Dr Li-Chia Chen

Overview

I am a hospital pharmacist by background, trained in pharmacy practice research and methodologies in evidence-based medicine, drug utilisation research, pharmacoepidemiology, and health economics. I have a progressing and balanced professional and academic profile and have insightful scope of international teaching and study of pharmacy in higher education institutes.

My current research focuses on the quality of patient-centred healthcare and explores issues of medicine use and outcomes from the perspectives of patients, payers and health care providers. I often used mixed methods (including both qualitative and quantities methodologies) in a variety of disease areas to explore policy, drug utilisation, and patient safety-related issues. In particular, I have many experiences in using secondary databases, such as the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database and the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink.

Currently, my research emerges in two themes around optimising the use of opioids for chronic non-cancer pain management and the adherence, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of long-term breast cancer therapeutics. I am also involved in several projects in developing and evaluating pharmacy services.

I taught in both undergraduate (MPharm) and postgraduate (MScClinPharm) programmes in evidence-based medicine, critical appraisal, randomised control trials design and statistics, epidemiology study design and health economic evaluation. I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.