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Methods: Mind the Gap

Webinar Series

Approaches to Evidence Synthesis in Systematic Reviews of Public Health Interventions: Methods and Experiences of the Community Preventive Services Task Force

August 22, 2018
David Hopkins, M.D., M.P.H.
David Hopkins, M.D., M.P.H.

Medical Officer
Community Guide Branch
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

View the Webinar

About the Webinar

Established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 1996, the Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) develops guidance on community-based health promotion and disease prevention interventions. It issues findings based on systematic reviews of effectiveness and economic utility that are conducted with a methodology developed by the Community Guide Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CPSTF is open to considering a broad range of study designs, comparisons, and outcomes.

This webinar focuses on:

  • The conceptual decisions to emphasize a broad consideration of available evidence for reviews of public health interventions
  • The methods required to ensure a balanced assessment of mixed bodies of evidence
  • Factors weighed by the CPSTF in translating evidence into conclusions on effectiveness and recommendations regarding use.

How are Community Guide reviews and methods different from systematic reviews in informing clinical care decisions? What differences arise within the range of public health topics considered by the CPSTF? This presentation also describes Community Guide methods, process steps, and experiences with systematic reviews of available economic evidence.

About David Hopkins

David Hopkins is the Medical Officer with the Community Guide Branch of the CDC. He joined the Community Guide in 1997 and has led systematic reviews of population-based interventions in tobacco prevention and control, asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular disease prevention, physical activity promotion, and immunizations. He has also worked closely with Community Guide researchers, CDC partners, and members of the CPSTF on methods for both conducting systematic reviews of public health interventions and prioritizing future Community Guide topic areas and intervention reviews.

Dr. Hopkins received an A.B. in microbiology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1984, and returned there a decade later to obtain his M.P.H. In between, he received his M.D. from the University of California at San Francisco and completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Santa Clara Valley Medical School. He joined the CDC in 1995 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer and served for 2 years with the New York State Bureau of Tuberculosis Control in Albany.