Krista F. Huybrechts, M.S., Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an epidemiologist in the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She also holds an appointment as adjunct Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health. Her research centers on the utilization, comparative safety and effectiveness of prescription medications in pregnant women and their offspring, and on studying the outcomes of medications for mental health disorders in vulnerable populations. She also has a special interest in research methodology and innovative research applications in relation to both these fields of study. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology and Therapeutic Risk Management and is a member of FDA’s Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee.

Her research centers on the utilization, comparative safety and effectiveness of prescription medications in pregnant women and their offspring (www.harvardpreg.org), and on studying the outcomes of medications for mental health disorders in vulnerable populations. She also has a special interest in research methodology and innovative research applications in relation to both these fields of study.

Dr. Huybrechts graduated magna cum laude with a Master of Science degree in Economics from the University of Antwerp, Belgium where she also worked as a researcher in health economics. Prior to completing a doctoral degree in epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health, Dr. Huybrechts held several positions in pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research, both in Europe and the US. Her research projects focused primarily on psychiatry and neurology, and covered a broad spectrum of research designs, including clinical trials, naturalistic studies, retrospective data analyses, and decision-analytic simulation models.