CPeRT, based in the CCEB and led by Dr. Sean Hennessy, was established in 2012 to improve public health and advance science by conducting leading-edge, interdisciplinary research in pharmacoepidemiology, and to train the next generation of research leaders in pharmacoepidemiology. Despite CPeRT’s recent establishment, Penn investigators have been leaders in pharmacoepidemiology since the field’s inception in the early 1980s.
CPeRT includes nearly 100 investigators (Penn faculty engaged in pharmacoepidemiology research), adjunct investigators (whose primary affiliation is outside of Penn), and Investigators-in-Training. CPeRT helps to lead Penn’s MSCE- and PhD-granting pharmacoepidemiology training programs, hosts a weekly Pharmacoepidemiology Rounds series, hosts a monthly Research-in-Progress series, hosts visiting pharmacoepidemiology methodologists, maintains phamacoepidemiologic research databases, and funds pilot projects. CPeRT members are leaders in the development, evaluation and application of new methods to study the health effects of medications in populations. CPeRT houses the American editorial office of the journal Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety. CPeRT members also edit the books Pharmacoepidemiology and Textbook of Pharmacoepidemiology.