Discover Brigham Session of the Week: Population Health

Which foods are good for you and which ones are not? Will a new medicine help prevent a complication of a disease? What are its side effects? There is an overwhelming amount of opinion out there, but how do you know which ones are correct? To answer these questions, physicians rely on the results of carefully conducted research studies including long-term observational studies and clinical trials. BWH has great strengths across the spectrum of research and is home to landmark cohort studies including the Nurses’ Health Study and a series of large clinical trials such as those done by the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) Study Group.  In this session, you’ll learn about these types of studies and what you should look for when you read about medical research. You’ll also hear first-hand accounts from longitudinal study and clinical trial participants about their experiences.