What Is CER?

Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) seeks to determine which medical interventions and strategies work best, for whom, and under what circumstances. See more definitions of CER

Most definitions of CER involve not only comparing two or more active interventions, but also

• conducting these assessments in settings with real-world significance
• evaluating for heterogeneity of intervention effects across different subgroups of patients
• focusing on perspectives of different stakeholders, with a particular emphasis on patient-centered outcomes.

See PCORI’s definition of CER and of Patient Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR).

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UCSF Educational Programs

Educational offerings at UCSF include a webinar on CER and PCORI, courses in the UCSF Training in Clinical Research Program, and archived presentations of symposia and lectures given by UCSF faculty.

Online Webinar

Getting Your PCORI Grant Funded: Advice from Insiders is a webinar that provided high-value advice on strategies for maximizing your chance of funding success.

• Audio, Part 1
• Audio, Part 2
• Webinar Minutes (pdf 45KB)

Archived Symposia and Presentations

Access a wide variety of presentations and slide sets on topics in CER and PCORI. These include material from UCSF’s Annual Symposium on CER, with talks by PCORI leaders and UCSF and other Bay Area faculty who are experts in CER and PCORI.

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Other UCSF Resources

PCORI Proposal Library

Learn by example — view examples of successful UCSF proposals generously provided by members of the UCSF community (UCSF access only).

• Access the PCORI Proposal Library on UCSF Box

Community-Engaged Research

• Guides and Manuals
• San Francisco Bay Collaborative Research Network: access to community-based stakeholders and study subjects

Comparative Effectiveness Large Datasets

The Comparative Effectiveness Large Dataset Analysis Core (CELDAC) has developed a database inventory of over 80 local and national health datasets. CELDAC leaders support investigators interested in assessing comparative effectiveness of clinical and other interventions.

• Access the inventory
• Find facts and figures for your proposal, manuscript, and presentation background
• Get expert consultation on working with large datasets

OptumLabs Data Warehouse (OLDW)

UCoP has partnered with OptumLabs, a collaborative center for research and innovation, to provide access to 160 million de-identified records across claims and clinical information to conduct investigations on populations and unique subsets within them. Learn more about OLDW

Infrastructure Support for Multicenter Studies and Clinical Trials

• The San Francisco Coordinating Center is a collaborative enterprise among researchers from the CPMC Research Institute and the UCSF Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.

Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

• The United States Cochrane Center is part of a collaboration that publishes systematic reviews to promote evidence-informed health decision-making.

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External Resources

The Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has an excellent website with information on the types of research it funds, and methodology guides to support the development of high-quality research that is consistent with its mission.

• CERTAIN Patient Advisory Network's INSPIRE Research Portal is an online library of resources designed for patients and researchers partnering on patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR).
• See more External Resources for CER

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