# LEAP Methods Core

> **NIH NIH P50** · MCLEAN HOSPITAL · 2024 · $426,910

## Abstract

1. Abstract
The Methods Core of the LEAP Center will continue to work on a data platform that integrates information
obtained at different levels of care of First Episode Psychosis (FEP) patients and will develop the
computational tools that will allow Center investigators to access and analyze the integrated databases.
Specifically, the Methods Core will provide the methodological expertise for the application of state-of-the-art
machine leaning algorithms for clinical prediction, and for the application of cutting-edge causal inference
techniques for comparative effectiveness research. First, the Methods Core will provide the database
infrastructure to securely store, harmonize, link, manage, and analyze the high-dimensional databases that will
be used by Center investigators. These databases include detailed clinical, demographic, socioeconomic
information for each FEP patient, plus randomized controlled trial data, electronic health records and insurance
claims, and longitudinal datasets on clinics characteristics and services offered. Many of these data sources
have never been used for mental health research, either independently or in concert. We will create the only
U.S.-based consortium approaching a thousand FEP patients. Second, the Methods Core will ensure that
recent advances in clinical prediction and comparative effectiveness research can be applied to large
databases of FEP patients and will be an incubator of methodological research in response to the
requirements of the Center projects. It will serve as a platform for a synergistic collaboration between experts
in several disciplines—psychiatry, statistics, epidemiology, and health policy—who will engage in high-impact
studies to improve the clinical outcomes of FEP patients. Our project also provides a potential model for data
consolidation and expertise sharing across multiple NIMH Alacrity P50 Centers. In summary, the Methods
Core will support the data analysis activities throughout all projects, and will disseminate methodological
advances amongst the community of mental health researchers and will therefore function as a national
resource that facilitates the use of innovative methods beyond the Center investigators.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10918295
- **Project number:** 5P50MH115846-06
- **Recipient organization:** MCLEAN HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** MIGUEL HERNAN
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $426,910
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-05-15 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10918295

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10918295, LEAP Methods Core (5P50MH115846-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10918295. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*