Advancing Pharmacoepidemiology Research in Stroke Using Big Data

Globally, stroke is a leading cause of death and disability. Prevention of stroke involves the management of modifiable risk factors through lifestyle changes and the use of specific medications (e.g. antihypertensive, antithrombotic and lipid-lowering medications). Although the safety and efficacy of these medications has been demonstrated in randomised controlled trials, there is limited evidence on the real-world effectiveness of these medications in conjunction with other commonly prescribed agents. Pharmacoepidemiology is the study of the utilisation and real-world effects of medications and vaccines in the population. The increasing availability of Big Data now enables comprehensive research to be undertaken at the population level to examine rare outcomes associated with the use of medications and vaccines. The student will work within the Big Data, Epidemiology and Prevention Division of the Stroke and Ageing Research (STAR) group, Monash University to: • evaluate published evidence related to pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for stroke prevention (phase 1) • analyse Big Data to investigate the real-world effectiveness of vaccines (e.g. COVID-19) for prevention of stroke (phase 2) • analyse Big Data to investigate the real-world effectiveness of prescription and non-prescription medications for prevention of stroke After obtaining ethics approval, the student will access large, linked databases and will be expected to complete a systematic review and conduct data analysis. The student will learn and apply advanced pharmacoepidemiological and statistical techniques, including propensity score matching, causal inference using observational data, and emulated target trials. The student is expected to summarise their completed work and contributions to the research in a thesis by publication. With supportive supervision, the student will develop the following skills and experience during the research program: • Public Health Research • Theoretical and practical knowledge of pharmacoepidemiology and statistics • Ability to undertake a systematic review (and meta-analysis) • Publication in prominent scientific journals The project is most suitable for a PhD degree, however, modification to suit the requirements of a Masters by Research may be considered.