2026 Training Opportunities from SIGMA Consortium Members in Pharmacoepidemiology and RWE
31 March 2026
The SIGMA Consortium is pleased to present the 2026 portfolio of training courses offered by our members. Aimed at professionals working in pharmacoepidemiology and real-world evidence, these courses place a strong emphasis on methodological excellence alongside real world application. Covering a broad range of approaches, the programme is designed to strengthen understanding of study design, data sources, analytical methods, and the interpretation and synthesis of evidence across the product lifecycle. Participants will engage closely with experienced faculty, explore methodologically challenging case examples, and build practical skills through interactive and hands-on learning formats that reflect current scientific and regulatory expectations.
1. Data Governance and Engineering
This is a 1-week, full-time course at Utrecht University aimed at master and PhD students in Epidemiology and Health Data Science, or other related fields, and healthcare professionals. Data Governance and Engineering covers how to manage complex healthcare data from sources like electronic health records, wearables, and diagnostic equipment. It addresses both the technical side (data collection, storage, wrangling) and the regulatory/ethical side (GDPR, privacy, consent). Key topics include data governance frameworks, data quality and interoperability, diversity of health data types (structured data, images, molecular data), and hands-on data processing techniques.
📅Dates: 20-24 April 2026
📍Location: Utrecht, The Netherlands
🏛️Host: Utrecht University & University Medical Center Utrecht
🎓Format: In-Person
🔗Additional Information and registration: Link
2. Introduction to Pharmacoepidemiology
Pharmacoepidemiology is a key discipline in monitoring the post-authorisation safety of medicines. It is increasingly recognised as a practical tool for supporting risk management, planning post-authorisation safety activities using real world data and generating evidence for key stakeholder decisions across the drug discovery pipeline. Our Introduction to Pharmacoepidemiology course is aimed at introducing delegates to the core concepts of this scientific discipline, including concepts of epidemiology and pharmacoepidemiology, tools and methodology, analysis and interpretation of data, real-world data sources, causality and risk management planning.
📅Dates: 13-14 May 2026
🏛️Host: Drug Safety Research Unit
🎓Format: Online
🔗Additional information and registration: Link
3. Bordeaux PharmacoEpi Festival
On the strength of all its experiences and its nationally and internationally recognized expertise, since 2010 BPE has organized an annual scientific event, the Bordeaux PharmacoEpi Festival, during which 6 world-class experts talk about a topic of their choice for 2 hours. This original master class format allows all participants to stay abreast of the major news in the discipline as well as hot topics in public health.
📅Dates: 11 - 12 June 2026
📍Location: Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
🏛️Host: Bordeaux PharmacoEpi Platform
🎓Format: In-Person and Virtual
🔗Additional Information and registration: Link
4. 11th annual Pharmacoepidemiology Summer School. Staying real in Real-World Evidence: data, methods, synthesis
The summer school is a five-day residential program held in June, bringing together approximately 25–30 participants. It takes place in a scenic venue by the sea and forest in Grenaa, Denmark, providing an ideal setting for focused learning and collaboration. Teaching is delivered by experts from Aarhus University alongside members of our international faculty. The program is designed for PhD students, postdocs, clinicians, and other professionals who wish to broaden and strengthen their skills and knowledge. Please note that basic training in epidemiology and biostatistics is assumed.
📅Dates: 15-19 June 2026
📍Location: Grenaa, Denmark
🏛️Host: Department of Clinical Epidemiology (DCE)
🎓Format: In-person. Lectures, group work, and exercises
🔗Additional information and registration: Link
5. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety
This course will cover key issues in pharmacoepidemiologic and drug safety research. Students will learn about the typical problems (e.g. confounding by indication, rare side effects) and approaches to deal with these problems in the practice of pharmacoepidemiology.
📅Dates: 6-10 July, 2026
📍Location: Utrecht, The Netherlands
🏛️Host: Utrecht University
🎓Format: In-person
🔗Additional information and registration: Link
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