Curriculum: MS Pharm Sci: Health Outcomes & Pharmacoeconomics

The course is designed to teach the statistical principles involved in designing clinical research studies to support new drug development programs. Statistical analysis techniques commonly used will be discussed as well as the newer approaches being considered. Statistical topics addressed in regulatory guidelines will be discussed. Emphasis will be placed on the use of statistical software such as JMP. Hands on exercises using the latest version of JMP will be conducted in various classes.

The course begins with basic statistical concepts, introduces essential descriptive and inferential statistical tests, demonstrates some data analysis tools and collection instruments, then discusses common research methodology for pharmaceutical and cosmetic sciences. Students will learn how to use statistics and research designs to evaluate scientific evidence to make individual and population-based decisions. Students will conduct some simple statistical analysis based on given data sets and interpret the results, as well review clinical research literature.

This course will provide students a background in project management issues in the conduct of global clinical trials, financial aspects of drug development and pharmacoeconomics of approved drug/drug products. The first module will focus on logistic and strategic issues of project management encountered in modern drug development. It includes exposure to principles of project management of complex programs involving: pharmaceutical development, operations, and regulatory affairs. In addition, the corporate challenges involved with portfolio management and optimization will be presented focusing on tools used for optimum decision making. This knowledge base will be applied towards selective case presentations with the goal to identify critical decision points in the process that dramatically impact the successful launch of a new product. The second module will emphasize the business and financial aspects of drug development, including biotechnology and other innovative small pharmaceutical companies that derive their funding primarily from venture capital funding, business strategies, outsourcing and merger and acquisitions. Valuation of the new chemical/molecule as it evolves in the drug development pipeline will be discussed.

This course is designed to provide an understanding of the theory and application of economic evaluation methods used in healthcare decision-making. Various methods such as cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-utility analysis, cost-minimization analysis, and cost-benefit analysis will be discussed to evaluate healthcare services, pharmaceuticals, and medical device products. Additionally, techniques to measure costs and outcomes will be discussed in detail along with assigning the monetary value to outcomes. Different types of models such as decision trees and Markov models will be taught. Students will have a chance to conduct independent group projects using a decision-analytic software package by which they will be able to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis to compare different therapeutic options.

The objective of this graduate course is to prepare students to evaluate outcomes, comparative effectiveness, and health services research using real-world data (RWD) to generate Real World Evidence (RWE). In this course, students will learn about the contents and structure of typical healthcare databases used to perform outcomes, comparative effectiveness, and health services research, discuss the relative advantages and disadvantages of RWD data and identify methodological challenges of using RWD. Additionally, recent the regulatory framework for RWE and RWD will be discussed.

Students will learn about the various ethical and moral issues that are often encountered in scientific research including ways to identify and analyze them in the practice of research. The course is designed as an option to meet the NIH and NSF requirements for training in RCR (Responsible conduct of research). Topics to be covered include: RCR principles and guidelines, mentorship, collaborative research, conflict of interests, authorship and plagiarism, intellectual property and data handling, research involving human and animal subjects, scientific integrity and misconduct and social responsibility.

This course will provide a comprehensive background in the design and conduct of large, multicenter Phase III clinical trials of investigational compounds. Emphasis will be placedon the conduct of studies that include patients with varying demographics (age, gender, genetic background and disease state such as renal and hepatic). Issues pertaining to clinical operations, project management, human subjects protections and data safety monitoring will be discussed. An introduction to principles of population pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics will be included. The course will include conceptsof post marketing surveillance of approved drugs for drug safety and idiosyncratic reactions, global approaches for pharmacovigilance and compliance with ICH guidelines for recording and dissemination of adverse events. Issues pertainingto pharmacoepidemiology and clinical utilization/effectiveness of the drug will also bediscussed.

This is the first of a two-course sequence. The overall objective is for the students to undertake a supervised literature-based scholarship and/or research in Health Outcomes and Pharmacoeconomics that utilizes skills and concepts of didactic coursework in the program. Students in consultation with faculty supervisor will select capstone topic and methods appropriate to students educational and professional goals.

This course provides graduate students with an overview on legal and regulatory aspects relevant to drug and medical device development. This includes intellectual properties protection, global legal and regulatory requirements, protection of human subjects and ethics in clinical research and essential elements of management of global projects. Case studies will be included to underline how regulatory strategiesimpact product marketing and life cycle management. Throughout the course, students will integrate knowledge using specific industry examples with the goal to identify critical decision points in the development that impact success of a new drug or medical device on the market.

This is the second of a two-course sequence. The overall objective is for the students to undertake a supervised literature-based scholarship and/or research in Health Outcomes and Pharmacoeconomics that utilizes skills and concepts of didactic coursework in the program. Students in consultation with faculty supervisor will select capstone topic and methods appropriate to students educational and professional goals.

This course will provide an understanding on the early clinical drug development activities for newchemical entity that has received IND approval. Concepts of early clinical pharmacology studies, typically conducted in a Phase I setting such as single and multiple dose pharmacokinetics, dose escalation studies to determine the safety and tolerability of drug, mass balance and drug metabolism studies and bioavailability studies will be taught. Emphasis will then be placed on Phase II trials as proof-of-principle, and on the dose-ranging requirements for Phase II. Trial designs including cross-over and parallel group will be discussed. The importance of Phase I/II trials for making dose selections for Phase III will be explored, as will the use of Phase II trials as a go/no-go decision point. The importance of exposure-response (PK/PD) information in guiding the go/no-go decision will also be discussed. The use of biomarkers and pharmacogenomic information in decision making will be addressed. Activities which run in parallel to PhaseI/II trials, including formulation development and clinical supplies and toxicology studies will be discussed.

Scientific Communication in Pharmacy prepares you for your Capstone project by mastering specific techniques to make your scientific writing clearer for your audience and to meet the conventions of the scientific community. At the end of the term, you will be prepared to professionally communicate your future Capstone work by producing a journal ready paper. Throughout the semester, we will spend time drafting, revising, and finalizing such a paper. Your final written paper should demonstrate that you have mastered the conventions of scientific communication, clear writing, and proper style.

The course is intended to provide the student with a systems perspective of U.S. health and health care structure and function. As the MHA Program’s introductory course, it provides a basis for all subsequent courses including leadership, systems analysis, finance and economics, quality improvement, policy and law, and others. Topics include an overview of the social, political, economic and structural dynamics which shape health care in the United States as well as current and likely future imperatives health care managers will face. Evaluation is competency-based; students will be expected to demonstrate proficiency at seeking and applying evidence to managerial decision-making, the effective communication of ideas, and a number of different types of analyses relevant to cases and issues affecting U.S. healthcare today.

This course is designed to provide students with an overview of how policy is developed and how policies can affect health care in the United States. The course prepares students to understand the steps in the policy creation process and then apply concepts in policy analysis and advocacy. There are five focus areas: need and demand, healthcare finance, ethics & law, preparedness, and policy evaluation. Within the five focus areas, we will examine topics using Bardach’s Eightfold Path: problem definition, agenda setting, implementation, evaluation, and modification. The course will present case studies and readings about real-world problems that health professionals face.

This course focuses on U.S. healthcare and public health topics such as healthcare delivery, public health services, performance, organization, financing and technology. Key emerging global health topics are taught. The course introduces key public policy impacting health and healthcare,such as policy advocating for patient-centered care, efficiency, quality and safety. The course introduces the role of health information technology and electronic health information sharing. This course also introduces and compares key healthcare quality initiatives.

This course introduces the discipline of health informatics and covers emerging trends. Various information systems, technologies and applications utilized in the context of health and healthcare are introduced. Their characteristics, strengths, challenges, purpose and impact are taught. Impact on patients, populations and healthcare providers is emphasized. Factors influencing adoption and use of various clinical and health information systems and technologies are taught. Key information technologies and systems such as electronic health records, health information exchanges, personal health records, public health information systems and mobile health technologies are introduced in this course. Topics such as telemedicine, interoperability and technical concepts are taught, and evaluation framework is introduced.

This course introduces legislation relevant to electronic health information privacy and information security. Topics such as electronic health information privacy and security safeguards, risk assessment methodology and contingency planning are taught. Students learn how to mitigate risk to business continuity and plan for disaster recovery.

This course introduces the student to a variety of statistical methods, study design, and programming as essential skills in data science. Students practice techniques such as data cleaning, data wrangling, data exploration, analysis, visualization, and interpretation. Students use a variety of healthcare datasets in this course and are also prepared to discuss healthcare data standards and measures, best practices in data management, and trends in healthcare data science and management.

This course will introduce students to a variety of cutting edge analytics and business intelligence tools applicable to health or healthcare data. Both structured and unstructured data will be introduced in this course. The coursewill also address topics related to data governance and data quality and various other topics relevant to health data management. This course is predominately hands-on and students willcomplete a project to demonstrate skills acquired.Students will learn how other industries have applied similar or the same tools.

The course introduces methodology for studies of diseases in human populations. The distribution and determinants of diseases are at the center of epidemiologic investigation. Methods to determine morbidity and mortality of diseases are summarized. Study designs to investigate risk factors of diseases are detailed. Diagnostic tests, clinical trials, and nature history of diseases are included. Topics covered include cancer, chronic diseases, infectious diseases, reproductive, perinatal and pediatric epidemiology, occupational and environmental epidemiology. Sources, collection, handling, and interpretation of health data are also discussed.

This course teaches the use of healthcare data to make decisions and transform healthcare delivery and the health of individuals and populations. The course concentrates on big and small data, and structured and unstructured data. Tools, applications and approaches for health data analytics are taught. This course covers topics such as statistical approaches; data, web and textmining; data visualization, simulation, modeling and forecasting. Key regulatory health and healthcare reporting requirements are taught.

This course is designed to introduce students to the gold standard methodologies for synthesizing research evidence. Focusing on the critical evaluation, integration, and application of empirical evidence, the curriculum empowers students to conduct systematic reviews and meta-analyses, addressing the urgent need for evidence-based practice in healthcare. Through theoretical instruction and hands-on projects, participants will learn to identify research patterns, assess the quality of studies, and apply statistical techniques for meta-analysis, preparing them for impactful contributions to pharmaceutical sciences and clinical decision-making. The course combines theoretical knowledge with applied skills in evaluating and synthesizing medical and pharmaceutical evidence. Students will be expected to participate in interactive lectures, practical workshops involving both frequentist and Bayesian statistical analyses, and critical appraisal sessions of published evidence.