Welcome
Since our launch in April 2019, the Critical Care and Perioperative Population Health Research (CAPER) Unit’s mission has been to improve the public’s health by advancing critical care and perioperative medicine through rigorous observational research.
Message from the Directors
Vijay Krishnamoorthy, MD, PhD & Karthik Raghunathan, MBBS, MPH
Welcome to Duke Anesthesiology’s Critical Care and Perioperative Population Health Research (CAPER) Unit! Through a foundation built on the rigorous methodologic principles of epidemiology and health services research, our unit aims to fill the gap between basic science research and clinical trials, by conducting high-quality observational research to advance knowledge in the care of perioperative and critically ill patients. We are comprised of a methods core (methodologists, analysts and data sources), subject-matter experts and a diverse membership who are all dedicated to advancing outcomes research in the fields of critical care and perioperative medicine. Through this, our goal is to improve health outcomes in perioperative and critically ill populations, both locally and globally. Please explore our website and feel free to contact us if you would like to be a part to this diverse and exciting group!
Core Operating Values
The following core operating values influence the culture and public image of the Critical Care and Perioperative Population Health Research (CAPER) Unit as an effective organization to improve the public’s health through research, education, and collaboration.
With humility and curiosity, it seeks answers to questions posed by patients, families, clinicians, and others interested in the delivery of high-quality perioperative and critical care. The CAPER Unit will conduct work with the following core values:
- Caring Attitude
- Respectfulness
- Diversity
- Integrity and Accountability
- State of the Art Practices
- Collaboration
- Education
- Financial Sustainability
What We Do
The CAPER Unit conducts rigorous observational research in critical care and perioperative medicine, using foundational principles, grounded in epidemiology and health services research. The term “outcomes research” is commonly used as a part of the daily discussions among not only clinicians, but also researchers, administrators, health policymakers, economists, and payors. There are several factors that have contributed to the growth of interest in outcomes research, and critical care and perioperative outcomes research in particular:
- The evidence base is lacking for much of daily clinical practice, particularly when data from randomized-controlled clinical trials (RCT) are limited.
- Health care costs have skyrocketed, forcing stakeholders to consider the value of medical care. For example, critical care accounts for greater than one percent of the entire gross domestic product of the United States, and is expected to rise further as the population ages.
- There has been a dramatic rise in the volume of health care data available, with a concurrent advancement in statistical techniques and computing capabilities. Because it would be costly and impractical to conduct an RCT to answer every clinical question, rigorous observational studies in large and diverse patient cohorts help to fill this gap.
- Greater scrutiny into the methodology of clinical studies have revealed that heterogeneity exists with regard to methodologic rigor in critical care outcomes studies, rendering many to bias. This is especially relevant, as millions of dollars in research funding are poured into clinical trials that are based on preliminary observational data.
Because of these reasons, the CAPER Unit is focused on conducting high-quality, observational research in perioperative and critical care medicine.
Why Do We Need?
Why do we need a Critical Care and Perioperative Population Health Research Unit at Duke Anesthesiology?
The unique nature of critical care and perioperative research requires a specialized group conducting diverse research, while applying a core set of foundational methods that can help to fill gaps in evidence and advance patient care. Because of the combination of world leaders with subject matter expertise in a variety of critical care and perioperative domains with methodologists that have expertise in population health research within Duke Anesthesiology, the CAPER Unit harmonizes these areas. The CAPER unit organizes its strengths in a diverse variety of domains in critical care and perioperative medicine under a common methodologic framework.
Research
The CAPER Unit focuses its research around five major themes:
Project Examples
- Examination of the use of capture-recapture methods to optimize ascertainment of exposures and outcomes in perioperative and critical care research
- Examination of natural experiment designs (coupled with Roger’s diffusion curve) to reduce residual confounding in observational perioperative research
- Improving methods for before-after studies in perioperative research
- Review of advanced methods for reducing cofounding in perioperative and critical care research (mediation analysis, natural experiment design, instrumental variable analysis, propensity scores, and interrupted time series)
Project Examples
- Mechanisms and clinical impact of myocardial dysfunction following traumatic brain injury
- Multi-organ dysfunction following traumatic brain injury
- Optimizing early hemodynamic management in adult and pediatric traumatic brain injury
- Trends and variation in healthcare utilization following severe acute brain injury
- Racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare utilization following severe acute brain injury
- Systematic review of incidence of multi-organ dysfunction following moderate-severe traumatic brain injury
- Examination of impact of ICU care on outcomes following traumatic brain injury in Tanzania
- Clinical epidemiology of moderate traumatic brain injury in low and middle-income countries
- Descriptive epidemiology of outcomes (healthcare utilization, readmission, mortality, violence, arrest) following emergency room visit for opioid overdose
- Opioids following surgery in the United States and impact of the Veteran’s Affairs Opioid Safety Initiative
- Guideline adherence for multimodal analgesia in TKA (VA versus non-VA)
Project Examples
- Association of FDA warning (reading hydroxyethyl starch) with bleeding outcomes following musculoskeletal surgery in the United States
- Unintended consequences of albumin for perioperative resuscitation
- Balanced fluids versus saline on outcomes in critically ill patients: mediating effects of chloride level
- Progression of chronic kidney disease following major abdominal surgery: effect modification by baseline renal function
- Heart-rate and blood-pressure coupling in perioperative medicine
- Effect of oral nutrition supplements on perioperative outcomes
- Joint and combined effects of multimodal analgesia in perioperative medicine
Project Examples
Pulmonary Outcomes
- Examination of the introduction of Sugammadex on post-op respiratory failure
- Perioperative lung-protective ventilation strategies
- SCCM Discovery Network SAGE Study
Neurological Outcomes
- Association between gonadal hormones on ICH pathophysiology and outcome
- Affects of blood pressure agent class used after ICH on hematoma growth and mortality
- Use of SSRIs prior to ICH affects long-term outcome
- Incidence, mediators, and outcome of ARDS after ICH
- Defining associations between serum, CSF, and radiographic biomarkers with acute ICH pathophysiology and long-term outcome
Project Example
- Duke Health System ICU Registry
Not only do the CAPER members produce excellent science, but they are dedicated to supporting the early careers of clinician scientists.
Meet the Team
Vijay Krishnamoorthy, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Karthik Raghunathan, MBBS, MPH
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
Suresh K. Agarwal, MD, FACS, FCCP
Professor of Surgery
Atilio Barbeito, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
Raquel R. Bartz, MD, MMCi
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Ashraf S. Habib, MBBCh, MSc, MHSc, FRCA
Professor of Anesthesiology
Krista L. Haines, MA, DO
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Yi-Ju Li, PhD
Professor of Anesthesiology
Michael L. James, MD, FAHA, FNCS
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
Jordan M. Komisarow, MD
Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery
Tetsu Ohnuma, MD, MPH
Associate in Research
Jamie R. Privratsky, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Srinivas Pyati, MD, MBBS
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Quintin J. Quinones, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Rebecca A. Schroeder, MD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
Shreyansh Shah, MBBS
Assistant Professor of Neurology
Annemarie Thompson, MD
Professor of Anesthesiology
David A. Williams, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Paul E. Wischmeyer, MD, EDIC
Professor of Anesthesiology
Administrative Support
Niccola Piscitelli, MHA
Biostatistician
Matthew Fuller
Collaborations
The CAPER Unit will leverage its existing collaborations (for SMEs, data and analytic support) with additional new collaborations at Duke to enhance its ability to conduct the most rigorous outcomes research in perioperative and critical care medicine.
- Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, University of Washington
- Institute for Healthcare Delivery and Population Science, University of Massachusetts
- Iceland Perioperative Outcomes Research Center
- Veteran’s Affairs Health Services Research and Development Center
- University of North Carolina, Gillings School of Public Health
- University of Washington School of Public Health
- SCCM Discovery Network
- Surgical Center for Outcomes Research
- Departments in Duke University School of Medicine
- Medicine (Division of Pulmonary Critical Care Medicine)
- Surgery (Divisions of Emergency Medicine and Trauma/Acute Care Surgery)
- Neurology (Division of Neurocritical Care)
- Department of Population Health Sciences
Updates & Announcements
CPOP Seminar Series
Twice a month
5 – 6 PM | MSRBIII, Room 1125
In the News
Contact Us
Critical Care and Perioperative Population Health Research (CAPER) Unit
40 Duke Medicine Circle
DUMC 3094
Durham, NC 27710
Niccola Piscitelli
Staff Assistant