Biography:

Dr. Barton was named Research Professor in UMass Medical School’s Department of Quantitative Health Sciences (Division of Biostatistics and Health Services Research) in 2010 and, subsequently, the Director of the Quantitative Methods Core. He has also served as the Team Leader of the Research Methods Team (Biostatistics) in the Center for Health Policy Research at UMMS and as an Adjunct Professor at Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Barton is a biostatistician with over 40 years of experience in medical research studies, especially randomized clinical trials, starting with the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast Project breast cancer clinical trials at the University of Pittsburgh in 1975. He has been the PI/Director of 31 Data Coordinating Centers during that time-frame, funded both by NIH and by industry. His experience in clinical trials includes multi-center/multi-national trials with patient-level and higher-level (cluster) randomizations.

He has served on over 150 NIH study sections over the past 30 years, including recently completing 4 years of service as a member of the NHLBI Clinical Trials Review Group. He has served on over 20 Data and Safety Monitoring Boards in a variety of content areas. At UMMS, he chairs the Library and Learning Resources Committee and co-chairs the Protocol Review Committee and the Data, Safety, and Accrual Monitoring Committee for the Cancer Research Office.

Prior to joining UMass in 2010, Dr. Barton served in various capacities during his 30 years as a statistician at the Maryland Medical Research Institute in Baltimore, including Senior Statistician for 20 years and Principal Statistician for four years. From 1998 to 2009, he also held multiple leadership roles at the  Institute. From 1999 to 2003, he taught biostatistics courses at Johns Hopkins University, both in class and online; in 2010, he resumed teaching biostatistics online at Johns Hopkins.

Academic Background:

Ph.D. (Biostatistics) University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

M.S.(Hyg) (Biostatistics) University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

M.A. (Classical Languages) The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA

B.A. (Latin/Greek) Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA              

Research:

Dr. Barton’s research interests include: sickle cell disease; cardiology and cardiovascular disease; oncology; hepatitis C and alcoholic hepatitis; emergency medicine; diabetes; and animal science. He has published widely on growth and development in children, including measures of anthropometry and cardiovascular disease risk factors, and the relationship of nutrition, physical activity, and psychosocial factors to anthropometry. He has also been involved in studies of Transcendental Meditation and its effect on both cardiovascular disease risk factors and cardiovascular disease itself. His statistical research interests include clinical trial methodology, longitudinal data analysis, handling of missing data in longitudinal studies,   and efficient study designs for early phase (Phase I and II) clinical trials.

Most recently, he had been the PI/Director of the Data Coordinating Centers for: Hip Impact Protection Program (HIP PRO), Silent Infarct Transfusion Trial (SITT), Multicenter Study of Hydroxyurea (MSH) Patients Follow-up, Pegylated Interferon ± Ribavirin for Children with HCV (PEDS-C), Occluded Artery Trial (OAT), Low Magnitude Mechanical Stimulation to Improve Bone Mass Density (VIBES), Atlantic C-PORT Elective PCI Trial, and, currently,  Studies in Alcoholic Hepatitis (two clinical trials assessing treatment in patients with moderate or with severe alcoholic hepatitis) and the KidSteps II: Promoting school readiness through social emotional skill building in preschool. He also serves as the lead statistician on numerous other studies. His background in clinical trials includes the design and development oversight of trial infrastructure, including data management, randomization/drug inventory management systems, ePRO systems (using IVRS/IWRS technology), development of case report forms, monitoring of data through statistical process control approaches, analysis (both oversight and personal performance) using SAS, and developing the tables, listings, and figures for publications.

Dr. Barton also has previous experience and is currently working with biopharmaceutical companies to design and implement studies (Phases I-III) and to provide analysis and support for submissions (including NDAs) to the FDA. 

Other Affiliations:

Center for Health Policy and Research