Joshua Thorpe, Ph.D., M.P.H., has been hired as an associate professor with tenure at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy. He will work closely with the Carolina Health Informatics Program while having continued affiliation with the Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Health System where he serves as director of analytics and research for the VA’s National Palliative and End-of-Life Care Center.
Thorpe earned his Ph.D. at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy in 2005 and his M.P.H. in epidemiology at George Washington University in 2000. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Duke University Center for Aging.
Thorpe comes to the School from the University of Pittsburgh. He joined the faculty at Pittsburgh in 2011, becoming a tenured associate professor in 2015. From 2008 to 2011, he was an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy.
Thorpe’s research program focuses on
- assessing the impact of pharmaceutical policy on medication safety and quality in vulnerable populations,
- assessing the role that family caregivers play in facilitating high-quality medication use and medical care in dependent older adults and
- understanding disparities in access and appropriate use of medications and outpatient services in vulnerable older adults.
Thorpe received the 2017 VA Best Research Paper of the Year Award for his article published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, “Dual Health Care System Use and High-Risk Prescribing in Patients with Dementia.” He also received the 2018 Excellence in Government Award for Outstanding Contribution to Science (Medical) and the 2018 Rho Chi Society Outstanding Scholarly Contribution Award. Thorpe has published over 75 peer-reviewed articles and government reports.