# LEAP Methods Core

> **NIH NIH P50** · MCLEAN HOSPITAL · 2020 · $347,598

## Abstract

1. Abstract
The Methods Core of the LEAP Center will create 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 patients, plus 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:** 9928116
- **Project number:** 5P50MH115846-02
- **Recipient organization:** MCLEAN HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** MIGUEL HERNAN
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $347,598
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9928116

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9928116, LEAP Methods Core (5P50MH115846-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9928116. Licensed CC0.

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