The Asian Pharmacoepidemiology Network (AsPEN) held a special showcase session during the Asian Conference on Pharmacoepidemiology (ACPE) 2025 in Hong Kong on 23 November 2025. The session highlighted AsPEN’s ongoing efforts to strengthen multinational collaboration and advance pharmacoepidemiologic research across Asia and beyond.
The showcase was moderated by Hiraku Kumamaru (Yokohama City University) and Ju-Young Shin (Sungkyunkwan University, SKKU). The program featured three presentations covering the network’s mission, accomplishments, and future vision.
Ju-Young Shin introduced the background and objectives of AsPEN, emphasizing the importance of collaborative research infrastructure for addressing medication safety and effectiveness in diverse Asian populations.
Daniel Tsai (National Cheng Kung University, NCKU) presented the current achievements of AsPEN, including multinational database collaborations and capacity-building activities across participating countries and regions.
Kenneth Man (UCL) discussed future directions for the network, highlighting opportunities for expanding international partnerships and supporting innovative pharmacoepidemiologic research.
The session provided an important platform for researchers and collaborators to exchange ideas and further strengthen the growing AsPEN community.
References
- Infrastructure 2015 · Epidemiology
Databases in the Asia-Pacific Region: the potential for a distributed network approach
Foundational survey of population-level databases across the Asia-Pacific region; primary reference for this site's Databases page.
Lai ECC, Man KKC, Chaiyakunapruk N, Cheng CL, Chien HC, Chui CSL, ..., Zhang Y, Setoguchi S.
- Infrastructure 2023 · Clinical Epidemiology
Cross-Regional Data Initiative for the Assessment and Development of Treatment for Neurological and Mental Disorders (NeuroGEN)
Detailed description of NeuroGEN's 15-database data infrastructure spanning Asia, Oceania, Europe and North America.
Tsai DHT, Bell JS, Abtahi S, Baak BN, Bazelier MT, Brauer R, ..., Wong ICK, Lai ECC.
NeuroGENdatabasesinfrastructureneurologymental health 📄 Full text DOI: 10.2147/CLEP.S426485 PMID: 38146486