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Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Epidemiology, Brown University, 1995
  • M.S., Statistics, University of Rhode Island, 1991
  • B.A., Statistics and Mathematics, Boston University, 1987
Academic Appointments
  • 2018-2024 Division Chief, Epidemiology, Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
  • 2012-2024 Associate Dean, Population Health Sciences
  • Assistant Dean, MD/PhD program (thru 2022)
  • Program Director, PhD Program, Population Health Sciences
  • Co-Director, PREP program, Co-Director, IMSD program, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
  • 2012-2024 Professor (tenured) Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, Division of Epidemiology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA
  • Secondary Appointment, Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
  • 2008-2012 Professor and Chair (tenured), Department of Epidemiology and Community Health, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University
  • 2008-2012 Core Function Leader, Education Core, CTSA
  • 2008-2012 Graduate Program Director, Epidemiology
  • 2008-2012 Graduate Program Director, Clinical and Translational Science
  • 2012-2015 Adjunct Professor, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University
  • 2008-2012 Adjunct Professor, College of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island, Adjunct Professor of Medical Science
  • 2003-2008 Associate Professor of Medical Science (Tenured)
  • 2000-2003 Assistant Professor of Medical Science (Tenure Track)
  • 1995-2000 Assistant Professor (Research), Brown University Department of Community Health, Providence, RI
Professional Honors
  • Dean’s Award for Outstanding Faculty Contribution to Graduate Education 2018
  • Elected, Vice President Finance, International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology 2011-2014
  • Charles W. and Evelyn F. Thomas Professorship in Epidemiology Endowed Professorship, Virginia Commonwealth University 2008-2012
  • Elected, Board Member North America Academic, International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology 2007-2011
  • The Harriet W. Sheridan Award for Distinguished Contribution to Teaching and Learning - Brown University 2006
  • Association of American Medical Colleges’ Professional Development Seminar for Mid-Career Women Faculty in Medicine 2002
  • Fellow of the International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology 2004- present
  • Young Career Woman Professional Women's Organization 1991
Professional Affiliations
  • American Public Health Association
  • International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology
  • Gerontological Society of America
  • Society for Epidemiologic Research
  • AcademyHealth

Dr. Lapane is an epidemiologist with more than 25 years of experience analyzing human health data to understand and provide insights related to the factors that drive health outcomes. She provides scientific consultation on generating real-world evidence (RWE) about the safety and effectiveness of medications. She has an extensive track record in studying populations systematically excluded from clinical trials, as well as marginalized populations. Dr. Lapane's research has also focused on drug utilization in medically complex patients, and the contextual, organizational, policy, and area-based factors that drive patterns of disease and associated drug utilization. Her findings have formed the basis for large-scale demonstration and randomized trials that she both designed and evaluated with the goal of improving healthcare quality.

Dr. Lapane's applied research is based on the recognition that generating evidence using real-world data (RWD) collected for administrative or clinical care purposes is challenging because documentation may be incomplete, prone to error, and lack key information needed to infer causality. Dr. Lapane's extensive expertise in applied methodological work has focused on the robustness and appropriate application of techniques selected to address RWD challenges with emphasis on the total patient profile. She has interrogated assumptions underlying the advanced analytic techniques used to generate RWE, identified "pain points" in implementing rigorous analyses, and developed and implemented approaches to assure replicable, reproducible study findings. She is a highly cited author of studies integrating novel patient-centered technologies and methods to address the increasingly complex problems facing entities across the healthcare industry.

As an applied methodologist, Dr. Lapane's expertise has been central to addressing a host of challenging human health problems, including generating evidence on the risks and benefits of complex medication regimens in patients. Dr. Lapane served as the Chief Epidemiologist supporting the development of MRI-based measures to more accurately detect osteoarthritis disease progression and evaluating factors leading to total joint arthroplasty (TJA). She has triangulated data from qualitative approaches (e.g., in-depth interviews, human factors analysis, focus groups) and quantitative analyses to inform the development of novel patient-centered interventions for a variety of healthcare settings (e.g., nursing homes, community, primary care).

Dr. Lapane has extensive experience in the academy having earned tenure at three universities: 1) Brown University (Graduate Program Director of Epidemiology, founding Graduate Program Director of Health Services Research, and designer and faculty of advanced epidemiologic methods courses); 2) Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University (Department Chair of Epidemiology and Community Health, Graduate Program Director of Epidemiology, and faculty of advanced epidemiologic methods courses); and 3) University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (Associate Dean, Division Chief of Epidemiology, and Graduate Program Director of Population Health Sciences). Her research programs were continuously funded for 25+ years by the National Institutes of Health (National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Nursing Research); the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; foundations (Retirement Research Foundation, Commonwealth Fund); and industry. Dr. Lapane has published more than 425 peer-reviewed manuscripts, which have been cited over 23,000 times.

Dr. Lapane has been a Fellow of the International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology since 2004, was elected to serve as the Society's Vice President Finance, and is an active member in the Society. She is also a member of the Society of Epidemiologic Research and the Gerontological Society of America. Dr. Lapane served on the editorial boards of Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, Annals of Pharmacotherapy, and BMC Health Services Research and has also served as Section Editor of Current Epidemiology Reports. She remains a highly sought after peer reviewer.