Professor Sallie Pearson

Research Interests:

I am a pharmacoepidemiologist and leading authority in the conduct of population-based research using routinely collected data. I have led national and international studies leveraging ‘big health data’ to generate real-world evidence on the use, benefits and safety of prescribed medicines. 

I am the Professor of Health Systems, Head the Medicines Intelligence Research Program at the School of Population Health and Theme Principal for Health Systems Research, UNSW Faculty of Medicine and Health. I also direct the NHMRC Medicines Intelligence Centre of Research Excellence (MI-CRE), a collaborative research program with investigators across nine Australian universities and scientific advisors from six leading international academic institutions. MI-CRE’s primary purpose is to develop a coordinated approach to accelerate real-world evidence development for medicines policy decision makers.  

I am a long-standing advocate for the safe and productive use of data to benefit the Australian community, and have published widely on maximising the value of data for decision-making in health. I am an active member of a number of peak medicines policy and health data linkage committees and advisory groups including the Drug Utilisation Sub-Committee of the PBAC (2011- current), Australian Commission for Safety and Quality and Health Care Medication Oversight Committee (2018-current), National Data Advisory Council (2019-current), and Board of the NSW Bureau of Health Information (2021-current). In my decade long tenure as Chair/Deputy Chair of the NSW Population Health Service Research Ethics Committee (2006-2017), I shaped policy around the ethics and governance of health data linkage for research. 

Broad Research Areas:
Population Health, Health Services Research, Cancer, Epidemiology, Health Policy

Qualifications:
PhD

Society Memberships & Professional Activities:
Member, Health Service Research Association of Australia and New Zealand 

Member and Fellow of the International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology 

Member, Harvard Club of Australia

Member, Drug Utilisation Sub-Committee of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee

Member, National Data Advisory Council

Journal Editorial Boards:

Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10991557

International Journal of Population Data Science https://ijpds.org/editorial-board

Public Health Research and Practice https://www.phrp.com.au/about-us/editorial-board

Specific Research Keywords:

Pharmacoepidemiology, Population Health, Health Services Research, Cancer, Epidemiology, Health Policy