Clinical Epidemiologist

Ishan
Suthar

MBBS MPH — Epidemiology PhD Candidate

Turning messy real-world data into clinical, payer, and policy evidence. 7+ years bridging medicine, causal inference, and health economics — from the ICU to the dataset.

+
Years Experience
$27M+
Grant-Funded Research Contributed To
+
Conf. Presentations
Peer-Reviewed Publications
$6k/capita/yr
Projected Medicaid savings — NIH-funded RWE study

Clinician turned
Data Scientist

I started my career as a practicing physician in India, managing 600+ COVID-19 patients — including ICU cases — before pivoting to population-level evidence. That clinical foundation is what makes my epidemiologic work different: I understand the endpoints, the EHR workflows, and the clinical context that most data scientists don't.

Today I operate at the intersection of real-world evidence, causal inference, and health economics — building the kind of analysis that informs payer decisions, clinical guidelines, and drug strategy.

I'm actively seeking roles in pharma, biotech, and health consulting focused on RWE, HEOR, and clinical epidemiology.

🎓
PhD Candidate — Epidemiology
University of South Carolina · Final Year · Exp. 2027
🎓
MPH — Epidemiology
University of South Carolina · 2023
🩺
MBBS — Medicine
Gujarat University · 2019
📊
Graduate Biostatistics Certificate
University of South Carolina · Exp. 2026
🤖
AI Foundations Associate
Oracle Learning · 2026

Expertise

Core Capabilities

Real-World Evidence (RWE) HEOR Comparative Effectiveness Clinical Epidemiology Biostatistics Drug Safety HTA Program Evaluation Causal Inference G-Estimation Marginal Structural Models Target Trial Emulation Survival Analysis Competing-Risk Models GLMs Longitudinal Analysis Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Economic Modeling SAS R Python SQL REDCap Tableau Power BI Git AI/LLMs & NLP Clinical Text Mining EHR Data Medicaid Claims RCT Data Observational Cohorts Registry Data REDCap Longitudinal
Technical Proficiency
SAS95%
R92%
Python80%
SQL78%
REDCap90%
Tableau / Power BI75%

Career

Professional Experience

Research Assistant (Co-Investigator)
Aug 2023 – Present
University of South Carolina · NIH R01 Grant ($1.5M) · Columbia, SC
HEORCausal Inference Medicaid ClaimsCost-Effectiveness

Lead analyst on a 3-institution NIH-funded study generating real-world evidence on the cost-effectiveness of periodontal treatment in pregnant women.

  • Applied G-estimation & marginal structural models — showed 24% risk reduction in periodontitis during pregnancy
  • Built weighted cost models using 50-state Medicaid fee schedules, projecting $6k savings/capita/yr
  • Defined the first clinical responder endpoint for periodontitis treatment — a crucial industry benchmark
  • Developing a 5–10 year tooth-loss prediction model using the BigMouth national database
Program Evaluator
Jan 2024 – Present
PRISMA Health · HRSA Healthy Start ($5M) · Columbia, SC
RWELongitudinal Data REDCapMaternal Health

Evaluating a federally-funded maternal & child health program across 12,000+ participants, leading data systems and statistical analysis.

  • Designed & managed REDCap longitudinal systems for 5,000+ participants; improved data accuracy to 95%
  • Led full digital migration saving 2 hrs/day per staff and cutting errors by 30%+
  • Youngest presenter at HRSA National All-Grantee Meeting 2025
  • 100% on-time federal performance report submissions across all reporting periods
Consulting Practicum — EHR Analytics
Jan 2025 – May 2025
Lexington Medical Center · Columbia, SC
EHR AnalyticsSurvival Modeling HAI PreventionConsulting
  • Built survival & segmented logistic regression models on 250,000+ EHR records to identify high-risk patient clusters
  • Strategic plan projected a 15% HAI reduction through workflow redesign and automated alerts
Badminton Course Instructor
Aug 2023 – Dec 2024
University of South Carolina · Department of Physical Education · Columbia, SC
TeachingCurriculum DesignAssessment
  • Designed and delivered a 15-week undergraduate curriculum (PEDU 111) for 20+ students/semester, integrating skill development, strategy, fitness assessments, and performance evaluations across multiple cohorts
  • Developed structured written and practical assessments that measurably improved student competency — directly translated into scientific mentorship and training practices applied in graduate research settings
Graduate Assistant — Research & Evaluation
Aug 2022 – Dec 2023
Center for Applied Research & Evaluation (CARE) · Columbia, SC
Program EvaluationREDCapNVivoINBRE
  • Evaluated the SC INBRE statewide research-training program (200+ participants) through survey design, tracking, and QA; supported SC DHEC Oral Health Division in aligning HRSA and CDC objectives for community oral health impact
  • Managed 4 concurrent REDCap projects with audit-trail controls and designed the MDI dashboard improving real-time reporting efficiency by 50%; conducted NVivo qualitative analysis as secondary coder across multi-site federal evaluations
Graduate Assistant — Program Evaluation
Aug 2021 – Aug 2022
SC DHEC · Division of Diabetes & Heart Disease Management · Columbia, SC
NDPPCDC-FundedSASDiabetes Prevention
  • Led evaluation of 16 statewide NDPP cohort logs; co-authored a published manuscript on YMCA BPSM hypertension outcomes and developed CDC-used Year 3 & 4 performance one-pagers from 3 years of bi-annual NDPP implementation reports
  • Built a SharePoint dashboard from scratch for 60+ statewide users; conducted SAS/PowerQuery analyses across diabetes quality measures and cardiovascular disease workplans, directly informing CDC national reporting frameworks
Physician
Sep 2019 – Jul 2021
Sunshine Global Hospital & Manjalpur Private Clinic · Vadodara, India
Clinical MedicineICU COVID-19
  • Managed 600+ COVID-19 patients including ICU cases requiring ventilation and advanced life support
  • Active clinical practice across oncology, orthopedic, and multisystem conditions

Recognition

Honors & Achievements

🏆
Certificate of Excellence in Oral Health Research
American Public Health Association · 2025
2025
🏸
Winner — Doubles & Singles, Charlotte, NC Badminton Tournament
Charlotte, NC · 2025
2025
🏸
Winner — Doubles & Singles, Palmetto SC Badminton Tournament
South Carolina · 2023, 2024 & 2025
2023–25
🏸
Winner (Doubles) & Runner-Up (Singles), Atlanta, GA Badminton Tournament
Atlanta, GA · 2022
2022
🎓
Arnold Epidemiology Fellowship
Arnold School of Public Health · University of South Carolina · 2021
2021
🥇
Winner — Pharmacology Quiz
Gujarat University · 2018
2018
📜
Performance Acknowledgement Letter from Minister of HRD, Government of India
Ministry of Human Resource Development · India · 2013
2013
🔭
Winner — Poster Presentation, Physical Research Laboratory (PRL)
National Science Institute for Space & Allied Sciences · Ahmedabad · 2013
2013
🎓
KVPY Scholarship — Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana
Indian Institute of Science (IISc) · Bengaluru · 2013
2013
📋
CBSE Proficiency Certificate
Central Board of Secondary Education · India · 2013
2013
🥈
Silver Certificate — Technothlon'10
IIT Guwahati · 2011
2011

Research & Projects

Featured Work

📌 PhD Dissertation ✅ Accepted · SER 2026
Sequential Target Trial Emulation
for Acute Decompensated Heart Failure

My dissertation asks a deceptively simple question: can we emulate the randomized trial we wish we had — using only messy, real-world EHR data? Using sequential target trial frameworks, I'm building a causal inference approach to evaluate time-varying treatment strategies in acutely ill inpatients. The core challenge is translating rigorous trial logic into observational data where treatment is confounded by indication, timing is dynamic, and patients drop out in non-random ways.

The full methodology and findings are being prepared for publication — but the implications are direct: if this framework works, it creates a template for evidence generation in populations that can't easily be randomized, with applications across pharma RWE strategy and payer decision-making.

Target Trial Emulation Causal Inference Sequential Treatment Strategies EHR Data Time-Varying Confounding Heart Failure
See All Research Projects →
02
HEOR · RWE
NIH R01 — Periodontal Care in Pregnancy ($1.5M)
G-estimation, MSMs, cost-effectiveness modeling, and clinical endpoint definition across a 3-institution collaboration.
24% risk reduction · $6k/capita savings
03
EHR Analytics · Consulting
HAI Predictive Analytics — Lexington Medical
Survival models & logistic regression on 250k+ EHR records to identify high-risk clusters and redesign care pathways.
15% projected HAI reduction
07
AI · Data Science
AI & Data Science Tools Portfolio
Backtesting engine, automated univariate analysis app, and NLP clinical notes tool built in Python, Flask, spaCy, and LLMs.
Scalable analytic workflows
View All 7 Projects →

Scholarship

Publications & Presentations

SER 2026
Accepted
Causal Decision Modules in the EHR: Sequential Target Trials for Care in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure
Ishan Suthar — Society for Epidemiologic Research Annual Meeting, 2026
SER 2025
Presented
Quantifying the Benefits of Preventive Periodontal Care in Pregnancy Using Advanced Causal Inference Methods
Suthar I, Merchant A, Rokonuzzaman SM
APHA 2025
Presented
Dental Care Utilization in Childbearing Aged Women with Patient-Reported Systemic Conditions: A National Cross-Sectional Study 🏆 Certificate of Excellence in Oral Health Research
Ishan Suthar — American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, 2025
SPER 2025
Presented
Relapse and Mortality in Children Undergoing Allogeneic Transplantation for Severe Aplastic Anemia
Ishan Suthar — Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research, 2025
HRSA 2025
Presented
Healthy Start Program Evaluation — Youngest Presenter at HRSA National All-Grantee Meeting
Ishan Suthar — HRSA National All-Grantee Meeting, 2025
In Prep
Quantifying the Benefits of Preventive Periodontal Care in Pregnancy Using Advanced Causal Inference Methods
Suthar I, Merchant A, Rokonuzzaman SM · Target: high-impact epidemiology journal
ADCES
2023
The Inner Circle: A Community of Practice for National Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Coaches
Ankrom B, Curry K, Mandelbaum J, Suthar I, Myers K · ADCES in Practice · DOI: 10.1177/2633559X221150807
JPHMP
2024
Virtual Expansion of the Y-USA Blood Pressure Self-Monitoring Program Using Telehealth
Grant B, Myers K, Suthar I, et al. · Journal of Public Health Management & Practice · DOI: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000001898

Let's Connect

Open to Opportunities

Actively seeking RWE, HEOR, and clinical epidemiology roles in pharma, biotech, and health consulting.