Frontiers in Health Sciences Seminar

Frontiers in Health Sciences seminar series continues in February with a presentation by Professor Olaf Klungel from Utrecht University, the Netherlands:

Use of real word data for decision making on medicines

Olaf Klungel is professor of pharmacoepidemiologic methods at Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands. He is chair of the division of Pharmacoepidemiology & Clinical Pharmacology and scientific director of the Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences. He is also adjunct professor of Pharmacoepidemiology at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense. He was trained as a pharmacist and epidemiologist. 

His main research area is the development, improvement and evaluation of innovative methods of observational drug research. Main applications are in the post-registration phase of drug development. Prof. Klungel represents the division of Pharmacoemidemiology & Clinical Pharmacology in the European Network of Centres for Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance (ENCePP), the EU2P steering committee (Director of Benefit/Risk Assessment domain), and is PI of the EU Pharmacoepidemiology & Pharmacovigilance Research Network (formerly PROTECT). 

He is Past President of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE) and past elected steering group member of ENCePP, and currently member of the Methodology Working Party of EMA. Selected research findings on benefits and harms of medicines include the impact of genetic variants in the renin-angiotensin and salt-sensitivity system on the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus and myocardial infarction associated with the use of thiazide diuretics and ACE inhibitors, the discovery that thiazide diuretics have a particular beneficial effect compared to other antihypertensive drugs in the prevention of the risk of ischemic stroke (research performed at University of Washington in Seattle, US in collaboration with Prof. Bruce Psaty). Further findings include the increased risk of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus-like syndrome associated with the use of statins and increased bleeding risk with concurrent use of selective serotonin inhibitors and coumarins. 

Most recently, he co-lead research for the EMA on safety of COVID-19 vaccines. In addition to his research, Prof. Klungel teaches pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacotherapy to medical and pharmacy students. He is (co-)author of over 350 papers in peer reviewed journals, book chapters and research reports. 

The seminar is organized by the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Eastern Finland and it is open to everyone interested.

Welcome!

For further information, please contact Coordinator of Doctoral Programme in Drug Research, Katja Savolainen, email katja.savolainen@uef.fi.