Charles E. Leonard, PharmD, MSCE, FISPE

Dr. Leonard is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology in the Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics at the Perelman School of Medicine. He serves as a faculty and Executive Committee member for the Center for Real-World Effectiveness and Safety of Therapeutics (CREST); faculty for the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics; senior fellow for the Leonard Davis Institute; fellow for the Institute on Aging; and an affiliate member of the Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology–all at Penn. Dr. Leonard is a Special Government Employee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and an Honorary Lecturer at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania.

As a pharmacoepidemiologist with extensive expertise in post-market prescription drug safety, causal inference methods, and real-world evidence (RWE) generation, Dr. Leonard is recognized for his work in the comparative safety of medical products among minority and economically-disadvantaged populations. He has presented his transdisciplinary work to clinical and scientific audiences at national and international conferences; federal regulators and policymakers at FDA, the Saudi Food and Drug Authority, AHRQ, and CDC; colleagues at universities and institutes across the globe; and clinical decision support stakeholders at health information technology firms.

Dr. Leonard’s scientific contributions aim to generate RWE and close knowledge gaps in the following major areas of post-market prescription drug safety: 1) population health effects of drug interactions; 2) comparative safety of antidiabetes drugs; 3) prescription drug-induced sudden cardiac arrest; 4) the untoward effects of ambient temperature extremes on the health of persons with chronic disease; and 5) methods development in pharmacoepidemiology. His research is principally funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Recent Awards and Honors

2024 – Harold I. Feldman Distinguished Scholar Award | For exemplifying high quality, collaborative, and impactful scholarship | Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics | Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

2024 – Faculty Teaching Award | For innovative contributions to curriculum development, excellence in classroom teaching, development of novel approaches to teaching and personal qualities of student mentoring | Graduate Group in Epidemiology and Biostatistics | Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

2024 – Ronald D. Mann Best Paper Award | Senior author of Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety‘s ‘paper of the year’ as determined by the Editors and societal delegates | International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology

2023-2025 – Irene Trowell-Harris Scholarship | Yale University

2020 – Leadership Medallion | For promoting the recognition and value of specialized training, knowledge, and skills in pharmacy | Board of Pharmacy Specialties

2020 – Elected Fellow | International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology

2019 – Abraham G. Hartzema Distinguished Lecturer in Pharmacoepidemiology | For an eminent scholar using big data to evaluate drug safety in real-world populations | University of Florida