Harrison College of Pharmacy

Faculty and Staff Directory

---

---

---

Bio

Research Interests

Most people are terrified of analyzing data. Therefore, Dr. Matthew Loop became a collaborative biostatistician and epidemiologist to serve others.

His primary research mission is to help scientists feel relaxed about their statistical analysis by providing relatable statistical leadership because no one deserves to feel afraid about their data analysis. Most of his projects have focused on cardiovascular disease in adults, but he has also provided technical leadership on studies of antimicrobial resistance in humans and non-human animals, cancer, ulcerative colitis, and pharmacy education.

Over the years working with collaborators, Dr. Loop has developed his own secondary research missions for which he is a principle investigator. These missions are: (1) to reduce gastrostomy tube placements in preterm infants; and (2) to understand the cardiovascular health effects of drinking water from a private well among rural communities. He works closely with Dr. Vivek Shukla and Dr. Wally Carlo at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Division of Neonatology on topic #1. For topic #2, he works locally at Auburn University with Dr. Ann Ojeda in the Department of Geosciences.

Robust observational studies using cutting-edge epidemiological and statistical tools are critical for improving the health of these vulnerable preterm infants and rural communities because they are often left out of research studies.

Dr. Loop's research experience has led to several opportunities to provide outreach, including leading the writing of the Total Cardiovascular Disease chapter for the AHA/ASA statistics updates in 2021 and 2022, serving as a statistical reviewer for JAMA Network Open, serving as an ad hoc reviewer for other journals focused on cardiovascular disease, serving as an ad hoc reviewer for study section at NIH and the AHA, and providing statistical consulting services for individuals and organizations.

---

Recent Funded Research

Title: Arterial stiffness and brain health in African Americans
Source: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Aging, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (subcontract), R01AG062488-01-03
Role: Co-Investigator (PI: Michelle Meyer, UNC Chapel Hill)
Date: 5/2025 – 5/2026

Title: Pharmacist-led transitions of care intervention to address infectious disease tests pending at discharge (TPAD)
Source: Auburn University Research Support Program
Role: Co-Investigator (PI: Elizabeth Covington, HCOP)
Date: 6/2025 – 5/2027

---

Datasets we have access to / experience with

In addition to funded projects above

Private

• HCUP KID (1999 - 2019) (administrative database, random sample)
  trends studies of diagnoses, procedures, and costs of US discharges among less than 21
• Cardiovascular and diabetes mortality at Census block group level in Alabama (2016 - 2019) (administrative database, areal data)
• UAB preterm infants treated with antihypertensive therapy (EHR)
• UAB NICU blood pressures, paired with maternal covariates (EHR)

Public

• CDC WONDER (CDC, spatial)

---

Selected Publications

1. Tsao CW, Aday AW, Almarzooq ZI, Alonso A, Beaton AZ, Bittencourt MS, Boehme AK, Buxton AE, Carson AP, Commodore-Mensah Y, Elkind MSV, Evenson KR, Eze-Nliam C, Ferguson JF, Generoso G, Ho JE, Kalani R, Khan SS, Kissela BM, Knutson KL, Levine DA, Lewis TT, Liu J, Loop MS, Ma J, Mussolino ME, Navaneethan SD, Perak AM, Poudel R, Rezk-Hanna M, Roth GA, Schroeder EB, Shah SH, Thacker EL, VanWagner LB, Virani SS, Voecks JH, Wang N-Y, Yaffe K, &  Martin SS; on behalf of the American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee (2022). Heart disease and stroke statistics—2022 update: a report from the American Heart Association [published online ahead of print Wednesday, January 26, 2022]. Circulation. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000001052.
2. Loop MS, Howard G, de Los Campos G, Al-Hamdan MZ, Safford MM, Levitan EB, et al. Heat Maps of Hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus, and Smoking in the Continental United States. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2017;10. doi:10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.116.003350
3. Lemas DJ, Loop MS, Duong M, Schleffer AB, Collins C, Bowden JA, Du X, Patel KU, Ciesielski AL, Ridge Z, Wagner J, Subedi B, & Delcher C (2021). Estimating drug consumption during a college sporting event from wastewater using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Science of the Total Environment 764:143963. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143963.
4. Loop MS, Van Dyke MK, Chen L, Brown TM, Duran RW, Safford MK, & Levitan EB (2020). Evidence-based beta blocker use associated with lower heart failure readmission and mortality, but not all-cause readmission, among Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. PLOS ONE 15(7):e0233161. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0233161.
5. Loop MS, Van Dyke MK, Chen L, Safford MM, Kilgore ML, Brown TM, Durant RW, & Levitan EB (2018). Low utilization of beta blockers among Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. Journal of Cardiac Failure. doi:10.1016/j.cardfail.2018.10.00

---

Teaching

• DRDD 7000 Grant Writing
• HORP 7540 Pharmacoepidemiology: Methods and Applications
• HORP 7820 Research Methods

---

Graduate Students Advised (as a Major Advisor)

Ahmed Kamel, 2023 - present (dissertation advisor)

Nick McCormick, 2022-23

---