Cohorts and sources of data

IMAGe Center database
IMAGe (Info-Medicaments en Allaitement et Grossesse) is a project of the Louis-Boivin family pharmaceutical Chair on Medications, pregnancy and lactation emerging from a partnership between industry, the Faculty of Pharmacy of Université de Montréal, and the Pharmacy Department of CHU Sainte-Justine. The IMAGe Center is located at CHU Sainte-Justine, Montreal, and was created in 1997. The objective of this Center is to counsel province of Quebec healthcare professionals about risks and benefits of medication exposure during pregnancy and lactation.

In 2003, Dr. Anick Bérard, who is the Chairholder of the Louis-Boivin family pharmaceutical Chair on Medications, pregnancy and lactation, put in place a research infrastructure permitting computerized data collection in real time. Thus, information from calls received at IMAGe Center are entered in a database by the mean of IMAGeNet© sofware. Dr.Anick Bérard holds a copyright for IMAGeNet©.

At IMAGe Center, calls are answered by specialized on-site pharmacists who achieve a evidence-based counselling and computerize data from each call. In the IMAGe Center database, medication exposures are classified according to Health Canada Drug Benefit List and medication indications are coded using the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) terminology. Information on pregnancy or lactation status, maternal and gestational age, pregnancy history, and lifestyle habits are also collected. Globally, IMAGe Center database represents valuable information and many possibilities for perinatal pharmacoepidemiologic research in the province of Quebec.

Funding source
Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI).