Joshua Wallach
Assistant Professor
Assistant Professor
Faculty, Epidemiology

Dr. Joshua Wallach is an Assistant Professor within the Department of Epidemiolgy at the Rollins School of Public Health. Dr. Wallach's research leverages a wide range of methodologies and data sources to synthesize, evaluate, and establish the best evidence to inform research, regulatory, and public-health decision making. His research falls within three main areas: general meta-research (i.e., evaluating the design, conduct, and reporting of biomedical studies); systematic reviews and meta-analyses; and issues related to pharmaceutical regulation/regulatory science.
Meta-research: research methods and biases, reporting and transparency (i.e., data-sharing and the disclosure and impacts of funding and conflicts of interest), research reproducibility, and publication practices.
Systematic reviews and meta-analysis: identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing research; meta-analytical methodology.
Pharmaceutical regulation/regulatory science: the impact of the US Food and Drug Administration's regulatory policy on clinical evidence development for pharmaceutical products in the postmarket setting; the use of observational methodlogy and real-world data to inform regulatory decision making (target trial emulation).
Ongoing projects:
- Identifying subgroups of patients most likely to benefit from alcohol use disorder medications (NIAAA/NIH)
- Understanding the use of existing real-world data for medical product evaluation (Yale-Mayo CERSI / FDA)
- Identifying, selecting, and utilizing quantitative bias analysis methods (Yale-Mayo CERSI / FDA)
- Evaluating the impact of postapproval studies for drugs receiving accelerated approval (Collaboration for Regulatory Research Integrity and Transparency)
Opportunities for students:
- Research and funding opportunities for full-time MPH/MSPH students at RSPH. If you are interested in any of the topics outlined above, please email joshua.wallach@emory.edu for additional information.
- Example projects with students have focused on publication practices (JAMA Network Open); evidence synthesis (BMJ Medicine, JAMA Network Open), data sharing (Clinical Trials), the US Food and Drug Administration (Clinical Trials), clinical trial methodology (JAMA Internal Medicine), conflicts of interest (Annals of Internal Medicine), epidemiological methods (International Journal of Epidemiology), and COVID-19 evidence (BMJ)
Expertise:
- Systematic reviews and meta-analyses
- Meta-research (research on research)
- Regulatory science (US Food and Drug Administration)
- Epidemiologic methods / biases
- Real-world data for medical product evaluation
Areas of Interest
- Addiction/Substance Abuse
- Clinical Trials
- Health Policy
- Health Services Research
- Public Health Policy
Education
- PhD 2017, Stanford University
- MS 2017, Stanford University
Publications
- Osman Moneer, Garrison Daly, Joshua J Skydel, Kate Nyhan, Peter Lurie, Joseph S Ross, Joshua D Wallach, 2022, Agreement of treatment effects from observational studies and randomized controlled trials evaluating hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir-ritonavir, or dexamethasone for covid-19: meta-epidemiological study, BMJ, 377:e069400,
- Xiaoting Shi, Haoran Zhuo, Yuxuan Du, Kate Nyhan, John Ioannidis, Joshua D Wallach , 2022, Environmental risk factors for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: umbrella review and comparison of meta-analyses of summary and individual participant data, BMJ Medicine, 1,
- Marissa H Elliott, Joshua J Skydel, Sanket S Dhruva, Joseph S Ross, Joshua D Wallach, 2021, Characteristics and reporting of number needed to treat, number needed to harm, and absolute risk reduction in controlled clinical trials, 2001-2019, JAMA Internal Medicine, 181, 282-284
- Joshua D Wallach, Audrey D Zhang, Joshua J Skydel, Victoria L Bartlett, Sanket S Dhruva, Nilay D Shah, Joseph S Ross, 2021, Feasibility of Using Real-world Data to Emulate Postapproval Confirmatory Clinical Trials of Therapeutic Agents Granted US Food and Drug Administration Accelerated Approval, JAMA Network Open, ,
- Joshua D Wallach, Yihong Deng, Rozalina G McCoy, Sanket S Dhruva, Jeph Herrin, Alyssa Berkowitz, Eric C Polley, Kenneth Quinto, Charu Gandotra, William Crown, Peter Noseworthy, Xiaoxi Yao, Nilay D Shah, Joseph S Ross, Timothy D Lyon, 2021, Real-world cardiovascular outcomes associated with degarelix vs leuprolide for prostate cancer treatment, JAMA Network Open, 4, e2130587
- Lingzhi Chu, John PA Ioannidis, Alex C Egilman, Vasilis Vasiliou, Joseph S Ross, Joshua D Wallach , 2020, Vibration of effects in epidemiologic studies of alcohol consumption and breast cancer risk, International Journal of Epidemiology, 49,
- Joshua D Wallach, Kun Wang, Audrey D Zhang, Deanna Cheng, Holly K Grossetta Nardini, Haiqun Lin, Michael B Bracken, Mayur Desai, Harlan M Krumholz, Joseph S Ross, 2020, Updating insights into rosiglitazone and cardiovascular risk through shared data: individual patient and summary level meta-analyses, BMJ, 368,
- Joshua D Wallach, Joseph S Ross, 2018, Gabapentin approvals, off-label use, and lessons for postmarketing evaluation efforts, JAMA, 319, 776-778
- Joshua D Wallach, Alexander C Egilman, Sanket S Dhruva, Margaret E McCarthy, Jennifer E Miller, Steven Woloshin, Lisa M Schwartz, Joseph S Ross, 2018, Postmarket studies required by the US Food and Drug Administration for new drugs and biologics approved between 2009 and 2012: cross sectional analysis, BMJ, 361,
- David Chavalarias, Joshua David Wallach, Alvin Ho Ting Li, John PA Ioannidis, 2016, Evolution of reporting P values in the biomedical literature, 1990-2015, JAMA, 315, 1141-1148
- Joshua D Wallach, Patrick G Sullivan, John F Trepanowski, Ewout W Steyerberg, John PA Ioannidis, 1945, Sex based subgroup differences in randomized controlled trials: empirical evidence from Cochrane meta-analyses, BMJ, 355,