Faculty

Dr. Jabs is an experienced clinician scientist and uveitis expert, with a long track record in clinical trials, cohort studies, and translational research. Dr. Jabs’ work focuses on performing clinical trials in the field of uveitis and developing ‘best practice’ guidelines for the management of the uveitides, particularly with regard to long-term outcomes of these chronic diseases. Dr. Jabs has served as the chair of numerous NIH-funded multicenter, national and international, randomized, comparative effective trials, and of long-term prospective cohort studies. He has authored over 320 peer-reviewed journal articles and over 45 book chapters.

Dr. Appel is the Director of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research, a large interdisciplinary research unit that bridges the Schools of Medicine and Public Health at Hopkins.  The mission of the Welch Center is to conduct epidemiologic, clinical and translational research of the highest quality and to train the next generation of interdisciplinary researchers. Dr. Appel's own research focuses on preventing and controlling elevated blood pressure, and its consequences, primarily cardiovascular and kidney diseases. 

Dr. Ehrhardt's research interests include clinical trial methodology, in particular the design, conduct, and analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCT). Specifically, Dr. Ehrhardt is involved in developing methods to estimate more precise treatment effects across subgroups of study participants. RCT generally focus on estimating the average treatment effect of an intervention across the study sample. We aim to use prognostic data to determine individual randomization probabilities to increase external validity of RCTs, allow for estimation of complex treatment heterogeneity, potentially improve outcomes in study participants in the control arm, and improve the acceptability of RCTs to study participants while minimizing the loss of power in estimating the average treatment effect.

Dr. Ervin's research interests focus on the design and conduct of randomized clinical trials of interventions to treat and prevent ocular disease and visual impairment. Dr. Ervin has contributed to numerous studies of the causes, prevention, diagnosis or treatment of disorders of the eye and visual system including age-related macular degeneration, refractive error, low vision, cataract, and diabetic retinopathy.  She is currently the Co-Principal Investigator of the Data Coordinating Center for a multicenter observational study of Stargardt Disease and for a clinical trial of lutein and zeaxanthin for ocular and oculocutaneous albinism with colleagues at the Wilmer Eye Institute.

Dr. Saldanha is an epidemiologist who focuses on evidence synthesis to inform decision-making. He has expertise conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses, developing and advancing methods to improve their conduct, and teaching methods for their conduct. He has also conducted extensive research into the use of outcomes in clinical research. He has served on multiple Committees of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. He has led multiple studies and systematic reviews. He is an elected member of the Society for Research Synthesis Methodology and currently serves as its Treasurer. He has served as the associate editor for multiple peer-reviewed journals and for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Effective Healthcare Program. Dr. Saldanha has taught multiple courses and workshops related to epidemiology, biostatistics, clinical trials, systematic reviews, and meta-analysis at undergraduate, graduate, and mid-career professional levels, including at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Dr. Meinert (1934-2023) was the founding father of the Johns Hopkins Center for Clinical Trials and was Director of the Center until 2005.  He received his PhD in Biostatistics from the University of Minnesota in 1964.  Throughout his career, he was involved in the design and conduct of more than twenty clinical trials, starting with the University Group Diabetes Program in the 1960s.  He was a founding member of the Society for Clinical Trials, served on it first Board of Directors, and was Editor of its Journal, Controlled Clinical Trials from its inception in 1980 until 1993.  In 1999 the Society for Clinical Trials Executive Committee approved a proposal to establish a keynote address at the annual SCT meetings and that the lecture would be known as the “Curtis Meinert Keynote Address."  The first “Curtis Meinert Honorary Keynote Address” was at the annual meeting in 2000.  In 2006, the Society named him in the inaugural group of individual to be recognized as a Fellow of the Society.  In November 2006 at the 134th Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association, Dr. Meinert received the Statistics Section Award for leadership and unstinting service promoting the role of randomized, controlled clinical trials. 

Dr. Meinert's work is memorialized in a repository of memos pertaining to the design and conduct of clinical trials. Click here to view Trials Meinert's Way. 

Click here to view a tribute to Dr. Meinert from the American Lung Association ACRC Network (June 30, 2023). 

Amy provides administrative and programmatic support for the Center for Clinical Trials and Evidence Synthesis, managing large, multicenter, NIH-funded clinical trials and cohort studies. Amy collaborates with internal stakeholders and external research partners, including the center director, principal investigators, clinic coordinators, and research administration to monitor project progress and promote relationships between interdisciplinary researchers. Contact Amy for CCTES inquiries: azemanick@jhu.edu