Sterling McPherson
Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine (Spokane) – Departmental Page
smcpherson05@wsu.edu – McPherson, Sterling
Alcohol Addiction
Chronic Pain/Opiates/Cannabinoids
Circadian/Sleep/Addiction
Clinical Trials
The main objective of my research is the innovative application of modern statistical methods to substance use disorder clinical trial data, with an emphasis on latent variable methods (i.e., covariance structure modeling). Currently, this work is focused on the application of modern missing data methodologies (e.g., selection modeling, latent class pattern-mixtures) in an effort to better understand the nature and cause(s) of missing data in different substance-dependant populations. I currently serve as the biostatistician for the Program of Excellence in the Addictions and the Rural Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment program, where I assist with the design and analysis of different projects centered on human psychopharmacology and substance abuse. Specifically, some of our current projects include: pharmacokinetics of e-cigarettes and gamma-hydroxybutyrate, effects of methamphetamine dependence and opioid dependence on sleep patterns, contingency management applied to alcohol abuse using an ethyl-glucuronide biomarker, and longitudinal trajectories of chronic pain and prescription opioid use.