Welcome to the Program on Medicines and Public Health within the Titus Family Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Southern California. Our program focuses on the development and expansion of several research initiatives focusing on access to medications, drug utilization and pharmaceutical policy.
We conduct innovative drug utilization and pharmacoepidemiology research to better understand the underlying mechanisms responsible for the use, underuse, and unsafe use of medications, how these patterns may influence health outcomes and health disparities, and what can be done from a community and policy perspective to address these growing public health problems.
Our mission is to improve equitable access and safe use of essential medicines in the U.S. and globally. The Program will develop and lead interdisciplinary research efforts focusing on drug utilization, access to medicines, and pharmaceutical policy to better understand why medications are used, or not used, and how they can and should be used in the population to promote equity, longevity, and good health.
Our goal is to improve our understanding of the role of medicines in public health and health equity and to promote public accountability to better ensure access to, and safe use of, medications at the national, state, and local levels. In an effort to achieve these goals, we often incorporate the health and human rights concept of ‘essential medicines’ in our research and programming.
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Qato Awarded Grant from the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts
Dima Qato, Hygeia Centennial Chair at the USC Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, has received a $50,000 Collaborative Research Planning Award from the USC Office of Research and Innovation. The grant supports an initiative combining data-driven approaches with population-based claims data to help prevent adverse drug interactions. The project blends the expertise of the Mann School, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.
The research is vital, Qato notes, because increasing polypharmacy—the use of multiple medications at once—has become a leading cause of preventable injuries and fatalities nationwide. “Despite this rise, though, existing drug safety monitoring still focuses on the side effects of individual medications,” she says. “The role of drug-to-drug interactions is being overlooked—putting patients at risk.”
Qato, who also directs the Mann School’s Program on Medicines and Public Health, is working with co-principal investigators Nicholas Tatonetti of Cedars-Sinai’s Department of Computational Biomedicine and Sze-Chuan Suen, associate professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at USC Viterbi. They are blending their expertise to employ AI, machine learning and big data techniques to reveal dangerous polypharmacy interactions that have previously gone undetected—especially in such vulnerable populations as children and older adults.
Based on this project’s results, the team will apply for funding from the National Institutes of Health to further their efforts in preventing adverse drug events. “Our research is designed to fundamentally enhance the way drug safety surveillance is conducted,” Qato says.
The USC Collaborative Research Planning Award supports the creation of multidisciplinary research teams, bringing together several disciplines to provide a broad range of expertise and generate creative solutions to solve real-world problems.
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Qato Receives USC Collaborative Research Award
Dima Qato, Hygeia Centennial Chair at the USC Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, has received a $50,000 Collaborative Research Planning Award from the USC Office of Research and Innovation. The grant supports an initiative combining data-driven approaches with population-based claims data to help prevent adverse drug interactions. The project blends the expertise of the Mann School, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.
The research is vital, Qato notes, because increasing polypharmacy—the use of multiple medications at once—has become a leading cause of preventable injuries and fatalities nationwide. “Despite this rise, though, existing drug safety monitoring still focuses on the side effects of individual medications,” she says. “The role of drug-to-drug interactions is being overlooked—putting patients at risk.”
Qato, who also directs the Mann School’s Program on Medicines and Public Health, is working with co-principal investigators Nicholas Tatonetti of Cedars-Sinai’s Department of Computational Biomedicine and Sze-Chuan Suen, associate professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at USC Viterbi. They are blending their expertise to employ AI, machine learning and big data techniques to reveal dangerous polypharmacy interactions that have previously gone undetected—especially in such vulnerable populations as children and older adults.
Based on this project’s results, the team will apply for funding from the National Institutes of Health to further their efforts in preventing adverse drug events. “Our research is designed to fundamentally enhance the way drug safety surveillance is conducted,” Qato says.
The USC Collaborative Research Planning Award supports the creation of multidisciplinary research teams, bringing together several disciplines to provide a broad range of expertise and generate creative solutions to solve real-world problems.
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Qato Awarded $1.65M NIH Grant
Funding will support research to advance policies within Medicare Part D to prevent pharmacy closures and advance equitable access to medicines
Dima M. Qato, associate professor of pharmacy at the USC Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Director of the Program on Medicines and Public Health, was awarded a four-year, $1,650,000 grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) for her project “Structural Racism in Medicare Part D, Pharmacy Closures and Disparities in Medication Adherence in Older Adults.”
Qato’s pioneering work on the impact of structural racism on pharmacy closures and access to medicines aims to advance equitable, and eliminate discriminatory, policies within Medicare Part D and resolve persistent disparities in pharmacy access and adherence among chronically ill older adults.
“Pharmacy closures may be an overlooked community-level mechanism of structural racism that exacerbates the adverse consequences of segregation on disparities in pharmacy access and medication adherence,” said Qato, who serves as the Hygeia Centennial Chair at the USC Mann School and is a senior fellow at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics. Qato holds a joint appointment with the USC Spatial Sciences Insitute at USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
Despite evidence that pharmacy closures contribute to declines in medication adherence, rigorous investigations on the extent and impact of structural racism within Medicare Part D–policies that reinforce differential access to resources and opportunities–and pharmacy closures on disparities in medication adherence have not been conducted, according to Qato.
“We need to shift the focus within Medicare Part D payment and delivery reform from addressing individual-level barriers toward addressing structural racism and how it operates at the community level, specifically pharmacy closures, to adversely affect minority older adults living in segregated neighborhoods,” Qato said. “The failure to do so may undermine ongoing efforts to reduce disparities”
“The goal of this project is to evaluate the extent and impact of pharmacy closures on medication adherence among chronically ill older adults with Medicare Part D and identify subgroups most at-risk for non-adherence post-closure,” Qato said.
A public health advocate and community pharmacist, Qato aims to generate new evidence to guide Medicare Part D payment and delivery reforms to protect pharmacies from closure. For older adults who rely on their pharmacies, Qato’s project aims to reduce disparities in medication access and advance health equity.
Recent Insights:
Jenny Guadamuz, Dima Qato, and their coauthors (2021) found that as of 2020, pharmacies in Black and Latino neighborhoods were more likely to close and less likely to offer immunizations, 24-hour, and drive-through services than pharmacies in other neighborhoods. Read the publication in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association here.
In these visualizations, Guadamuz and co-authors (2021) explore trends and disparities in access to pharmacies across Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston communities based on their racial or ethnic composition from 2015 to 2020. Guadamuz et al. hypothesized that disparities in the availability and access to pharmacies would be associated with racial or ethnic segregation, with fewer pharmacies being located in segregated minority communities. Explore these visualizations, created by PMPH staff, Andrew S., to find out more!
In another recent publication, Jenny Guadamuz, Dima Qato, and their coauthors (2021) found that ‘pharmacy deserts’ disproportionately affect Black and Latino residents in many of the largest U.S cities. Read the publication in Health Affairs here. Find the press release here, and the USC Schaeffer Center coverage here. Additional coverage was also broadcasted on Fox News Los Angeles affiliate KTTV-TV and Spectrum News 1.
A Podcast discussion with lead author, Dr. Guadamuz, on the study investigating accessibility of pharmacies by neighborhood type in large US cities from 2007 to 2015. Listen to the Health Affairs Podcast with Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil:
Recent News:
Here’s what CVS’s potential breakup could mean for youHere’s what CVS’s potential breakup could mean for you By Janelle Nanos Globe Staff,Updated October 1, 2024 Over the past year, CVS has made a concerted push to court seniors to enroll in its Aetna Medicare programs by offering free sports equipment, fishing rods, and other enticements. It worked maybe a little too well for…- Why drugstores could be on the list of troubled business modelsWhy drugstores could be on the list of troubled business models Published on Market Place by Matt Levin Oct 15, 2024 “When they do close, they’re more likely to close in Black and Latinx neighborhoods, low income neighborhoods, and neighborhoods where a larger share of the population is covered by Medicare or Medicaid,” said…
More pharmacy closures leave consumers in pharmacy deserts without access to medicationsMore pharmacy closures leave consumers in pharmacy deserts without access to medications Published on USA Today by Betty Lin-Fisher on 10/18/2024 Nearly half of U.S. counties, or 46%, had at least one pharmacy desert, according to an article in August in the American Medical Association journal JAMA. The report used data from 2000 and does…- Birth control doesn’t cause abortions – but that misconception is blocking accessBirth control doesn’t cause abortions – but that misconception is blocking access Published on 10/22/2024 by Elizabeth Weise in USA Today Birth control remains legal in all 50 states and can be purchased over the counter with no age limit. But lawmakers in at least seven states have attempted to cut off funding or scuttle…
Post-Roe, States With Abortion Bans Saw Steep Declines in Birth Control PrescriptionsPost-Roe, States With Abortion Bans Saw Steep Declines in Birth Control Prescriptions Published on 9/26/2024 by Carrie N. Baker in Ms. The June 2022 Supreme Court decision eliminating the constitutional right to abortion was followed by steep declines in prescriptions for birth control pills and emergency contraception in states where abortion is banned. This finding…
Recent Events:
Dr. Dima Qato an invited panelist for Health Equity Summit on Pharmacy DesertsDima Qato, PharmD, MPH, PhD was an invited panelist at Kearny Health Equity Summit 3.0 on Friday, October 17
Invited talk at University of Mississippi School of PharmacyDima M. Qato, PharmD, MPH, PhD presented an invited talk, the Coy W. Waller Distinguished Lecture, "Structural Racism and Disparities in Access to Essential Medicines in the U.S.," Friday, October 4, University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy.- Invited Talk at APhA Annual MeetingDima M. Qato, PharmD, MPH, PhD will deliver an invited talk at the APhA Annual Meeting on Sunday, March 24, "The Problem of Pharmacy Deserts: Health Equity Implications and Potential Solutions."
- Panel DiscussionA panel discussion featuring Dima M. Qato, PharmD, MPH, PhD, "Innovative Approaches & Sustainable Strategies," presented during a Sept. 12 virtual workshop on supply chain disruptions organized by the National Academies' Science and Technology for Resilience Program, was highlighted in a new summary publication by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.