This project seeks to create the Brown University Data Science Collaborative for Real-World Evidence in Cancer Therapeutics by bringing together experts from medicine, public health and computer science to better understand how different chemotherapy treatments perform in the real world, particularly for older breast cancer patients who are often underrepresented in traditional clinical trials. By analyzing cancer registry data linked to national Medicare claims, the team will investigate whether a “de-escalated” treatment plan can be just as effective as more intensive regimens while reducing the risk of heart-related side effects.
To achieve this, the researchers are developing advanced AI models capable of “reading” patient histories to identify characteristics of patient health status that aren't standardly available in medical records. These insights will be used to create an “emulated clinical trial,” providing decision-makers with high-quality, data-driven evidence to help them choose the safest and most effective treatments.
This work is supported by a grant from the Brown University Data Science Institute