Lisa Bero
Lisa Bero, PhD, professor of clinical pharmacy at UCSF and a leader in the study of conflicts of interest in biomedical research, will be the featured speaker in a program at the San Francisco-based Commonwealth Club of California, which will be broadcast nationwide on public radio on Wednesday, Feb. 4.
In much of her research, Bero identifies and gauges the impacts of conflicts of interest in the conduct of, reporting of and withholding of research findings from clinical trials. Most recently, she has been examining the process of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug approval, a topic she will discuss at the Commonwealth Club talk, titled “Bias in Drug Trials.”
The event takes place at the club office at 595 Market St. There is a reception at 5:30 p.m. and the program begins at 6 p.m. Admission is $8 for members and $15 for non-members.
The subject matter has been a topical evergreen in recent years, with news stories frequently appearing about safety issues associated with already approved drugs and about questions regarding the FDA’s ability to review drug applications in an unbiased way. Another major issue is the limited access that scientists and the public have to clinical trial data, even for approved drugs. Companies argue that releasing such data helps the competition.
In one of Bero’s major studies, an examination of published research on clinical trials from 2001 and 2002, she found that many clinical trials’ results remained unpublished five years after FDA approval. During her upcoming talk, Bero will address potential remedies for eliminating incomplete and biased information in the medical literature.
The Commonwealth Club of California, founded in 1903, is the nation’s oldest and largest public affairs forum, bringing together more than 18,000 members for more than 400 annual events on topics ranging across politics, culture, society and the economy. The Commonwealth Club has been broadcasting its weekly program since 1924.
Related Links:
Lisa Bero: “Bias in Drug Trials”
Commonwealth Club of California
Does It Matter How You Lower Your Cholesterol?
UCSF Today, March 7, 2008
Drug Company Funding of Drug Trials Greatly Influences Outcome
UCSF News Release, June 4, 2007
