Investigators
Jinani Jayasekera, Ph.D., M.S.
Stadtman Investigator
Health Disparities and Decision Sciences Lab
Dr. Jinani Jayasekera staff profile | Lab members
Scientific Expertise
Health disparities, health services research, decision sciences, biostatistics, econometrics, mathematical/simulation modeling, economic analysis, engineering, operations research, behavioral research, systematic reviews, meta-analysis
Research and Programmatic Interests
Decision sciences include a range of quantitative and qualitative methods to inform decision-making at individual, interpersonal, community, and societal levels. The focus on “decision” as the unit of analysis provides a unique framework to develop interventions that could help reduce disparities in health care. Decision sciences utilize a variety of tools, such as biostatistics, econometrics, mathematical modeling, economic analysis, operations research, behavioral research, systematic reviews, and meta-analysis.
Research Projects
Clinical Decision Tools to Support Individualized Breast Cancer Care
Individualized clinical decision tools are used to guide breast cancer prevention, screening, treatment, and survivorship care decisions in clinical practice settings. Dr. Jayasekera's research program is focused on developing ‘calculation-engines’ for individualized clinical decision tools using mathematical modeling. These models provide a powerful computational method to combine information from different high-quality data sources and generate individualized cancer outcomes (e.g., survival, recurrence) considering demographic (e.g., age), clinical (e.g., comorbidities, tumor size), genomic (e.g., 21-gene recurrence score), and contextual (e.g., socioeconomic status) characteristics of patients seen in clinical settings. The tools could be used to reduce health disparities by improving access to cancer care, patient-provider communication, and care delivery.
"Virtual" Clinical Trials to Inform Cancer Care
Randomized clinical trials are the gold standard for understanding intervention effects and developing clinical guidelines. However, clinical trials consume enormous time and resources. The Health Disparities and Decision Sciences research lab uses a range of tools to synthesize existing data and simulate clinical trials to predict trial outcomes; identify key design issues prior to the implementation of a clinical trial; and most importantly, evaluate the implications of trial designs and results on minority health and health disparities.