Thomas Clark Chalmers, MD, FACP (b. ,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

– d. , Lebanon, New Hampshire) was famous for his role in the development of the

randomized controlled trial A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a form of scientific experiment used to control factors not under direct experimental control. Examples of RCTs are clinical trials that compare the effects of drugs, surgical te ...

and

meta-analysis A meta-analysis is a statistical analysis that combines the results of multiple scientific studies. Meta-analyses can be performed when there are multiple scientific studies addressing the same question, with each individual study reporting me ...

in medical research. Chalmers began his

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

as an English major at

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

. He obtained his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1943. He spent one year as an intern at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and completed his residency at the Boston City Hospital. Chalmers' interest in medical research began while working for the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in Japan, where he conducted

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dietar ...

s investigating the treatment of

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pa ...

among

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

soldiers. After returning to the United States, he spent 13 years as chief of medical services a
Lemuel Shattuck Hospital
in Boston. He also held academic positions at

Tufts University School of Medicine The Tufts University School of Medicine is the medical school of Tufts University, a Private university, private research university in Massachusetts. It was established in 1893 and is located on the university's health sciences campus in downto ...

and

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

. From 1968 to 1973 he held a number of appointments in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

: assistant director at the

United States Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...

, followed by concurrent positions as associate director of the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

(NIH) and Director of th
NIH Clinical Center
From 1973 to 1983 he was President and Dean of the

Mount Sinai School of Medicine The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS or Mount Sinai), formerly the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is a private medical school in New York City. It is the academic teaching arm of the Mount Sinai Health System, which manages eigh ...

(MSSM). While at MSSM, he established the Department of Geriatrics (the first in the United States), and, following his commitment to the application of the

scientific method The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries; see the article history of scientific m ...

and

biostatistics Biostatistics (also known as biometry) are the development and application of statistical methods to a wide range of topics in biology. It encompasses the design of biological experiments, the collection and analysis of data from those experime ...

to medical practice he established the Department of Biostatistics. After leaving Mount Sinai, he became Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire. Chalmers was president of th
American Association for the Study of Liver Disease
(1959) and president of the American Gastroenterological Association (1969). In 1981, he was awarded the Jacobi Medallion by the Mount Sinai Alumni "for distinguished achievement in the field of medicine or extraordinary service to the Hospital, the School, or the Alumni." His papers were donated to the National Library of Medicine by the Thomas C. Chalmers Centre for Systematic Reviews. Since 1994 the Thomas C Chalmers MD award has been presented annually at the Cochrane Colloquium for the presentation which best addresses methodological issues related to systematic reviews and demonstrates originality of thought, high quality science, relevance for the advancement of the science of systematic reviews, and clarity of presentation.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chalmers, Thomas C. 1917 births 1995 deaths Physicians from Massachusetts Yale College alumni Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Harvard Medical School faculty Tufts University faculty Systematic review People in evidence-based medicine American medical researchers Members of the National Academy of Medicine