User:Kdickersin/Lisa Bero

Lisa Anne Bero

Born	       August 4, 1958

Residence	United States

Nationality	American

Fields	       Health policy, pharmacology, evidence-based health care, tobacco control

Institutions	Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy and Institute for Health Policy Studies, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

Vice Chair – Research, Department of Clinical Pharmacy Co-Director, San Francisco Branch, United States Cochrane Center

Education	Doctor of Philosophy, Pharmacology/Toxicology, Duke University, Department of Pharmacology, Durham, North Carolina, USA; Bachelor of Science, Physiology/Philosophy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, East Lansing, Michigan USA

Known for	Exposing the impact of conflicts of interest on research integrity, advocacy for evidence-based health care, promoting the rational use of essential medicines

Notable awards	University of California, San Francisco Distinction in Mentoring Award 2009, Harold S. Luft Award for Mentoring in Health Services and Health Policy Research 2009

Professor Lisa Bero (born 1958) is an American who has done seminal research that questions the reliability of industry funded research (eg, tobacco, pharmaceuticals). She has dedicated her career to developing ways to decrease bias in research and improve the use of research evidence in health policy decision making. She is the co-Founder and co-Director of the US Cochrane Center, San Francisco Branch.

Her research interests have spanned biased reporting of epidemiologic studies related to the risks of tobacco, biased reporting of clinical trials from the drug industry, systematic reviews and meta-analysis, translation of research into policy, pharmaceutical policy, tobacco policy, and the influence and management of conflicts of interest in research.

Early professional years Lisa Bero was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to Shirley and Hubert Bero. She has one sister, Edna-Marie Bero O’Connor. After a New Orleans childhood memorable for good food and music, Lisa moved with her family to Maryland where she graduated from Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda. From there, she attended Michigan State University where she studied physiology and philosophy and graduated with a Bachelor of Science, with honors, in 1980. Although Lisa attended MSU because she initially dreamed of being a veterinarian, she grew more and more interested in conducting health-related research, as well as the implications of research for society. She went on to Duke University, receiving her PhD in Pharmacology/Toxicology in 1987. She subsequently completed two fellowships, the first a National Institute of Drug Abuse postdoctoral fellowship in pharmacology in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco, California and the second a Pew fellowship in Health Policy at University of California, San Francisco. At the culmination of this early training, Lisa had a unique combination of basic science and health policy research skills and interests.

Current professional activities

In 1990, Lisa Bero was appointed to the faculty in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, and to the Institute for Health Policy Studies, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco and has remained there, advancing to Professor in 2001. She directs a research program focused on improving the quality and use of evidence for health policy decisions. She is a gifted teacher and mentor for professional students in medicine, pharmacy, nursing, as well as postdoctoral fellows and students in the social sciences. In 2000, she was appointed as Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy. She served as the chair of the University of California, San Francisco Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Conflicts of Interest from 1999 through 2010.

Lisa Bero has played a critical role in the development of the Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization devoted to conducting and disseminating systematic reviews and meta-analyses related to health care. Since 1996, she has been co-Director of the San Francisco Branch of the United States Cochrane Center and an editor of the Effective Practice and Organization of Care review group. She served a total of 12 years on the Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group where she spearheaded a number of initiatives, including the 2011 establishment of the Cochrane Collaboration as an NGO in official relations with the World Health Organization.

Lisa Bero is an active advisor and editor for a variety of scientific journals. Since 2010 she has been a member of Cochrane Library Oversight Committee. She serves on advisory boards for the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, PLoS Medicine, and was formerly on the editorial board of the British Medical Journal. She was Senior Editor for Tobacco Control from 2000 though 2009. Some of Lisa Bero’s other activities in the International research community are to serve as a member of the World Health Organization Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines since 2005. She was also appointed as a member of the Advisory Committee on Health Research of the Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization (PAHO / WHO) in 2009.

Lisa Bero is a contributor to activities of The Institute of Medicine. She has participated in these Reports •	Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice

and these activities •	Conflict of Interest in Medical Research, Education, and Practice •	Board on Health Care Services