Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation

In 2017, St. Jude and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington began a formal partnership, aiming to advance knowledge and understanding of the burden of childhood cancer globally.  

This collaboration combines institutional expertise in health metrics, global health, epidemiology and disease burden estimation to provide more accurate estimates of the global burden of childhood cancer.  

To improve these estimates, IHME and St. Jude Global use methods consistent with the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study. The collaboration leverages pediatric cancer registries, including those supported by St. Jude, that collect data on diagnosis, treatment, outcomes, cost and health system details for childhood cancers across various countries.  

The long-term goals of the collaboration are (1) to include new causes of cancer in the GBD to reflect the different childhood cancer diseases and (2) to adjust the disability estimation to reflect long-term disabilities that childhood-cancer survivors experience as a result of their cancer and its treatment.  

The collaboration’s ultimate goal is to generate evidence that enables all stakeholders — including policymakers, health advocates and public and global health communities — to improve outcomes for childhood cancer patients worldwide.