Research

The division includes three research centres:

Centre for Pharmacoepidemiology

The Centre aims to develop, improve and evaluate innovative observational pharmacoepidemiologic methods to obtain reliable information on benefits and harms of medicines after marketing in real life. Methodological innovations are inspired by relevant research questions in clinical practice, pharmaceutical policy and regulation. Important themes are methods to prevent and/or control for confounding, analysis of effect modification (precision medicine), multi-database analysis, and innovative approaches for increasing validity and richness of data. The Centre for research methods has established a European Research Network of Pharmacovigilance and Pharmacoepidemiology and has developed novel methodologies for the conduct of multi-country, multi-database studies on variability of medicines’ use and patient outcomes.
Scientific director: dr. Helga Gardarsdottir
Managing director: dr. Daniala Weir

Centre for Clinical Therapeutics

The Centre focuses on the beneficial and adverse effects of pharmacotherapy both in outpatient as in hospital settings, linking both exposure and outcome data from various sources (clinical, pharmacy, laboratory, patient). Real-world problems in clinical practice are investigated and thereby immediately relevant to patients and health care providers. Three fields of research can be identified: Clinical pharmacology, aimed at studying medication-effects in humans through mechanistic, molecular and pathophysiological insights as well as biomarker (e.g. genetics, indicators of (patho)physiology) measurements. Clinical pharmacoepidemiology, aimed at translating findings from small scale, pre-registration clinical trials in selected patient-groups to intended and unintended effects in large populations from daily clinical practice. Systems pharmacy research, aimed at studying the context of pharmacotherapy, including the logistics of medication distribution, prescribing and monitoring practices, medication adherence, and the psychology and behaviour regarding pharmacotherapy.
The Centre includes the Utrecht Pharmacy Panel for Education & Research (UPPER) network of pharmacies and closely collaborates with the University Medical Centre Utrecht, NKI/AVL, and psychiatric hospitals in The Netherlands.
Scientific director: prof. dr. Toine Egberts
Managing director: dr. Rob Heerdink

Centre for Pharmaceutical Policy and Regulation

The Centre aims at developing new methods for independent policy and regulatory research, for evidence based policy scenarios, bridging population level to individualized medicine, and for  regulatory and health technology assessment (HTA) decision-making on (bio)pharmaceuticals throughout the world. The Centre offers pharmaceutical policy training courses, conferences, and other teaching and learning projects focusing on the training and education needs in pharmacoepidemiology, drug regulatory science and pharmaceutical policy analysis. Pharmacovigilance and risk management of biopharmaceuticals, policy aspects of access, innovation, regulatory pathways of ATMPs, the interface between regulatory and reimbursement decision making, and the role of HTA throughout the entire drug life cycle are some of the areas of special interest. The Centre nurtures a strong program in drug regulatory science that is unique in its alignment with high-profile public health, policy, and regulatory environments communities (MEB, EMA, FDA, WHO, ZIN, EUnetHTA).
Scientific director: prof. dr. Marieke de Bruin
Managing director: prof. dr. Aukje Mantel-Teeuwisse