Elizabeth Louise Turner
Associate Professor of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics

Dr. Turner is Associate Professor of Biostatistics and Global Health and serves as Director of the Research Design and Analysis Core of the Duke Global Health Institute. Her primary methodological focus is on the design and analysis of randomized controlled trials, particularly those that involve clustering such as cluster randomized trials (CRTs), stepped wedge CRTs and individually-randomized group treatment trials. She is expert in the implementation of trials in low resource settings, with a substantive focus on malaria, mental health and cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Turner joined the Department of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics and Duke Global Health Institute in March 2012 following four years as Research Fellow in the Department of Medical Statistics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Since then, she has continued to hold a joint position with Duke's Global Health Institute (DGHI) where she serves as faculty statistician and collaborates with faculty and affiliates. Dr. Turner earned her undergraduate honors degree in Mathematics from the University of Warwick, UK, during which she spent an intercalated year at the Universite of Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France. She then earned her MSc and PhD in Statistics from McGill University, Canada, with her doctoral studies funded by the prestigious Commonwealth Scholarship.

Thanks to her participation in multi-disciplinary projects, Dr. turner has a great appreciation for the importance of good study design and data collection and is well aware that no fancy statistical analyses can save researchers from the scourge of bad data. Through those experiences and her teaching in different settings, including the UK, Canada, France and Tanzania, she is aware that statisticians and their collaborators sometimes “speak a different language”. As a result, her approach is very much one of translation, pragmatism and collaboration.

Further information about the Global Health Research Design and Analysis Core service can be found at:
https://globalhealth.duke.edu/dghi-research-design-analysis-core

Current Research Interests

  • Design, analysis and implementation of randomized controlled trials, particularly in low-resource settings.
  • Cluster randomized trials (CRTs)
  • Stepped wedge CRTs
  • Individually-randomized group treatment trials
  • Factorial trials
  • Multiphase Optimization Strategy for intervention development

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Contact Information

  • 2424 Erwin Road, Suite 1104, 11109 Hock Plaza, Durham, NC 27705
  • Duke Box 2721, Durham, NC 27710

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