Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

2008-2009 Chairs: Andrew Freedman, Leah Sansbury, Geoffrey Liu
2009-2010 Chairs: Anke-Hilse Maitland and Efrosini Setakis
2010-2011 Chairs: Amalia Issa and Kimberly Lowe

Mission Statement:

To create a global forum for discussion and cooperation between pharmacoepidemiologic researchers interested in genetic, genomic and biomarker research (i.e., molecular epidemiology, genetic epidemiology, pharmacogenetics, and genomic and protein-based biomarkers, and imaging biomarkers). Specifically, this special interest group is interested in research involving the intersection of genetics, genomics, and biomarkers with pharmacovigilance, drug utilization research, comparative effectiveness research, therapeutic risk management, risk communication, health economics and health policy, where the intersection issues relate to drug development, drug delivery, drug use, drug costs, and drug effects.

General Objectives:

• Education of general pharmacoepidemiologists to the terminology, methodologic approaches, and epidemiologic applications used in genetic, genomic and biomarker research.

• Identification and promotion of discussion of key genetic, genomic and biomarker-based research and policy issues that affect or are likely to affect the research of ISPE members, or that intersect with the field of pharmacoepidemiology. Examples include the role of observational studies, use of high dimensionality data analysis, biomarker-environmental and gene-environmental relationships in drug effectiveness or pharmacovigilance, and molecular predictive and prognostic factors.

• Increased participation, communication and cooperation between ISPE members and other groups in academia, industry, and regulatory agencies that are focused on genetic, genomic, and biomarker research as they relate to therapeutics. Examples include National Institutes of Health (NIH), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ), the NIH-sponsored Pharmacogenetics Research Network (PGRN), the Trans-NCI Pharmacogenomics and Pharmacoepidemiology Working Group (PPWG), the European Task Force on Pharmacogenetics/Pharmacogenomics, and the International Serious Adverse Events Consortium (iSAEC).