Alanna M. Chamberlain, Ph.D., is an epidemiologist whose research focuses on the determinants and outcomes of cardiovascular disease and aging. Dr. Chamberlain is specifically interested in assessing the impact of treatment, clinical characteristics, physical functioning and psychosocial constructs on survival, health care utilization and onset of adverse outcomes among patients with atrial fibrillation, heart failure or acute coronary syndromes.

Dr. Chamberlain also has research interests in aging, including large population-based studies on the impact of multimorbidity and frailty on functional status, health care utilization and survival in older adults.

Dr. Chamberlain is the scientific manager of the Rochester Epidemiology Project, a comprehensive medical records linkage system for patients residing in southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. In addition, Dr. Chamberlain is an affiliate of the Population Health Science Program in the Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery.

Focus areas

• Describing trends in cardiovascular disease occurrence such as atrial fibrillation, heart failure and acute coronary syndromes, as well as trends in adverse outcomes associated with these cardiovascular diseases
• Describing treatment patterns in patients with cardiovascular disease, patient characteristics associated with different treatment approaches and how treatment approaches influence outcomes in real-world settings, where treatment is not randomized
• Conducting surveillance of blood pressure control and comparing blood pressure outcomes after monitoring using standard versus Bluetooth-enabled blood pressure cuffs
• Assessing the impact of multimorbidity on outcomes in patients with cardiovascular disease or in the general population
• Assessing factors associated with frailty and declining functional status to determine how changes in these factors influence outcomes in patients with cardiovascular disease as well as outcomes in the general population of older adults
• Describing geographic variability in health status and outcomes and how it relates to measures of socioeconomic status and neighborhood characteristics

Significance to patient care

Using large, population-based research studies, Dr. Chamberlain aims to provide a better understanding of determinants of cardiovascular diseases and outcomes. This research will inform models of patient-centered care and may be used to design more-effective interventions to manage patients with cardiovascular disease and improve outcomes in these patients.