There are enormous gaps in the information available to the public about the effects of their drugs, and in the application of that information to optimize medication use. AHRQ's Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERTs) program offers the opportunity to address many of these deficits. To address these gaps, this application from the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) proposes to: 1.Continue the development of the PennCERT with a coordinated infrastructure, including: a. Logistical support, including faculty time and core staff; b. Governance, including regular coordination, business meetings, and programmatic coordination, including linkage of the pharmacoepidemiology skills of the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics with the pharmacoeconomics skills of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics; the experience in patient-oriented research of the General Clinical Research Center; basic science laboratories interested in evaluating the molecular mechanisms of drug effects, from the Center for Experimental Therapeutics and elsewhere; and the skills of social science researchers elsewhere the University of Pennsylvania; c. A regularly scheduled educational conference series; d. Active participation in the national network of CERTs; e. A mini-grant research program that funds small studies addressing relevant therapeutic questions as well as pilot studies that support R01 applications; and f. Maintenance of a series of data resources, accessible to investigators from the PennCERT and other CERTs; 2. Conduct research to improve the underlying evidence base for decisions about the use and effects of anti-infective drugs; 3. Implement and evaluate interventions aimed at improving the use of anti-infectives in outpatient and inpatient settings, locally and nationally; 4. Conduct an extensive education program, including: a. a Masters in Clinical Epidemiology (MSCE) and PhD pharmacoepidemiology fellowship training program; b. opportunities for MSCE and PhD students in epidemiology and biostatistics to use existing in-house databases to answer new questions, to participate in ongoing research, and to develop new research projects; c. courses for university physicians, housestaff, and nurses; d. ourses for medical students; e. a new degree credit course in infectious disease epidemiology; and f. a new degree credit course in pharmacoepidemiology research methods. 5. Organize and formally disseminate the results of our work, consisting of publications and presentations targeting: a. for the Scientific/Professional community; b. the FDA, AHRQ, other CERTs, etc.; and c. the public, building on the dissemination program of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics.
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