 About the UMC
The WHO set up its International Drug Monitoring Programme after the thalidomide disaster. Since 1978 the Programme has been carried out by the Uppsala Monitoring Centre (UMC) in Sweden.
An independent centre of scientific excellence, the Uppsala Monitoring Centre is responsible for the collection of data about adverse drug reactions from around the world, especially from countries that are members of the WHO, and the generation of signals of drugs which might possibly have problematic side-effects.
Through a range of products and services, derived from the WHO database, the UMC provides essential resources for regulatory agencies, health professionals, researchers, the pharmaceutical industry and prescribing physicians.
Public holidays: please note that the Uppsala Monitoring Centre will be closed on the following holidays in Uppsala: 2, 5 and 30 April, 13 and 14 May and 25 June 2010.
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Vision
'UMC improves worldwide patient safety and welfare by reducing the risk of medicines'
Mission statement
The purpose of the UMC is to be recognised world wide as:
- a global centre of scientific excellence committed specifically to the reduction of risk in medication and to the safeguarding of patient health and welfare
- a leader in the research and development of tools and methodologies for pharmacovigilance and patient safety
- a prime resource for all stakeholders involved in international collection, coding, assessment, analysis, interpretation and communication of data relating to drug safety issues and patient safety concerns
- a preferred provider of high quality and cost-effective international drug and medical dictionaries, classifications, and terminologies
- an organisation with open, impartial and ethical values and performance.
Values
The underpinning aspirational value of UMC is to give service to the people of the world, especially patients, and all those who work for their safety and wellbeing. The corporate tag-line 'Safeguarding patients' reflects an extension of the previously known focus of the UMC relating to drug safety towards the end beneficiary. Below are the operational values guiding us in our daily work and in all collaborations. We will:
- provide innovation and leadership in the area of patient safety
- conduct our operations within WHO principles and concepts
- constantly develop our knowledge and strive for scientific excellence
- deliver high quality products and services to all our customers
- always have a global focus, particularly considering the needs of developing and emerging countries
- seek and maintain active and fruitful collaboration with all stakeholders
- actively listen to all partners' views whilst maintaining the highest possible level of integrity and impartiality
- favour openness and transparency in our communications without sacrificing confidentiality and data security needs
- encourage creativity and intellectual adventurousness, amongst UMC staff and in our relationships
- endeavour to earn trust and respect, by applying the highest ethical and technical standards in everything we do
- defend the position of the UMC as a unique organisation, balancing income-generation and the public good in its products and services.
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Annual report July 2008 - June 2009The latest Annual Report (2008-2009) (pdf) describing the Uppsala Monitoring Centre's activities is available here for viewing/download.
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 UMC Board of Directors
The operations of the WHO Collaborating Centre (UMC) are governed by an agreement between WHO Headquarters and the Swedish government. The Centre has an international Board where WHO appoints three members and three others are appointed by the Swedish government.
Chairman of the Board is Mr Carl Älfvåg, Director-General, Swedish Agency for Disability Policy Coordination. His deputy is Assistant Professor Ellen Vinge, clinical pharmacologist, University of Lund.
The other members appointed by the Swedish Government are Anders Rane, professor of clinical pharmacology (alternate Professor Ulf Bergman) both at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm and Ms Marianne Dicander Alexandersson, Apoteket AB (alternate Ms Ingela Tuvegran, director at Södra Älvsborg Hospital, Borås).
WHO has appointed Dr Lembit Rägo (alternate Dr Mary Couper) from WHO headquarters, Dr June Raine from the UK's MHRA (alternate Dr Norbert Paeschke from the German Drug Control Agency, BfArM), and Professor Mohammed Hassar (alternate Dr Rachida Soulaymani-Bencheikh) from the Moroccan Institute of Hygiene.
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UMC Staff
Director
Marie Lindquist PhD, MSc Pharm, Dr Med Sc
Finance and Core ServicesBirgitta Toreheim CA, Manager, Chief Financial Officer
Ali Bahceci Network Technician
Britt Gustavsson-McCurdy, Corporate Secretary
Anneli Lennartsson Economy Assistant
Anette Sahlin Administration Assistant
Safety Support & Services
Monica Plöen BSc Pharm, Manager
Cecilia Biriell MSc Pharm, Senior Specialist, WHO-ART
Carin Ellene MSc Pharm, WHO Drug Dictionaries Content Management
Mohamed H Farah Pharm D, Senior Specialist, Traditional Medicines
Sara-Lisa Fors BSc Pharm, Safety Reporting
Richard Hill BSc, MBBS, Medical Assessor
Malin Jakobsson, MSc Pharm, WHO Drug Dictionaries Content Management
Jeanette Johansson BA, BSc Pharm, Review Panel Co-ordinator
Helena Sköld MSc Pharm, Signal Detection
Elki Sollenbring MSc Pharm, WHO Drug Dictionaries Traditional Medicines
Lovisa Sällstedt MSc Pharm, Safety Reporting
Anders Viklund MSc Pharm, Information Retrieval
Camilla Westerberg BSc Pharm, WHO Drug Dictionaries Content Management
Helena Wilmar BSc Pharm, Team Leader: Safety Reporting
Malin Zaar Pharmacist, Team Leader: WHO Drug Dictionaries Content Management
External Affairs
Sten Olsson MSc Pharm, Manager, Chief WHO Programme Officer
Geoffrey Bowring BA, External Affairs Co-ordinator
Anna Celén MSc Pharm, External Affairs Pharmacist (on parental leave)
Jerry Labadie MD, Vaccine Safety Specialist
Marketing
Annika Wallström MSc Pharm, Manager, Chief Marketing Officer
Jessica Avasol, Sales and Marketing Assistant
Sara Bergh, Sales Assistant
Hannah Björn, Marketing Assistant
Katarina Hansson, Senior Sales and Marketing Assistant
Carl Huddénius MSc Pharm, Assistant Product Manager
Anna Mattsson BSc Pharm, Support Executive
Mats Persson BA, Manager, Head of Sales and Marketing
Henrik Sahl, Sales Support Manager
Ola Strandberg MSc, Vendor Liaison Officer
Daniel von Sydow MSc Pharm, Product Manager
Research
Niklas Norén PhD, Manager
Tomas Bergvall MSc, Research Engineer
Ola Caster MSc, Drug Safety Analyst
Johan Hopstadius, MSc Eng Phys, Research Engineer
Kristina Star RN, BMedSc, Drug Safety Analyst
Johanna Strandell MSc Pharm, Drug Safety Analyst
Production, Development and Quality
Johanna Eriksson, Manager
Bill Dagérus, Senior Systems Developer
Stefan Lewenfalk, Senior Systems Developer
Annica Lundström BSc Pharm, Quality Co-ordinator
Nike Meder Pharmacist, Production Leader
Bjorn Moberg, Systems Developer
Jessica Nilsson BSc Pharm, Team Leader: ICSR database
Sven Purbe BA, Senior Specialist
Ulrika Rydberg BSc Biol, PhLic, Quality Co-ordinator
Shalini George Tharakan MSc, Systems Developer
Thomas Vidinghoff MSc, Senior Systems Developer
Magnus Wallberg MSc Eng Phys, Senior Systems Architect
Bo Östling, Senior Systems Developer
Medical Advisor
Ralph Edwards MB, ChB, FRCP (Lond), FRACP
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Signal review panelFor over fifteen years the UMC has been fortunate to have the assistance of volunteer consultants as 'signal reviewers'. These clinical experts review the results of the regular computerised screenings of ADR reports submitted to the WHO Programme. The results of their work, consisting of a summary of available evidence, are circulated to national pharmacovigilance centres periodically in the 'SIGNAL' document.
Signal reviewers held a meeting in October 2008 in Uppsala (a report appeared in Uppsala Reports 44, January 2009).
During the review panel meeting in 2000, a proposed 'signal detection worksheet', useful when analysing case reports, was discussed and finalised. This worksheet is available for viewing/download > Signal detection worksheet.
For information on the reviewers, click on their names below (full information on all reviewers not available at present):
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Dr Ariel E Arias, Canada
Dr Joanne Barnes, New Zealand
Ms Anna-Lena Berggren, Sweden
Mr Maximiliano Bergman, Argentina
Prof Gunnar Boman, Sweden
Dr Ian Boyd, Australia
Dra Mabel Burger, Uruguay
Prof Alfonso Carvajal, Spain
Dr David W J Clark, New Zealand
Dr Anita Conforti, Italy
Dr Ana Maria Corrêa Nunes, Portugal
Prof Dr Andrew Czeizel, Hungary
Prof Richard Day, Australia
Prof Peter de Smet, Netherlands
Dr P Murali Doraiswamy, USA
Prof Edzard Ernst, United Kingdom
Dr Rick Fraunfelder, USA
Ms Birgitta Grundmark, Sweden
Dr Pär Hallberg, Sweden
Dr Kenneth Hartigan-Go, Philippines
Dr Staffan Hägg, Sweden
Prof Peter Jacobs, South Africa
Dr Sylvia Kardaun, Netherlands
Ms Anne Kiuru, Sweden
Prof Milan Kriska, Slovakia |
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Dr Nilima Kshirsagar, India
Prof Michael Langman, United Kingdom
Prof P O Lundberg, Sweden
Dr Jens Lundgren, Denmark
Dr M Laurie Mashford, Australia
Dr John McEwen, Australia
Dr Ronald H B Meyboom, Netherlands
Dr Ed Napke, Canada
Prof Tamás L Paál, Hungary
Dr Martin Pfeiffer, Germany
Dr Robert Pless, Canada
Dr Alain Rohan, USA
Dr Emilio J Sanz, Spain
Dr Ruth Savage, New Zealand
Dr Saad Shakir, United Kingdom
Dr Debbie Shaw, United Kingdom
Mr Ivan Stockley, United Kingdom
Dr Michael Tatley, New Zealand
Dr Mary Teeling, Ireland
Dr Ingrid Trolin, Sweden
Prof Kiichiro Tsutani, Japan
Prof Giampaolo Velo, Italy
Dr Anthony Wong, Brazil
Dr Qun-Ying Yue, Sweden | |