Andrew D. Althouse, PhD, joined the Center for Research on Health Care in August 2018 with a principal research focus on the design, conduct and analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) as part of the CCDC. He has a productive record as a collaborative statistician and on statistical methods in clinical trials at a number of medical conferences over the years.
In October 2022, Dr. Althouse began a full-time position as a Senior Principal Statistician at Medtronic in the Structural Heart & Aortic unit, but he has retained an adjunct appointment within the Pitt Department of Medicine to assist in completion of select ongoing projects.
In his spare time, he enjoys lifting weights, cooking great meals, and sampling craft beer. He lives in Upper Saint Clair with his wife and two sons.
Education & Training
- PhD (Epidemiology), University of Pittsburgh, 2013
- MA (Applied Statistics), University of Pittsburgh, 2010
- BS (Statistics), Carnegie Mellon University, 2008
Representative Publications
Saba S, Lee J, Szeto L, Pasupula DK, Hussain A, Waheed A, Adhikari S, Sharbaugh M, Thoma F, Althouse A, Fischer G, Lee J. Cluster Randomized Trial Examining the Impact of Automated Best Practice Alert on Rates of Implantable Defibrillator Therapy. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2019.
In patients qualifying for implantable defibrillator therapy, this cluster randomized trial showed that best practice alerts resulted in increased rate of referral to electrophysiology, increased use of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, and decreased mortality.
Turgeon RD, Althouse AD. Inappropriate inclusion of multiple studies in a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of atorvastatin loading prior to percutaneous coronary intervention for acute coronary syndrome. Eur Heart J. 2019;40(11):941-942.
Letter to the editor illustrating that high-profile meta-analysis published in European Heart Journal included several studies that did not meet stated criteria; corrected analysis showed different results about efficacy of atorvastatin loading, leading EHJ to retract the original paper.
Munir MB, Althouse AD, Rijal S, Shah MB, Daya HA, Adelstein E, Saba S. Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Older Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Recipients Using a Pacemaker Versus a Defibrillator. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2016;27(6):730-734.
Comparative-effectiveness study showing that elderly patients who received pacemakers had similar mortality compared to elderly patients that received defibrillators after adjustment for differences in patient characteristics.
Althouse AD, Abbott JD, Sutton-Tyrrell K, Forker AD, Lombardero MS, Buitron L, Pena-Sing I, Tardif JC, Brooks MM. Favorable Effects of Insulin Sensitizers Pertinent to Peripheral Arterial Disease in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Results from the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes (BARI 2D) Trial. Diabetes Care. 2013;36:3269-3275.
Secondary analysis from the BARI 2D randomized controlled trial showing decreased incidence of peripheral arterial disease in patients treated with insulin sensitizing medications versus insulin providing medications.
Click here for a more complete bibliography of Dr. Althouse's works.
Research Interests
- Randomized controlled trials
- Longitudinal data analyses
- Survival analyses