Canadian Network for Observational Drug Effect Studies (CNODES)

Since its creation in 2011, the Canadian Network for Observational Drug Effect Studies (CNODES) has built an extensive network of over 100 scientists, including pharmacoepidemiologists, clinicians, statisticians, data analysts and other researchers to ensure the safety and effectiveness of drugs for Canadians. By establishing partnerships and negotiating data access with each province, CNODES studies have access to administrative healthcare data on millions of medication users across the country as well as internationally: the UK CPRD and the US MarketScan (from 2011-2025). CNODES, a collaborating core network partner of CoLab, is funded for query-related activity by Canada’s Drug Agency (CDA-AMC, Grant #C222 360). From 2011-2022, CNODES was a collaborating centre of the Drug Safety and Effectiveness Network (DSEN) and funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR, Grant #’s DSE-11856 and DSE-146021).

In addition to supporting answers to drug safety queries from Canadian regulators, funding from CDA supports two main teams: Database development, and Knowledge Translation. These teams contribute to strengthening Canadian research capacity through their initiatives and projects. Researchers and trainees in the Methods Team have collaborated to make significant methodological advances in the field of pharmacoepidemiology. Meanwhile, CNODES members have also worked together to develop processes, guides, and protocols which standardize the research process across the network and improve efficiency in answering incoming queries on drug safety and effectiveness.