NEWS RELEASE

FDA to Strengthen Research and Communication with AHRQ

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) are about to launch an effort to advance scientific research and to foster research partnerships on drug effectiveness and safety between the two agencies.

"Through this collaboration, we will gain an improved understanding of the health outcomes associated with marketed drugs that we will leverage to improve the quality of information we provide to the public, "said Dr. Gerald Dal Pan, Director of FDA's Office of Drug Safety.

Beginning in mid-January, Dr. Anne Trontell, FDA's Deputy Director of the Office of Drug Safety (ODS), will embark on a 12-month FDA-sponsored detail as a senior advisor in pharmaceutical outcomes research in AHRQ's Center for Outcomes and Evidence (COE). Dr. Trontell, a Captain in the U.S. Public Health Service, will also promote collaborative drug safety and effectiveness research by FDA, AHRQ, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and academic and professional organizations. Her duties will include participation in effectiveness and risk communication research and outreach conducted by the new AHRQ Effective Health Care Program authorized under the Medicare Modernization Act. (For more on the program, see www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov)

"The Effective Health Care Program compares treatment alternatives, including drugs, and communicates its findings broadly to help patients and health care providers make the best choices in their health care.  A closer association between AHRQ and FDA will help both agencies serve consumers and health care professionals better," said Jean R. Slutsky, director of AHRQ's Center for Outcomes and Evidence.

Dr. Trontell has an exceptionally broad background in health services research, pharmacoepidemiology, drug safety, and public health policy interventions. She has held various scientific and executive positions with FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research since 1996. After her appointment as the Deputy Director of ODS in April 2003, she has played a central role in developing risk minimization activities for drug safety problems.

Prior to joining FDA, Dr. Trontell led and conducted preventive health services research for 4 years at the Health Care Financing Administration, where she served as Chief Scientist for the Office of Research and Demonstrations after serving as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Office at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office on Smoking and Health.

Effective with the start of Dr. Trontell's detail, Dr. Jonca Bull, current Deputy Director of the Office of Pharmacoepidemiology and Statistical Science, will also serve as Acting Deputy Director for ODS. She will assume a leadership role in risk management activities previously championed by Dr. Trontell.

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