Newswise — The Rutgers School of Public Health has launched New Jersey’s first Master of Science (MS) in Epidemiology with a concentration in Pharmacoepidemiology degree. This new program will begin enrolling full-time and part-time students for the Fall 2022 semester.
Pharmacoepidemiology is the study of the uses and effects of medications and therapeutic products in real-world patients and populations. There are currently shortages of well-trained pharmacoepidemiologists, and the need for them is predicted to grow based on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 2016 call for more research based on real-world evidence.
There are substantial costs to bring a new drug to market, and pharmacoepidemiologists are needed as part of pharmaceutical research and development to assess diseases and how they progress. Pharmacoepidemiologists assess standard of care and treatment patterns, contextualize how new products will be used within healthcare, and evaluate product utilization, safety, and effectiveness once products are clinically available. While the methods of pharmacoepidemiology are based in epidemiology, the typical data sources and application of methodology are steeped in pharmaceutical sciences and public health.
“Pharmacoepidemiology requires rigorous training in multiple skillsets to achieve actionable real-world evidence for medications and other therapeutic products,” says Tobias Gerhard, director of the Rutgers Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment. “The Master of Science in Epidemiology with a concentration in Pharmacoepidemiology program will train students in the application of epidemiological methods to address important clinical research questions. These skills will be useful for various work settings, including pharmaceutical and consulting companies, governmental agencies, and academic organizations.”
The Rutgers School of Public Health collaborates with the Rutgers Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science members, who are integrally involved in teaching and mentoring students in the program. The members of the Rutgers Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science are leaders in the field of pharmacoepidemiology and have diverse educational backgrounds and research interests, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, mental health, dementia, autoimmune diseases, climate change, aging populations, pregnant populations, pediatric populations, and pharmacoepidemiological methods. Center members lead a wide variety of federally- and industry- funded research projects in collaboration with other investigators at Rutgers and academic institutions, as well as, at pharmaceutical and consulting companies.
The Rutgers Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science faculty are also members and fellows of the International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE), the preeminent scientific society of pharmacoepidemiologists. They serve in leadership positions in ISPE, as editors of Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, and as members of committees for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and the Institute of Medicine.
“Innovative and agile educational programs, like this Master of Science in Epidemiology with a concentration in Pharmacoepidemiology degree, are needed to train a new generation of researchers and scholars who can design and implement creative and rigorous studies of medications and other therapeutic products,” says Brian Strom, chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences and one of the founders of the field of pharmacoepidemiology.
“With the growing emphasis on the use of real-world data to support the development of new medical products and the need to evaluate marketed products, there is a constant need in industry (and government) for well-trained pharmacoepidemiologists at all academic levels,” adds Jesse Berlin, the Rutgers Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science adjunct faculty and former senior vice president of epidemiology globally at Johnson and Johnson.
Students interested in the Rutgers School of Public Health’s Master of Science in Epidemiology with a concentration in Pharmacoepidemiology degree can chat with admissions here.
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About the Rutgers School of Public Health
The Rutgers School of Public Health is New Jersey’s only accredited school of public health that seeks to improve health and prevent disease in diverse populations in New Jersey and around the world through educating students to become well-qualified and effective public health leaders, researchers, and practitioners; conducting research to advance public health science and policies; and providing service programs that promote population and individual health. Visit us at https://sph.rutgers.edu and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn to learn how we're “keeping the ‘public’ in public health.”
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