Jerry Avorn, MD

Jerry Avorn is Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Co-Director of PORTAL, and Chief Emeritus of the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, which he founded. A general internist, geriatrician, and drug epidemiologist, he pioneered the use of health care claims data to study patterns of medication use and outcomes, and developed the concept of academic detailing (educational outreach to prescribers) to improve medication use. His research examines the factors that shape physicians’ drug choices, the identification and prevention of adverse drug effects, and the interaction between evidence, regulation, and economics in medication use.

Dr. Avorn is the author or co-author of over 600 papers in the medical literature on medication use and its outcomes, and is one of the most highly-cited researchers working in the area of medicine and the social sciences. His book Rethinking Medications: Truth, Power, and the Drugs You Take was published by Simon & Schuster in 2025, preceded by Powerful Medicines: The Benefits, Risks, and Costs of Prescription Drugs, published by Knopf in 2004. He has served as president of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology and on the Institute of Medicine Committee on Standards for Developing Trustworthy Clinical Practice Guidelines.

Dr. Avorn completed his undergraduate training at Columbia University, received his MD from Harvard Medical School, and completed a residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston.