Aim & mission
Our aim is to optimise the safe and effective use of medicines through: maximising the use of health informatics and electronic health records; supporting stratified/personalised medicines; and the design/development, implementation and evaluation of healthcare interventions (e.g. guidelines and digital health technologies).
Our mission is to enhance our international profile to become a recognised Centre of Excellence in Medicines’ Informatics that informs a more “stratified” approach to both the choice of medicine and the care delivery package. This involves personalising the technology (i.e. the medicine) through analysis and interpretation of real-world data, and the accompanying care package (i.e. the intervention) by utilising our digital health and care expertise.
Research themes & areas
Research within the Pharmacoepidemiology and Health care Research group spans three main themes and involves engagement and collaboration with key stakeholders. These stakeholders include: clinicians; policy makers within the health and social care community; academia at both a national and international level; and patients and the public.
The key research themes are:
- Pharmacoepidemiology - this involves analysis of real-world clinical practice data to provide real-world evidence on the effectiveness and safety of medicines that support stratified, personalised or precision medicine approaches to patient care. Examples of research areas and topics include the Cancer Medicine Outcome Programme (CMOP), antimicrobial resistance and cardiovascular medicines.
- Health Services Research - this involves the design/assessment of new health technologies (such as medicines, diagnostics, telehealth, robotics), as well as models of health service delivery, new therapeutic guidelines, public health resource management and patient outcomes and experiences. Examples of research areas/topics include the Scottish Patient Safety Programme, the NHS Scotland General Practice Clinical Pharmacy workforce.
- Drug Utilisation and Health Policy - this involves national and cross-national drug utilisation studies to understand medicines use and to develop strategies to improve the rational use of medicines. Examples include antibiotic surveillance programmes and studies, particularly across Africa, aimed at improving antibiotic use and combating the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through the design, development and implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programmes; and cross-national collaborative projects.
