CIPHR faculty and staff collectively provide expertise in a variety of research areas and a range of research methods. Our services are available to faculty, staff and trainees at Maine Medical Center, and to staff at other institutions on a contract basis.

Services Provided:

  • Biostatistics
  • Bioinformatics
  • Behavioral Research
  • Epidemiology
  • Survey Research
  • Qualitative Research
  • Mixed-methods Research
  • Community-Based Participatory Research
  • Program Evaluation
  • Rural health Disparities Research

Training & Education:

Mentoring is an essential component of successful research, and CIPHR scientists provide mentorship for junior investigators throughout MMC. Mentors meet regularly with investigators to provide guidance on specific research projects and to foster professional development.

CIPHR staff provide formal education through seminars and workshops. CIPHR conducts an all-day research course in the spring and in the fall for residents and fellows.

Data Analysis: CIPHR can assist MaineHealth investigators with study design, statistical analysis, data visualization, and manuscript and grant preparation. Fill out this form to request services.

For more information or questions about services, contact Andrew Armitage, Manager of Operations.

The Center for Interdisciplinary Population & Health Research (CIPHR) convenes several Research Groups aimed at supporting research focused on specific topics of interest. The goals of the Research Groups are to:  Foster transdisciplinary collaboration within & beyond the MaineHealth community, share expertise & learning, provide professional development opportunities, and communicate & disseminate research findings.

R User Group

R is an open source statistical programming language used in a wide range of applications from scientific research to business analytics. The MMC R User Group is a resource for new and existing R users in the MaineHealth system who are interested in integrating R into their work.

Facilitator:
Contact Anya Cutler at Anya.Cutler@mainehealth.org,for questions about schedule, to be added to email list or for access to the R server.

A Data Carpentry Workshop was held at the MaineHealth Institute for Research and sponsored by the Northern New England Center for Translational Research. The full day workshop explored ideas in reproducible analysis workflows using git and R. The course instructor was Nick Potter with help from Eric Anderson, and Dave Denton of the CIPHR. View the full workshop.

Resources

Early Career Investigator Series

This group supports early career researchers in developing tools for academic success. The group meets bi-monthly to provide peer and senior mentorship in grant and manuscript writing and address navigating academic and non-academic career paths, the art of communicating science, and emerging issues in academia. In addition, a goal of this group is to serve as an incubator for new research collaborations between Roux Institute researchers and those at partnering institutions such as MaineHealth.

Schedule: Contact facilitators for more information.

Facilitators:
Eric Anderson,  Eric.Anderson@mainehealth.org
Bree Taylor, br.taylor@northeastern.edu

Qualitative Research Interest Group

The Qualitative Research Interest Group is an interdisciplinary group that meets virtually each month to learn and discuss topics relevant to qualitative research. Meetings rotate among 3 different formats: 1) a journal club, in which attendees read an article ahead of time and then discuss, 2) project presentation, in which a researcher is invited to share a qualitative project in-progress and get feedback from the group, and 3) a topical presentation and discussion on an issue or method of interest.

If interested in participating, please email Mike Kohut. You may sign-up to share your research, suggest topics or articles, or add your name to the QRIG mailing list and be notified of upcoming meetings and topics.

Schedule: The 4th Thursday of the month, from 4:00-5:00 pm

Co-Chairs:
Michael Kohut, PhD,  Michael.Kohut@mainehealth.org
Kristiina Hyrkas, PhD, LicNSc, MNSc, RN,   EiraKristiina.Hyrkas@mainehealth.org

MaineHealth Precision Council’s Environmental and Lifestyle (ELF) Workgroup

The MaineHealth Environmental and Lifestyle (ELF) Workgroup is one of 7 workgroups in the MaineHealth Precision Medicine Council.  The ELF workgroup focuses on lifestyle behaviors, environmental factors, and individual level factors (e.g. patient awareness, preferences, values) that impact patients’ and providers attitudes, beliefs, and engagement with precision medicine.  Current and future ELF efforts involve conducting a needs assessment at the organizational, community, and individual levels to assess how individual, environmental, and lifestyle factors can be integrated into MaineHealth’s Precision Medicine efforts.

Facilitator:
The ELF Workgroup is Chaired by CIPHR Center Director, Dr. Kevin Stein.

Contact for Questions:
Francesca Piccolo, MPH, MS  Francesca.piccolo@mainehealth.org

CIPHR Social and Behavioral Cancer Research and Practice Special Interest Group

The CIPHR Social and Behavioral Cancer Research and Practice Special Interest Group (SBCR SIG) focuses on research, clinical practice, and policy issues related to the  psychosocial and behavioral factors that impact cancer patients, survivors, informal caregivers, and healthcare providers management of cancer and its treatment. The charter of the SBCR SIG is to bring together clinicians, researchers, and policy makers to address common interests in the emotional, physical, social, and spiritual health among those affected by cancer.  The multidisciplinary group is comprised of MHIR and MMC staff members representing oncology, nursing, rehabilitation, psychology, social work, palliative care, health services research, population science, cultural anthropology, and other clinical and research specialty areas.

Facilitator:
The SBCR SIG is Chaired by CIPHR Center Director, Dr. Kevin Stein.

Contact for Questions:
Francesca Piccolo, MPH, MS  Francesca.piccolo@mainehealth.org

Community Engagement Interest Group

Community engagement in research is fundamental to the mission of CIPHR and MHIR, community involvement in research promotes more relevant research findings and faster dissemination of more relevant results. The Community Engagement Outreach and Education Resources Workgroup works collaboratively across MHIR and MaineHealth to provide professional development, ongoing mentorship and in Community Engaged Research while acknowledging the needs of and elevating the voice of the communities we serve. Our team aims to integrate the community voice and perspective across translational research- from ‘bench to bedside’ and beyond. In addition, staff working in this area have designed and developed tools for community engagement during all parts of the research process- from study design through to dissemination. Community engagement and outreach resources include project development and support working with community partners, education for investigators and staff, program evaluation, metric development and leveraging regional community engagement councils. Our team works closely with community organizations and coalitions and academic partners across Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Learn more:
CE Vision Graphic

Facilitator:
The Community Engagement and Outreach Resources Workgroup is chaired by Research Director, Lisbeth Balligan.

Contact for Questions:
Lisbeth Balligan, MPH Lisbeth.Balligan@mainehealth.org