Distributional Balancing for Causal Inference in Critical Care
Official title: Distributional Balancing for Complex Causal Inference in Critical Care
Funded at University of Wisconsin-Madison · NIH-11536503 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A study to develop new ways to draw reliable conclusions from complex critical care data by balancing patient characteristics across treatments.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Wisconsin-Madison NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Madison, United States) |
| Project start | September 5, 2026 |
| Project end | June 30, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $310,405 |
| NIH project number | 1R01GM169395-01 |
| Project ID | NIH-11536503 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Patients facing critical illnesses where treatment decisions are made sequentially and dosing is varied.
✕Less likely to help
Patients in non-critical settings or where data collection is not feasible may not benefit directly.
What this research studies
If you or a loved one receives critical care, doctors’ treatment choices are often made over time and can vary a lot. This project builds methods that better compare different treatment decisions by balancing patient traits and illness severity, even when some information is imperfect. The team will create approaches that handle multiple time points and varying doses, and will provide software to apply these methods in real-world settings. The work aims to give clinicians clearer evidence to guide decisions for critically ill patients.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could provide more reliable evidence to guide treatment choices for critically ill patients, improving care quality and outcomes.
How similar studies have gone: Preliminary work suggests distributional balancing can improve causal conclusions in complex data, but application in critical care with continuous dosing is still developing.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Chen, Guanhua — University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Study coordinator: Chen, Guanhua
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Clinical Site (CPCCRN)
A nationwide network is testing personalized care approaches for seriously ill children with sepsis to improve outcomes.
-
Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network: personalized care for septic kids
A nationwide network is testing personalized treatment approaches for children with sepsis-related organ failure to improve outcomes.
-
Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Network Site: Kids’ Sepsis Care
A pediatric-focused NIH grant supports a network site that helps tailor sepsis care for critically ill children across multiple centers.
-
Personalized care for septic children through immunomodulation in MODS
This project tests a custom approach to treating pediatric sepsis in kids with organ failure by tailoring treatments to each child’s immune profile.
-
Personalized immune-based care for septic kids with organ failure
A network study helps critically ill children with sepsis who have organ failure by tailoring treatments to their individual immune profiles.
-
Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Clinical Site for Precision Sepsis Care
A pediatric-focused research grant exploring personalized care for kids with severe sepsis to improve outcomes.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.