About CERTs
Annual Report Year 1
The CERTs Program
Origins | Vision | Mission | Values | Carrying Out the Mission | Structure and Adminstration
Structure and Administration
Within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, AHRQ is the lead agency supporting research into how to make health care better, more cost-effective, and more accessible. It sponsors and conducts research about outcomes, quality, cost, use, and accessibility of health care.
AHRQ's Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research, consulting with the FDA, oversees the CERTs program and provides technical assistance and research support to the centers.
There is a Steering Committee composed of a chairperson; the CERTs principal investigators; representatives from AHRQ, the FDA, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH); and three at-large members.
Representatives from all centers have formed work groups to address broader issues related to the CERTs effort, such as quality of care and the use of databases in research.
Duke University coordinates CERTs activities among the seven centers, each of which focuses on therapies for one group or disease area.
The Seven Centers
Duke University
Principal Investigator: Elizabeth R. DeLong, PhD;
Therapies for disorders of the heart and blood vessels.
Georgetown University
Principal Investigator: Raymond L. Woosley, MD, PhD;
Drug interactions, particularly in women.
HMO Research Network
Principal Investigator: Richard Platt, MD, MSc;
Usefulness of HMOs for studying drug use, safety, and effectiveness.
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Principal Investigator: Kenneth G. Saag, MD, MSc;
Therapies for disorders of the joints and bones.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Principal Investigator: William H. Campbell, PhD;
Therapies for children.
University of Pennsylvania
Principal Investigator: Brian L. Strom, MD, MPH;
Therapies for infection.
Vanderbilt University
Principal Investigator: Wayne A. Ray, PhD;
Prescription drug use in a Medicaid population.