Grant: Team Grant: DSEN Coll Centre for Prospective Studies -Comparative Effectiveness

Medication use and health costs increase steadily with the aging of the Canadian population and the ever expanding number of medications available on the market. Overall, new treatments contribute to the increasing life expectancy and improved health of Canadians. However, some medications currently available on the market may have important un-intended adverse health effects. Furthermore, it is not always clear which of the alternative medications, available to treat a given disease offer the maximum benefits to the patients. The above concerns are reflected in frequent 'research queries', initiated by Health Canada or provincial agencies that regulate medications availability and use, regarding either the safety or the therapeutic effectiveness of specific medications. To address such queries, researchers require high-quality data on drug use and health outcomes among the users, as well as sophisticated research methods. To provide accurate and timely responses to queries concerning safety or benefits of particular drugs, currently used by Canadians, we have created a highly inter-disciplinary network of 35 researchers, from 13 universities in 6 Canadian provinces, who provide complementary clinical and methodological expertise. In the past 2.5 years, our team has already completed or initiated several research projects that address recent drug-related queries. With this highly qualified and experienced team we aim to establish and reinforce Canada's position as the international leader in research on effectiveness and safety of the medications. Our state-of-the-art scientific methods will help identifying adverse effects of some medications and compare the benefits of alternative drugs, currently used to treat many diseases. This will help optimize drug prescribing practice and, in turn, will ultimately lead to both more rational use of health care resources and improved health for Canadians.