riskcalc.org

A Repository of Risk Calculators for Medical Decision Making

Alex Zajichek

Research Data Scientist, Cleveland Clinic

June 12, 2025

A Little Background


  • QHS is a department of over 100 biostatisticians, data scientists, programmers, etc. that collaborate on and supply quantitative support to research activities at Cleveland Clinic


  • From clinical trials and study design to precision medicine and population health across many disease areas


  • My work focuses on clinical prediction modeling and observational statistical analysis, primarily using EHR and/or registry data

What is riskcalc.org?

  • Free repository of risk calculators for individualized medical decision making; intended for clinician/patient use
  • Embedded with predictive models from published research studies; mostly regression
  • Each calculator is a separate Shiny application
  • Average about 10-15K active users/month (per Google Analytics)



The Backend

Figure: Tools supporting riskcalc.org

Figure: Tools supporting riskcalc.org





  • Low-cost infrastructure!

Recent Developments


  • Updated home page with icons and reorganized groupings for easier navigation


  • Built an R package to accelerate building risk calculators with the standard layout (work in progress)

Where are we going?

Current Backend

  • More formal integration with GitHub; currently disconnected
  • Better R/package version maintenance strategy on server
  • More cohesive/standard format for model representation
  • Model monitoring and updating

Potential Future States

  • One stop shop for clinical risk prediction; community involvement
  • API development for model access
  • More direct research ecosystem for methodological advancement; clinical integration

Acknowledgements

Co-developers

  • Alex Milinovich
  • Xinge (Kathy) Ji
  • Blaine Martyn-Dow
  • Daniel Rotroff
  • Many others…

In Memory

Michael W. Kattan, PhD
Department Chair (2004-2024)
Quantitative Health Sciences
Cleveland Clinic

Creator of riskcalc.org

Questions?

Link to slides: www.zajichekstats.com/presentations/riskcalc-a-repository-of-risk-calculators-for-medical-decision-making