare; Ousseny Zerbo, PhD, Kaiser Permanente Northern California; Monica Dickerson, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Chandni Raiyani, MPH, Baylor Scott & White Health; Jeremiah Williams, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Catherine H. Bozio, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Lenee Blanton, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Ruth Link-Gelles, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; Michelle A. Barron, M.D., University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Manjusha Gaglani, MBBS, FIDSA, FPIDS, FAAP, Baylor Scott & White Health; Mark G. Thompson, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 Response Team; and Bruce Fireman, Kaiser Permanente Northern California. The study was funded by the CDC.