Overview
Dr. Zigler is an independent investigator dedicated to improving the ways we measure patient-centered, meaningful health states, specializing in pediatrics, rare diseases, and clinical trials. She also is a methodological co-investigator who supports the application of novel statistical approaches and measurement strategies across a diverse array of studies.
Her methodological expertise includes established qualitative and quantitative techniques (i.e. concept elicitation, cognitive testing, classical test theory, item-response theory) alongside innovative methods (i.e. novel ways to identify meaningful change), to ensure the measures are ultimately centered in the patients’ meaningful experiences. Further, she works in a variety of populations and contexts, including pediatrics, where patient-reported outcome measures empower children to report directly on their own health status, and rare diseases, where a creative and pragmatic approach to measure development is necessary and patient-centeredness is essential.
Areas of Expertise: Health Measurement, Health Behavior, and Health Services ResearchCurrent Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Collection of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Rural and Underserved Populations.
Journal Article Appl Clin Inform · March 2025 BACKGROUND: The NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory supports the design and conduct of 31 embedded pragmatic clinical trials, and many of these trials use patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to provide valuable information about the patients' health ... Full text Link to item CiteEvaluating anchor variables and variation in meaningful score differences for PROMIS® Pediatric measures in children and adolescents living with a rheumatic disease.
Journal Article Qual Life Res · December 2024 PURPOSE: Meaningful score differences (MSDs), as defined by recent FDA guidance, can improve the interpretation of outcome measure scores and score changes. Well-accepted methods for estimating MSDs typically rely on external anchor variables, but the appl ... Full text Link to item CiteClinical Outcome Assessments Are Never "Validated".
Journal Article Value Health · November 2024 Full text Link to item CiteRecent Grants
Expanding the Observer-Reported Communication Ability (ORCA) Measure: Measuring the communication ability of individuals with rare, neurodevelopmental disorders
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Food and Drug Administration · 2021 - 2026Clinical Outcome Assessments for Acute Pain Therapeutics in Infants and your Children (COA APTIC)
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by Food and Drug Administration · 2019 - 2025Collaboratory Resource Coordinating Center for Pragmatic and Implementation Studies for the Management of Pain (PRISM) (U24)
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2024View All Grants