Epidemiology: Open Access
Open Access

Elham Rahme
Associate Professor
McGill University Health Centre
Division of Clinical Epidemiology (V)
Canada
Tel: 514-934-1934 (ext. 44724)
Fax: 514-934-8293
Read Interview session with Elham Rahme

Dr. Elham Rahme is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine of McGill University, Associate Member in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Medical Scientist in the Division of Clinical Epidemiology of the McGill University Health Centre. She is a member of the Réseau Québécois de recherche sur l’usage des medicaments and Réseau Québécois de recherche sur le suicide. She is also an Editorial Board member of the Open Rheumatology Journal, World Journal of Gastrointestinal Pharmacology and Therapeutics, BMC Geriatrics and Current Drug Safety. She holds a PhD in Statistics and has extensive expertise in Pharmacoepidemiology and health services research. She has published 95 articles in peer-reviewed journals on the utilization, risks and benefits of NSAIDs; extended outpatient anticoagulant use following orthopaedic surgery; use of serotonin re-uptake inhibitors in association with suicide; infection in dialysis and prevalence of diabetes in Quebec, among others.

The evaluation of the safety, effectiveness and economic implications of prescribed medications using large administrative databases and on the development of new biostatistical methods for the design and analyses of such studies.

1. How many years have you been associated with the current research?
17 years

2. What is the research topic you are working on now?
Diabetes (prevalence, accounting for misclassification and undiagnosed diabetes); anti-tnf-alpha medication in rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis; suicide (factors associated with suicide attempts); developing quality indicators in the assessment of the management of mental disorders from administrative databases; risks of thrombosis and bleeding in total hip and total knee replacement-validating administrative data based on personal reporting and chart review.

3. What are attributes for a quality article?
Correct design, clear objectives, adequate data source or unbiased sampling and data collection, complete data, adequate sample size, appropriate data analyses that address the objectives, clear writing, correct interpretation of the results, paper that contributes to the advancement of knowledge on the subject.

4. Do you have any research funding (NIH or other national funding) now?
I have several research funding as a co-Investigator from the Canadian Institutes of Health research (CIHR) and the Fonds de recherche du Québec-santé (FRQS). I presently hold a grant as a PI from Janssen Inc and I have two grant applications awaiting results from the CIHR.

5. When did you become an editor of OMICS Journal?
Recently, I do not recall the exact date. I have handled the first article in May 2014.

6. Where can the journal find the maximum scope in terms of niche?
Methods, meta-analyses

7. What is your greatest career accomplishment?
Nothing major, I received Salary support from the CIHR and FRSQ for the last 12 years consecutively. As a pharmacoepidemiologist and biostatistician working in a University Health Centre, I collaborate with my colleagues in many research areas and contribute to enhancing the quality of their research as much as they contribute to enhancing the quality of my research.

8. How does the published scientific content assist the potential researchers?
Inform the researcher on the published articles so they stay up to date on the literature, use the published work in meta-analyses or compare it to their own work and learn about the methodology used to inspire their own research.

9. What is the purpose of serving as an editor?
Service to the scientific community, other researchers reviews my articles, I feel that it is my duty to review theirs and give feedback that can enhance the quality of the articles.

10. Do you have any patents?
No

11. Have you contributed any editorials or papers (any types) to OMICS Journals in the past two years?
No

12. Do you plan to contribute any editorials or papers to OMICS Journals in the next year?
If I have time

13. How would you define your experience with OMICS Group?
It is very recent and still limited. I cannot comment on it

14. Your opinion on conducting Editorial Board meetings at related Conferences?
I support the idea. It will be good to know each other and try to get a common understanding of the key elements of the Editor’s role.

15. Would you recommend OMICS to your friends or colleagues?
Yes

16. How do you differentiate Epidemiology: Open Access with other journals in the field?
Quick turn out, higher success rate, broad range of subjects.