Thomas Clark Chalmers (,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

– , Lebanon, New Hampshire) was famous for his role in the development of the randomized controlled trial and

meta-analysis Meta-analysis is a method of synthesis of quantitative data from multiple independent studies addressing a common research question. An important part of this method involves computing a combined effect size across all of the studies. As such, th ...

in medical research. Chalmers began his

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

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 in Japan, where he conducted clinical trials investigating the treatment of hepatitis among

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

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 and Harvard Medical School. From 1968 to 1973 he held a number of appointments in Washington, DC: assistant director at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, followed by concurrent positions as associate director of the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

(NIH) and Director of th
NIH Clinical Center
From 1973 to 1983 he was president and dean of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine (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 and

biostatistics Biostatistics (also known as biometry) is a branch of statistics that applies 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 experimen ...

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.

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* {{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