Cynthia Long, Ph.D., PStat®

Design, conduct, and biostatistical leadership of pragmatic clinical trials; musculoskeletal and low back pain management; data coordinating centers, data management, and trial monitoring; rigorous quantitative and causal-mediation analysis; and statistical education and mentorship in the health sciences.

Research Keywords

Biostatistics; pragmatic clinical trials; trial design and monitoring; data coordinating centers; data management; causal-mediation analysis; musculoskeletal and low back pain; pain management; veteran and military health; integrative medicine; chiropractic; evidence-based practice; statistical education and mentorship.

• Ph.D., Biostatistics — University of Iowa
• M.S., Statistics — Iowa State University
• B.A., Mathematics; B.S., Statistics — Winona State University
• Accredited Professional Statistician (PStat®), American Statistical Association

• VERDICT — Chiropractic Care for Veterans: A Pragmatic Randomized Trial Addressing Dose Effects for Chronic Low Back Pain (Multiple Principal Investigators)
• Inter-Institutional Network for Chiropractic Research (Co-Director) — Palmer, Yale, and the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Harvard/Brigham & Women’s

• VERDICT — Chiropractic Care for Veterans (NIH UG3/UH3AT009761). Multiple Principal Investigators, plus administrative supplements for four D.C. trial fellows. 9/2017–8/2025.
• RAND Research Across Complementary and Integrative Health Institutions (REACH) Center (NIH U24AT012549). Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research Co-Investigator. 7/2023–7/2028.
• Chiropractic Care for Episodic Migraine (NIH R01AT012228). Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research Co-Investigator. 7/2023–4/2027.
• Combined Chiropractic Care and Tai Chi for Chronic Non-Specific Neck Pain — CHRONECK (NIH R34AT011368). Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research (PCCR) Co-Investigator. 9/2022–11/2025.
• Antinociceptive Mechanisms of Spinal Manipulation Therapy for Neuropathic Pain (NIH/NCCIH R15AT009612). Co-Investigator. 7/2017–6/2021.
• Primary mentor, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Loan Repayment Program awards to Z. Shannon (L30AT013015) — 2024–2026 and 2026–2028.

View all publications on PubMed →

• Shannon ZK, Long CR, Vining RD, McCarey J, Walter JA, Coulter ID, Goertz CM. Longer-term chiropractic care outcomes for US active-duty military personnel with low back pain: secondary analysis of a pragmatic clinical trial. BMC Complement Med Ther. 2026 Apr 7;26(1):185. doi: 10.1186/s12906-026-05347-w. PMID: 41947115; PMCID: PMC13188315.
• Steward A, Salsbury SA, Vining RD, Twist E, McCarey J, Kedilaya S, Minkalis AL, Rudquist R, McDermott K, Shekelle PG, Abrams TE, Lurie JD, Wallace RB, Lisi AJ, Goertz CM, Long CR. Recruiting US veterans with chronic low back pain in a multisite randomized pragmatic trial. Trials. 2026 Mar 19;27(1):326. doi: 10.1186/s13063-026-09637-z. PMID: 41857686; PMCID: PMC13122902.
• Salsbury SA, Long CR, McCarey J, Lisi AJ, Steward A, Wallace RB, Goertz CM. Age differences in demographic and clinical characteristics among veterans with chronic low back pain: a cross-sectional study of baseline findings from the Veteran Response to Dosage in Chiropractic Therapy (VERDICT) trial. Chiropr Man Therap. 2025 Oct 13;33(1):44. doi: 10.1186/s12998-025-00613-z. PMID: 41084026; PMCID: PMC12516875.
• Shannon ZK, Long CR, Chrischilles EA, Goertz CM, Wallace RB, Casteel C, Carnahan RM. Effect of chiropractic care on low back pain for active-duty military members: Mediation through biopsychosocial factors. PLoS One. 2024 Oct 1;19(10):e0310642. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310642. PMID: 39352877; PMCID: PMC11444394.
• Hays RD, Shannon ZK, Long CR, Spritzer KL, Vining RD, Coulter ID, Pohlman KA, Walter JA, Goertz CM. Health-Related Quality of Life Among United States Service Members with Low Back Pain Receiving Usual Care Plus Chiropractic Care vs Usual Care Alone: Secondary Outcomes of a Pragmatic Clinical Trial. Pain Med. 2022 Aug 31;23(9):1550-1559. doi: 10.1093/pm/pnac009. Erratum in: Pain Med. 2022 May 30;23(6):1198. doi: 10.1093/pm/pnac054. PMID: 35060609; PMCID: PMC9434322.
• Long CR, Salsbury SA, Vining RD, Lisi AJ, Corber L, Twist E, Abrams T, Wallace RB, Goertz CM. Care Outcomes for Chiropractic Outpatient Veterans (COCOV): a single-arm, pragmatic, pilot trial of multimodal chiropractic care for U.S. veterans with chronic low back pain. Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2022 Mar 7;8(1):54. doi: 10.1186/s40814-022-01008-0. PMID: 35256010; PMCID: PMC8900358.
• Rist PM, Bernstein C, Kowalski M, Osypiuk K, Connor JP, Vining R, Long CR, Macklin EA, Wayne PM. Multimodal chiropractic care for migraine: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Cephalalgia. 2021 Mar;41(3):318-328. doi: 10.1177/0333102420963844. Epub 2020 Oct 13. PMID: 33050719; PMCID: PMC9670157.
• Long CR, Lisi AJ, Vining RD, Wallace RB, Salsbury SA, Shannon ZK, Halloran S, Minkalis AL, Corber L, Shekelle PG, Krebs EE, Abrams TE, Lurie JD, Goertz CM. Veteran Response to Dosage in Chiropractic Therapy (VERDICT): Study Protocol of a Pragmatic Randomized Trial for Chronic Low Back Pain. Pain Med. 2020 Dec 12;21(Suppl 2):S37-S44. doi: 10.1093/pm/pnaa289. PMID: 33313732; PMCID: PMC7734654.
• Vining R, Long CR, Minkalis A, Gudavalli MR, Xia T, Walter J, Coulter I, Goertz CM. Effects of Chiropractic Care on Strength, Balance, and Endurance in Active-Duty U.S. Military Personnel with Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Altern Complement Med. 2020 Jul;26(7):592-601. doi: 10.1089/acm.2020.0107. Epub 2020 Jun 12. PMID: 32543211.

• Founders Award, American Statistical Association — 2026
• Elected Fellow, American Statistical Association — 2025
• National Chiropractic Mutual Insurance Company (NCMIC) Foundation McAndrews Pioneer Memorial Research Award — 2024
• Challenge Coin recipient, Veterans Affairs (VA) Chiropractic Program Office 20th anniversary — 2024
• Research Affiliate, Osher Center for Integrative Health, Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital — 2023–present
• Research Advisory Board member, RAND Research Across Complementary and Integrative Health Institutions (REACH) Center — 2023–present
• Recognized as top collaborator and author of research in manual therapies for low back pain (bibliometric analysis, Journal of Pain Research, 2023)
• Co-author, Best Scientific Paper Awards, Association of Chiropractic Colleges Educational and Research Agenda Conference (ACC-RAC) — 2022 (thoracolumbar fascia mobility with musculoskeletal ultrasound; predictors of virtual chiropractic care in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA))
• Co-author, Best Research Paper Awards, Association of Chiropractic Colleges Educational and Research Agenda Conference (ACC-RAC) — 2021 (rapid adoption of telehealth for chiropractic care in the VA; description of chiropractic treatment in Department of Defense (DOD) military treatment facilities)
• Co-Director, Inter-Institutional Network for Chiropractic Research — 2018–present
• Member, National Institutes of Health (NIH)-Department of Defense (DOD)-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Pain Management Collaboratory (PMC) — 2017–present (Steering Committee; Biostatistics & Design Workgroup; Data Sharing Workgroup, 2019–2025; Publications Committee Chair, 2019–2020)
• Editorial boards: Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT); Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association (JCCA); Chiropractic & Manual Therapies (CMT); Contemporary Clinical Trials (CCT)

CLIN51502 Statistical Thinking and Reasoning; CLIN51504 Statistical Computing and Data Management I; CLIN51509 Statistical Graphics and Data Management II; CLIN51530 Biostatistics I; CLIN51531 Biostatistics II: Linear Regression; CLIN51532 Biostatistics II: ANOVA and Regression Modeling.