27-Jul-05 10:30 AM CST

PPAG Collaborative Network Initiative

The Research Committee is responsible for a new effort to promote collaborative research and networking among PPAG members.

The mission of PPAG is to advocate and promote safe and effective medication use in children. The primary goal of this Initiative is to advance the mission of PPAG through collaborative research projects. The Initiative will utilize existing and future PPAG resources to advance pediatric safety outcomes through benchmarking, for instance. In particular, the Initiative will start by focusing on data collection through multi-center surveys.

Prakash Naik, PPAG member and author of one of these survey states, "It is important to stress that pediatrics has a small voice in the realm of medicine, and that pharmacy has a small voice in the realm of medicine, so you can imagine individually how small a voice one would have in pediatric pharmacy, but collectively we can make a our opinion heard."

The Research Committee will provide leadership and coordination of projects and activities that promote and lead to improved patient outcomes.

"PPAG has many dedicated pediatric pharmacists practitioners. Members can have a tremendous impact on patient care if we collaborate in answering pertinent clinical questions," said Ralph Lugo, Research Committee Co-chair.

The organization formally launched the Initiative at the 14th Annual Pediatric Pharmacy Conference- PPAG Annual Meeting. The Committee conducted two 2 hour Advanced Workshops to promote the Initiative, collect ideas, and launch the first project. These first sessions resulted in a focus on the PICU and the NICU and Medication Safety

Dave Knoppert, Co-Chair of the Research Committee, made the following comment :

"This is a tremendous effort by PPAG to coordinate Pediatric Pharmacists across North America and will undoubtedly advance the care of children. All Pediatric Pharmacists will be encouraged to participate at whatever level they can."

The results, findings, and dicussion of these projects will be published in the Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics, as well as the PPAG website and newsletter.

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