About

About AsPEN

A multi-national research network supporting pharmacoepidemiologic studies and prompt safety-signal validation across Asia.

Mission

To study the effectiveness and safety of medications from Asian countries, and to facilitate prompt identification and validation of emerging safety issues across the region. To advance multi-national database research in pharmacoepidemiology in the Asia/Pacific region through education, capacity building, equitable collaboration, and knowledge exchange among researchers and colleagues.

Goals and Objectives

Goal 1

To advance high-quality, multi-national pharmacoepidemiologic research across the Asia-Pacific region

Conduct collaborative studies on medication utilization, effectiveness, and safety using databases from Asian countries and regions
Support timely signal detection, signal validation, and evidence generation for emerging medication safety issues
Promote transparent, reproducible, and fit-for-purpose research approaches across diverse healthcare systems and data environments
Strengthen methodological capacity for cross-database studies, including distributed analyses, common data models, and multi-country study governance

Goal 2

To strengthen education, training, and capacity building in pharmacoepidemiology

Host symposia, workshops, webinars, and training activities for researchers, students, policymakers, and healthcare practitioners
Provide opportunities for students, early-career researchers, and colleagues from emerging research settings to engage in formal or hands-on training
Promote knowledge exchange on study design, data analytics, regulatory science, real-world evidence, and cross-national database research
Support mentorship and career development within the Asia-Pacific pharmacoepidemiology community

Goal 3

To foster equitable, sustainable, and open collaboration across countries, regions, and research groups

Facilitate regular communication and collaboration among AsPEN members through online meetings, in-person meetings, and collaborative scientific activities
Encourage equitable participation and leadership across countries, disciplines, career stages, and data settings
Promote AsPEN's mission and scientific contributions through publications, presentations, workshops, and international partnerships
Support flexible connections and working groups that enable members to collaborate based on shared interests and regional priorities

Goal 4

To enhance regional and international impact through evidence generation, policy engagement, and scientific exchange

Translate pharmacoepidemiologic evidence into insights relevant to clinical practice, regulatory decision-making, and public health policy
Engage with international societies, regulatory stakeholders, and research networks to amplify Asia-Pacific perspectives
Identify region-specific medication safety and effectiveness questions that may not be adequately addressed in other populations or single-country studies
Contribute to global real-world evidence development by highlighting the diversity of Asian healthcare systems, populations, and data sources

Governance

AsPEN is a Special Interest Group (SIG) of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE), established in April 2012. AsPEN has evolved into an international research network, supporting collaborative initiatives such as NeuroGEN, vaccine safety studies, and pregnancy pharmacoepidemiology research. Leadership rotates among national groups, with the Chair coordinating overall programme strategy and ISPE liaison, while the Academic & Education role facilitates capacity building, knowledge exchange, and good-practice discussions to support multi-country collaborations.

Chair

Ju-Young Shin

SKKU · SNU

Coordinates AsPEN's programme strategy, ISPE liaison, and multi-country study governance.

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Operations & Coordination

Day-to-day operations are coordinated by the Chair with the SKKU team; handling ISPE liaison, multi-country study governance, and collaborative protocols.

Academic & Education

Develops educational resources, organises webinars and workshops, and mentors early-career epidemiologists across AsPEN member sites; supporting capacity building and knowledge exchange.

Edward Lai

Education Lead

NCKU

Daniel Tsai

Education Co-Lead

NCKU

How to join

AsPEN participation is open to researchers, healthcare professionals, regulators, and graduate students with an interest in pharmacoepidemiology in Asia/Pacific.

Recommended

Become an AsPEN member

Apply directly to the AsPEN Chair and the Academic & Education office. Self-signup, vetted before approval.

Apply

For general inquiries or to discuss local data access and collaboration, see the Contact page.

Current Chair

Ju-Young Shin

Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) · Seoul National University (SNU)

Dr Ju-Young Shin is a professor at the School of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, South Korea. She serves as an associate editor for Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, Vaccines, and Epidemiology and Health. Dr Shin holds a PhD in pharmacoepidemiology from Seoul National University and has extensive experience as a director at the Korea Institute of Drug Safety Management. She has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles in journals including BMJ, Gut, and Allergy, with research interests spanning vaccine safety, biologics, and real-world evidence. She also advises the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and serves on committees for the Korean Society for Pharmacoepidemiology, contributing important regulatory and scientific expertise.

Chair-Elect

Hiraku Kumamaru

Yokohama City University, Graduate School of Data Science

Dr Hiraku Kumamaru graduated from the University of Tokyo Faculty of Medicine and, after clinical training, developed an interest in health policy, working as a researcher at the Health and Global Policy Institute. He went on to study at the Harvard School of Public Health, earning MPH, MS, and ScD degrees while training in health-policy foundations, claims- and registry-based clinical research methods, and applied and methodological pharmacoepidemiology. Returning to Japan, he took part in building, operating, and analysing registries based on the National Clinical Database (NCD) at the University of Tokyo, focusing on data generation and the systems that support data reliability. Since April 2025 he has been at the Graduate School of Data Science, Yokohama City University. His work centres on real-world data, including claims, DPC, electronic health records, and registries, and on understanding their generation, accuracy, and the biases that arise from database characteristics, which he regards as a common foundation for high-quality pharmacoepidemiological research.

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