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:Â Health Measurement, Health Behavior, and Health Services ResearchCurrent Duke Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Scholarly Works
Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Localised Scleroderma Quality of Life Instrument (LoSQI): an international study
Journal article Pediatric Rheumatology · August 17, 2026 Full text CiteItem comprehension and content coverage of patient-reported outcome measures for long COVID: a qualitative study.
Journal article Qual Life Res · July 23, 2026 PURPOSE: Fit-for-purpose clinical outcome assessments are essential to inform medical product development, but outcome measures for Long COVID, a new and devastating phenomenon, have not yet been established. The objective of this study was to evaluate ite ... Full text Link to item CiteImproving Pediatric Patient-Reported Outcome Measure Accessibility-A Call to Action.
Other JAMA Pediatr · June 1, 2026 Full text Link to item CiteRecent Grants
Clinical Outcome Assessments for Acute Pain Therapeutics in Infants and your Children (COA APTIC)
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by Food and Drug Administration · 2019 - 2027Collaboratory Resource Coordinating Center for Pragmatic and Implementation Studies for the Management of Pain (PRISM) (U24)
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2024Facilitating international, multi-disciplinary collaboration in pediatric localized scleroderma research: International validation of outcome measures
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Childhood Arthritis & Rheumatology Research Alliance, Inc. · 2021 - 2024View All Grants