Associate Physician
Brigham and Women's Hospital

timothy.brewer@channing.harvard.edu

My research has focused on the application of analytic methods including decision analysis, meta-analysis, Markov modeling, and computer simulation modeling to evaluate infectious diseases public policy. In early studies, decision analysis was used to evaluate the infectious risk from blood transfusions in countries with and without effective screening programs. This work formed the basis of recommendations for transfusion thresholds in a variety of settings. In related work, a team with expertise in analytic design, policy analysis, infectious diseases, and public policy has been created to evaluate methods for control of tuberculosis in both the United States and abroad. The initial project was a meta-analysis to assess the efficacy of Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination in the prevention of tuberculosis. The study demonstrated that BCG vaccination was effective for the prevention of tuberculosis. Further work has addressed important issues for the use of BCG in the United States; for example, its benefit for the protection of health care workers and the relationship between different vaccine strains and efficacy. Recently, the cost-effectiveness of treatment thresholds for persons with suspected tuberculosis and the use of rapid diagnostic laboratory tests for tuberculosis has been examined with decision analytic methods. Current projects include the use of advanced computer modeling methods to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of US tuberculosis control policies in high risk groups. A second area of interest is the prevention and treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in low resource settings.

Brewer TF, Wilson ME, Gonzales E, Felsenstein D. Bacon therapy and furuncular myiasis. J Am Med Assoc 1993;270:2087-2088. [abstract]

Colditz GA, Brewer TF, Berkey CS, Wilson ME, Burdick E, Fineberg HV, Mosteller __. Efficacy of BCG vaccine in the prevention of tuberculosis: meta-analysis of the published literature. J Am Med Assoc 1994;271:698-702. [abstract]

Brewer TF, Colditz GA. Bacille Calmette-Guerin vaccination for the prevention of tuberculosis in health care workers. Clin Infect Dis 1995;20:136-142. [abstract]

Brewer TF, Heymann SJ, Colditz GA, Wilson ME, Auerbach K, Kane D, Fineberg HV. Evaluation of tuberculosis control policies using computer simulation. J Am Med Assoc 1996;276:1898-1903. [abstract]

Brewer TF, Heymann SJ, Ettling M. An effectiveness and cost analysis of presumptive treatment for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Am J Infect Control 1998;26:232-8. [abstract]

Brewer TF, Heymann SJ. Two tiered healthcare: the root of ethical problems in recent clinical trials. Int J Infect Di 1998;2:123-6. [abstract]

Heymann SJ, Brewer TF, Wilson ME, Fineberg HV. The need for global action against multiple drug-resistant tuberculosis. JAMA 1999;281:2138-40. [abstract]

Heymann SJ, Brewer TF, Wilson ME, Colditz GA, Fineberg HV. Pediatric tuberculosis: what needs to be done to decrease morbidity and mortality. Pediatrics 2000;106:e1. [abstract]