Ertefaie A, Wu T, Lynch KG, Nahum-Shani I Identifying a set that contains the best dynamic treatment regimes. Biostatistics. 2016 Jan;17(1):135-48. doi: 10.1093/biostatistics/kxv025. Epub 2015 Aug 3.
Spring B, Champion KE, Acabchuk R, Hennessy EA Self-regulatory behaviour change techniques in interventions to promote healthy eating, physical activity, or weight loss: a meta-review. Health Psychol Rev. 2020 Feb 17:1-32. doi: 10.1080/17437199.2020.1721310. [Epub ahead of print]
Spring B, Pfammatter A, Alshurafa N First Steps Into the Brave New Transdiscipline of Mobile Health. JAMA Cardiol. 2017 Jan 1;2(1):76-78. doi: 10.1001/jamacardio.2016.4440.
Spring B, Stump T, Penedo F, Pfammatter AF, Robinson JK Toward a health-promoting system for cancer survivors: Patient and provider multiple behavior change. Health Psychol. 2019 Sep;38(9):840-850. doi: 10.1037/hea0000760. Review.
Welch WA, Spring B, Phillips SM, Siddique J Moderating Effects of Weather-Related Factors on a Physical Activity Intervention. Am J Prev Med. 2018 May;54(5):e83-e89. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2018.01.025. Epub 2018 Mar 15.
Interventional studies are often prospective and are specifically tailored to evaluate direct impacts of treatment or preventive measures on disease.
Observational studies are often retrospective and are used to assess potential causation in exposure-outcome relationships and therefore influence preventive methods.
Expanded access is a means by which manufacturers make investigational new drugs available, under certain circumstances, to treat a patient(s) with a serious disease or condition who cannot participate in a controlled clinical trial.
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.
Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.