Introduction
In 2022, Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety (PDS)launched a new section titled “Core Concepts in Pharmacoepidemiology.”
The purpose of this section was to publish articles highlighting some of
the key concepts in pharmacoepidemiologic study design and analysis. The
need for this section was motivated by the desire for PDS to be
recognized as a prominent source of educational information on
foundational pharmacoepidemiologic topics. In addition, the collection
of these articles could be cited as methodological references in future
original research articles and grant proposals to provide strong
justification for important research design and analytic decisions. The
target audience for this collection of review papers includes
individuals currently enrolled in pharmacoepidemiology training programs
and related fields, researchers and practitioners who may not have a
focused background in pharmacoepidemiology, as well as established
pharmacoepidemiologists seeking to review key pharmacoepidemiologic
methods. To ensure the educational content would be accessible and
interpretable by the target audience, the journal’s editors requested
that each author team include a trainee, preferably as first author.