DPOP-1

Identifying and improving the economic and health outcomes of therapies, policies and practices

The Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy (DPOP) prepares graduates for leadership positions in academia, industry, and government sectors. Students develop solid research skills, enabling them to conduct high quality research directed at improving the use and cost-effectiveness of pharmaceutical products, technology, and services in society.

Learn more about the division’s 5-year strategic plan

Faculty

Our faculty are trained in public health and have expertise in: pharmacoepidemiology, genomic epidemiology, health behavior and behavior change (including the effects of patient-provider communication, risk communication, and health literacy on health behavior), comparative effectiveness research, pharmaceutical policy, and pharmacoeconomics.

Learn more about our faculty

Teaching

The DPOP curriculum prepares students to apply social behavioral theory in the design and evaluation of health interventions as well as in the study of multilevel factors that affect health behaviors and outcomes; to interpret and apply state-of-the-art epidemiologic approaches to study utilization and comparative effectiveness/safety of healthcare interventions using a variety of complex data sources; and to analyze the impacts of pharmaceutical policy.

Learn more about our PhD program

Research

DPOP is committed to excellence in research, education, and service that advances the optimal use of medications with the goal of improving human health. Our research focuses on health outcomes and how to support medication taking at the individual, practice, and system level.

Learn more about our current research

Learn more about our Postdoctoral Fellowship programs

Learn more about our faculty labs

News

Grace Marley

“Naloxone saves lives,” said Grace Marley, Pharm.D. ‘23, research assistant professor in DPOP. The drug, naloxone, is a medication that acts quickly to reverse opioid overdoses and restore breathing. Opioid overdoses are a major public health concern in the U.S. and caused nearly 83,000 deaths in 2022.

Marley, first author on a recently published paper in JAMA Health Forum, is passionate about the opioid epidemic and helping pharmacists reduce overdose harm. The experience of losing her brother to substance use disorder drives her desire to help others. Read more about her work here.

Associate Professor Carolyn Thorpe, Ph.D., M.P.H., has been awarded more than $2.5 million from the National Institute on Aging to support her project entitled, “Health Outcomes of Discontinuing Aspirin in Older Adults with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias”. As principal investigator, Thorpe will lead an interdisciplinary team from UNC-Chapel Hill, the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of New England in conducting a retrospective cohort study using real-world health care data from the Veterans Health Administration. The study will use rigorous pharmaco-epidemiologic methods to examine patterns, benefits, and harms of discontinuing aspirin in older nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias.

Congratulations to Dr. Betsy Sleath for being featured in the Well for her work in health care communication.

Can better communication improve Black glaucoma patient outcomes?

Carpenter named vice chair of Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, Asheville campus - UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy

Congratulations to Dr. Delesha Carpenter for expanding RURAL-CP, the first rural community pharmacy practice-based research network, to Tennessee and Georgia. The network now includes pharmacies in 7 southeastern states.

UNC researchers awarded $4.3M from PCORI to study strategies to improve health outcomes for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their parents