Dima Qato, PharmD, MPH, PhD, Hygeia Centennial Chair at the USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, has received a $50,000 Collaborative Research Planning Award from the USC Office of Research and Innovation.

The grant supports an initiative combining data-driven approaches with population-based claims data to help prevent adverse drug interactions. The project blends the expertise of the pharmacy school, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and Cedars Sinai Medical Center.

The research is vital, Qato notes, because increasing polypharmacy — the use of multiple medications at once — has become a leading cause of preventable injuries and fatalities nationwide.

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