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Last Updated: 7/31/2009

William R Carpenter, PhD, MHA

Research Assistant Professor
Cancer Prevention and Control

Clinical Interests
Cancer care quality and outcomes, diffusion of innovations, translating research into practice, racial disparities, clinical research trial participation, organizational studies

Research Interests
William Carpenter, PhD, is faculty in the UNC School of Public Health, the Epidemiologist for the North Carolina Comprehensive Cancer Program, Co-Director of the Carolina Community Network's Policy and Dissemination Core in the UNC-Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and a Research Fellow at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research where he is Co-Director of the UNC Cancer DEcIDE Comparative Effectiveness Research Program. He is PI on a study linking all cancer cases diagnosed in the North Carolina Central Cancer Registry in 2003-2005 to their Medicare claims, and using the linked data set as the basis for examining the North Carolina oncology workforce, and comparative treatment and outcomes for several cancers. This work serves as the first step in an effort to develop an extensive resource linking several data sources for examination of cancer comparative effectiveness and outcomes. Dr. Carpenter has been the PI, faculty mentor, or lead investigator on several SEER-Medicare-based studies of cancer care quality and outcomes which are published, under review, or ongoing. As a lead investigator on an NCI-funded (R01) study using SEER-Medicare data, he is collaborating with Drs. Richard Goldberg and Paul Godley, among others, in the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center to examine the diffusion of several different treatment innovations in multiple cancers, including differential adoption between those seeking treatment from NCI Community Clinical Oncology Program practices and hospitals, compared with non-affiliated community practices and hospitals. Drs. Carpenter, Goldberg, and Hanna Sanoff are also collaborating with Dr. Deborah Schrag at the Brigham and Womens Hospital on an extensive examination of chemotherapy comparative effectiveness and outcomes for advanced colon and rectal cancer. This study examines outcomes in 6 secondary data sets (effectiveness) in comparison to pooled clinical trials data from multiple studies (efficacy). Dr. Carpenter has also led several funded cancer studies, including those examining different measures of cancer burden, trends and racial differences in the use of different cancer early detection and treatment modalities, including their outcomes, barriers and facilitators to cancer clinical trial enrollment in the community. This research experience builds upon his prior experience as an academic medical center department administrator.

Recent Accomplishments and Honors
1993 Phi Beta Kappa, Honorary Academic Society; Hampden-Sydney College, VA.
1993 Chi Beta Phi, Honorary Scientific Fraternity; Hampden-Sydney College, VA.
1993 Magna Cum Laude; Hampden-Sydney College, VA.
1995 Stuart D. Ogren Scholarship: Academic Performance and Work Experience; Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, VA.
2003 Harry T. Phillips Award: Outstanding Teaching by a Doctoral Student, Department of Health Policy and Administration; UNC, Chapel Hill.
2004 Jean Yates Doctoral Student Award: Scholarship in health services research and contributions to the discipline, Dept of Health Policy & Administration; UNC, Chapel Hill.


Training
Hampden-Sydney College; Hampden-Sydney, VA BS 1990-93 Biology
Medical College of Virginia; Richmond, VA MHA 1994-97 Health Administration
Univ. of North Carolina, School Of Public Health; Chapel Hill, NC PhD 2000-04 Health Policy & Administration
University of North Carolina, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Post-Doc. Fellow. 2004-07 Cancer Control


Publications
1. Carpenter WR, Weiner BJ, Kaluzny AD, Domino ME, Lee SY. The effect of managed care and competition on community-based clinical research. Medical Care. (2006). 44(7):671-9.
2. Weiner BJ, McKinney M, Carpenter WR. Adapting clinical trials networks to promote cancer prevention and control research. Cancer. (2006). 106(1):180-7.
3. Cohen JH, Schenck AP, Kaufman JS, Talcott JA, Peacock S, Amamoo MA, Symons M, Schoenbach V, Carpenter WR, Godley PA. Racial differences in disease-free survival in a Medicare population after treatment for clinically localized prostate cancer. Cancer Causes and Control. (2006). 17(6):803-11.
4. Carpenter WR, Shortell SM, Kaluzny AD (eds). Health Care Management: Organization Design and Behavior, 5th Ed. / Instructors Manual. (2006). Albany, NY: Delmar.
5. Fried BJ, and Carpenter WR. Understanding and Improving Team Effectiveness in Quality Improvement. in Curtis P. McLaughlin and Arnold D. Kaluzny (eds). Continuous Quality Improvement in Health Care: Theory, Implementation, and Applications. 3rd Ed. (2006). Boston: Jones and Bartlett.
6. McKinney M, Weiner BJ, Carpenter WR. Building Community Capacity To Participate In Cancer Prevention Research. Cancer Control: Journal of the Moffitt Cancer Center. (2006). 13(4):295-302.
7. Godley PA, Carpenter WR. Case-Control Prostate Cancer Screening Studies Should Not Exclude Subjects with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. (2007). 60(2):176-180.
8. Cunningham-Sabo L, Carpenter WR, Peterson J, Anderson L, Helfrich C, Davis S. Utilization of Prevention Research: Searching for Evidence. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. (2007). July. 39(1S):S9-20.
9. Swanson G, Carpenter WR, Thompson IM, Crawford ED. "Urologists attitudes regarding cancer clinical research." Urology. (2007). 70(1):19-24.
10. Gooden KM, Howard DL, Carpenter WR, Carson AP, Taylor YJ, Peacock S, Howard DL, Schenck A, Godley PA. The effect of hospital and physician volume on racial differences in disease recurrence following surgery for prostate cancer. Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting. (2007). 48:812-813.
11. Carpenter WR, Robinson WR, Godley PA. "Getting over testosterone: Postulating a fresh start for etiologic studies of prostate cancer." JNCI. (2008). 100(3):158-9.
12. Carpenter WR, Weiner BJ, Richardson LC, et al. "Beyond claims data: Assessing the problem of access to radiation therapy for low-income women with breast cancer." Journal of Clinical Oncology (Meeting Abstracts). (2008). May 20 suppl; abtr 6579.
13. Feldmann J, Carpenter WR, Lee CB, Shea TC, Atkins JN, Gray TF. "Cancer Clinical Trials in North Carolina." North Carolina Medical Journal. (2008). 69(4):306-308.
14. Gooden K, Howard DL, Carpenter WR, Carson AP, Taylor YJ, Peacock S, Godley PA. "The Effect of Hospital and Surgeon Volume on Racial Differences in Recurrence-Free Survival Following Radical Prostatectomy." Medical Care. (2008). 46(11):1170-1176.
15. Carpenter WR, Beskow LM, Blocker DE, Forlenza MJ, Kim AE, OMalley MS, Pevzner ES, Rose JM, Tran AN, and Webber KH. Towards a More Comprehensive Understanding of Cancer Burden in North Carolina: Priorities for Intervention. North Carolina Medical Journal. (2008). 69(4):275-282.
16. Spain PC, Carpenter WR, Talcott JA, Clark JA, Do YK, Hamilton RJ, Galanko JA, Jackman A, Godley PA. "Perceived Family History Risk and Symptomatic Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer: The North Carolina Prostate Cancer Outcomes Study." Cancer. (2008). 113(8): 2180-2187.
17. Carpenter WR, and Weiner BJ. "Provider Based Research Networks." in Ross Mullner, et al. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Health Services Research. Sage Publications. (In Press).
18. Wang V, and Carpenter WR. "Health Care Cost and Utilization Project Quality Indicators." in Ross Mullner, et al. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Health Services Research. Sage Publications. (In Press).
19. Amick HR, and Carpenter WR. "Community-Based Participatory Research." in Ross Mullner, et al. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Health Services Research. Sage Publications. (In Press).
20. Carpenter WR, Peppercorn J. "Beyond Toxicity: The challenge and importance of understanding the full impact of treatment decisions." Cancer. (In Press).
21. Carpenter WR, Godley PA, Finnegan T, Talcott JA, Clark JA, Mishel M, Schroeder JC, Bensen JT, Su JL, Fonthan ETH, Mohler JL. "Racial Differences in the Roles of Trust, Regular Source of Patient Care, and Screening and Treatment Utilization among Individuals with Prostate Cancer." Cancer. (In Press).

Click here for a list of Publications on PubMed

E-mail: wrc4@email.unc.edu
Telephone: (919) 966-6328
FAX: (919) 966-6961
Address: 1102A McGavran-Greenberg Hall Chapel Hill, NC 27599

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