Pharmacoepidemiology and Safety Sciences

Pharmacoepidemiology and Safety Sciences can be defined as the application of epidemiologic reasoning, methods, and knowledge to the study of the uses and effects of drugs in human populations.

Pharmacoepidemiology is one of the oldest and largest areas of research and training in POP. It can be defined as the application of epidemiologic reasons, methods and knowledge to the study of uses and effects of drugs in human populations. As such pharmacoepidemiology is the last but critical stage in the evaluation cycle of drug effects and can provide detailed information on whether, in what type of patient and under what conditions drugs are safe and effective in real-world populations. Please consider this video where our faculty and students introduce the science of pharmacoepidemiology.

Examples of pharmacoepidemiologic research include:

• Drug safety studies
• Comparative effectiveness studies
• Studies of real-world effects of drug-drug and drug-disease interactions
• Drug utilization studies including study of determinants of inappropriate medication use

Examples of recent published research by our pharmacoepidemiology faculty are here.

One of the specialty tracks in our graduate program is specifically devoted to training the next generation of pharmacoepidemiologists who pursue careers in academia, industry and regulatory agencies. In addition to our core curriculum the department offers several courses specific the pharmacoepidemiologic methods. More about the curriculum can be found here.

Scientific expertise in Pharmacoepidemiology and Safety Sciences includes:

• Content knowledge related to drug safety and effectiveness including related pharmacologic and clinical principles, regulatory science approaches to ensure favorable drug risk-benefit including risk management, and clinical practice and healthcare delivery 
• Technical expertise in epidemiologic methods including study design, measurement and analytical approaches to mitigate bias with particular focus on use of real-world data.