The core of the Program Project on The
Global Burden of Disease in Aging populations plays a central role in
coordinating the activities of the eight research teams, in terms of
administrative, data and methodological needs. The core is based at the
Harvard Burden of Disease Unit at the Harvard Center for Population and
Development Studies and has three main functions.
First, the administrative component of the core provides support to the eight research projects by facilitating interactions
between the project leaders, encouraging exchanges between the investigators in
this program and public health professionals working on related issues at the
World Health Organization, preparing and coordinating program reports and
publications, and overseeing the overall program budget.
Second, the data component of the core is creating a
Global Databank, using the prototype and software developed by the Harvard-MIT
Data Center. The Global Databank contains all data collected, analyzed,
generated, and used by this program, as well as the software packages that will
be developed in the course of the program. All internet users have access
to the Global Databank, but some parts of it have restricted access. The
Databank also is connected “virtually”, through software in development
for the Virtual Data Center at Harvard and MIT, to other global databanks with
socioeconomic, demographic and health data.
Third, the core includes a methods component for
the development, adaptation, and refinement of statistical methods that is
useful to every component of the program. The methods core is developing a
multiple imputation method for dealing with missing data, and a method based on
simulation for improving the presentation of results in a substantively
meaningful way, including ranges of uncertainty. Both of these methods are
developing into software packages that will be widely available for use through
the internet.
