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About CREST

Established in 2012, the Center for Real-World Effectiveness and Safety of Therapeutics (CREST) is based in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics at the Perelman School of Medicine. CREST’s mission is to assist patients, clinicians, and policymakers in decision making by providing actionable real-world evidence (RWE) on the health effects of medical products; develop and evaluate novel methods to generate RWE; and prepare the next generation of leaders.

About CREST

What is Real-World Evidence?

Much of what we know about the effects of medications and other medical products, such as vaccines and medical devices, comes from pre-approval randomized clinical trials (RCTs). While RCTs provide essential insights into how well a product can work under ideal conditions, they can be logistically or ethically challenging and often fail to reflect real-world outcomes. Patients, clinicians, and policymakers need real-world evidence (RWE) to understand how medical products do work across diverse patient populations and settings, enabling more informed decisions about which products to use, prescribe, or cover. RWE complements, rather than replaces, the knowledge from pre-approval RCTs, enhancing clinical and policy decision-making.

  • Close-up of clinician prescribing a medication to a patient.

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Blockley Hall (8th Floor)
Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
423 Guardian Drive
Philadelphia, PA 19104

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