Dr. Joshua Wallach is an Assistant Professor within the Department of Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health. Dr. Wallach's research leverages a wide range of methodologies and data sources to evaluate the role of evidence in policy decision-making and the development, regulation, and utilization of medical products. His methodological expertise encompasses evidence synthesis and evaluation, including conducting systematic reviews, meta-analyses, next-generation reviews, and meta-research studies. He is a core faculty member of the Collaboration for Regulatory Rigor, Integrity, and Transparency (CRRIT) and the Yale Open Data Access (YODA) Project. Dr. Wallach serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Research Areas and Example Projects:

- Evaluating the quality of the evidence base for pharmaceutical and medical device regulation

• Identifying subgroups of patients most likely to benefit from alcohol use disorder medications (NIAAA/NIH)

- Postmarket evaluation methods and policy, including the data sources and methods that can help monitor the postmarket safety of medical products and the evidence supporting coverage and fair payment of medical products

• Understanding the use of existing real-world data for medical product evaluation (Yale-Mayo CERSI / FDA)

- Conventional systematic reviews, meta-analyses, ‘next-generation’ reviews (e.g., individual patient-level meta-analyses and umbrella reviews), and meta-research studies

• Identifying, selecting, and utilizing quantitative bias analysis methods (Yale-Mayo CERSI / RSPH / FDA)

Opportunities for students:

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)

- Health policy 

- Epidemiologic methods / biases 

- Real-world data for medical product evaluation