Sean N. Halpin

Sean Halpin is a qualitative methodologist and gerontologist with more than 15 years of experience designing and leading interview-based studies in clinical and public health research. His key skills include developing interview guides and analytic frameworks, conducting and overseeing in-depth interviews, and synthesizing findings into actionable insights for program and policy improvement. He has extensive experience training interviewers, building codebooks, and leading team-based analysis processes with an emphasis on methodological rigor and transparency.

His work frequently supports the development of patient-centered and observer-reported outcome (PRO/ObsRO) measures, including instrument refinement through concept elicitation and cognitive interviews. He collaborates with regulatory stakeholders to ensure qualitative evidence is appropriately captured, analyzed, and communicated for FDA submissions. 

Currently, Dr. Halpin leads and contributes to multiple qualitative and mixed-methods studies focused on patient experience, clinical outcome assessment, and aging. He serves as the qualitative lead on studies supporting the development of patient- and observer-reported outcome measures for rare genetic conditions, including Angelman syndrome and Phelan McDermid Syndrome. In collaboration with academic and industry partners, he helps design concept elicitation and cognitive interviewing protocols, guides item pool development, and supports regulatory-facing documentation for the FDA.

Dr. Halpin also leads qualitative components of the Early Check program, a large-scale newborn screening initiative in North Carolina. His recent work includes in-depth interviews with parents who received positive screening results for conditions such as type 1 diabetes and monogenic disorders, with a focus on understanding communication, decision-making, and follow-up experiences.

Across projects, he provides expertise in qualitative study design, interviewer training, and rigorous analytic strategies. His research emphasizes the integration of stakeholder perspectives, methodologic transparency, and real-world application of findings to inform clinical trials, public health programs, and policy. He is also leading writing efforts on methodological papers focused on trustworthiness in team-based qualitative analysis.

Before joining RTI, he held research positions at Thermo Fisher Scientific, the University of Georgia, Emory University, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Yale University, where his work focused on aging, dementia, and patient-centered care. He has also contributed to the development and validation of patient- and observer-reported outcomes, with expertise in mixed methods design, implementation evaluation, and regulatory-facing qualitative research.

Dr. Halpin is a fellow at the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) and holds a professional membership at the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health.