Overview
Dr. Emily O’Brien is Associate Professor in Population Health Sciences, Associate Professor in Neurology, Core Faculty Member at Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, and Co-Director of Population Health Sciences at the Duke Clinical Research Institute. Her research focuses on comparative effectiveness, patient-centered outcomes, and pragmatic health systems research in cardiovascular and pulmonary disease. Her areas of expertise include: Epidemiology, Pragmatic Clinical Trials, and Clinical Decision Sciences. Dr. O’Brien received her PhD in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. As principal investigator for projects funded by the FDA, NIH, and PCORI, she has extensive experience working with diverse data sources including registries, epidemiologic cohorts, electronic health records, and administrative claims data. Dr. O’Brien teaches Analytic Methods in the Department of Population Health Sciences PhD program and has co-authored over 200 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals on topics ranging from epidemiologic methods, comparative effectiveness, and pragmatic clinical trials. She is an associate editor for Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, Chair of the AHA QCOR Scientific & Clinical Education Lifelong Learning Committee, social media editor for the Journal of the American Heart Association, and a fellow of the American Heart Association.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Medicare coverage gap status, adherence to oral anticoagulation, and stroke rates in patients with atrial fibrillation.
Journal Article Am Heart J · January 2026 BACKGROUND: Prior to 2025, Medicare Part D included a coverage gap during which beneficiaries were responsible for substantially higher portions of medication costs. The impact of this on oral anticoagulant (OAC) prescription fills and subsequent stroke in ... Full text Link to item CiteHospital Implementation of Endovascular Thrombectomy and Health Equity in Acute Stroke Outcomes.
Journal Article Stroke · November 2025 BACKGROUND: The introduction of novel therapeutics into clinical practice could impact equity in health outcomes. METHODS: This was a retrospective, observational cohort study based on the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke program of the American Heart Associ ... Full text Link to item CiteEmbedding Implementation Science in Clinical Trials: A Framework for Academic-Life Science Partnerships.
Journal Article Pharmaceut Med · November 2025 Implementation science offers a systematic approach to bridging the gap between research and clinical practice by promoting the adoption, scale-up, and sustainment of evidence-based therapies. Historically, academic implementation science efforts in the US ... Full text Link to item CiteRecent Grants
Unified Program for Therapeutics in Children
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPreceptor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2025 - 2030PCORnet Governance, Collaboration, and Operations to Facilitate PCORnet(R) Studies of National Scope
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute · 2025 - 2028NIH Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory-Coordinating Center (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2017 - 2028View All Grants