Tobias Gerhard Named President of International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology

Tobias Gerhard, interim director of Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research and founding director of Rutgers Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science, has been named president of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE).

ISPE is an international organization dedicated to advancing the health of the public by providing a global forum for the open exchange of scientific information and for the development of policy, education and advocacy for the field of pharmacoepidemiology.

Gerhard, a professor at the Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, was installed as president of ISPE at the society’s annual conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, in August, after serving his term as president-elect and chair of the society’s strategic planning committee.

“It is a point of pride for Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences that Dr. Gerhard has assumed the presidency of ISPE,” said Brian Strom, the chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences. “This recognizes Dr. Gerhard’s stature in the field, including his expertise and dedication to novel topics and methods, and anticipates his future contributions to the growth and development of pharmacoepidemiology as a scientific discipline. His demonstrated leadership abilities will be an enormous asset to ISPE.”

Gerhard’s research work focuses on the development and evaluation of modern pharmacoepidemiologic methods with applications in mental health and geriatric pharmacotherapy. His work has been funded by the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute on Mental Health and other foundations. Gerhard, who received his education from the University of Freiburg in Germany, and the University of Florida, also has published widely on use, safety and outcomes of therapeutics, particularly of psychotropic medications in vulnerable populations.

Gerhard has served on committees for the Federal Drug Administration and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. His research has been recognized with a Young Investigator Award from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, a New Investigator Award from the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology and the 2020 Sternfels Prize for Drug Safety Discoveries.

“The International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology has been my academic home away from home for almost two decades,” said Gerhard. “It is a great honor to serve as president of ISPE, a society that is at the scientific forefront of the discipline, dedicated to the training and mentoring of the next generation of researchers, and very close to my heart. I look forward to leading ISPE and working alongside many friends and colleagues around the world to advance the field of pharmacoepidemiology.” 

ABOUT RUTGERS INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH, HEALTH CARE POLICY AND AGING RESEARCH 

Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research advances health and well-being through meaningful, rigorous and impactful research in the critical areas of behavioral health, health services, health disparities, health policy, health economics, pharmacoepidemiology, and aging research. 

Since its 1985 founding, the Institute has become nationally renowned for interdisciplinary and translational research. The Institute’s 57,000 square foot facilities are home to six members elected to the National Academy of Medicine and 200 members representing over 30 schools, institutes, and units with adjunct members from 29 national and international universities.