• Hormonal contraception
• Aboriginal health
• Pharmaceutical outcomes research
• Community Pharmacist Research Network
  

Title: Assistant Professor; Director, Community Pharmacist Research Network;

Researcher, Collaboration for Outcomes Research and Evaluation

NEXUS Lead Investigator

Email: jasoon@interchange.ubc.ca

Telephone: 604-807-1638

Fax: 604-859-4345

Links: www.core.ubc.ca
www.nexus.ubc.ca
www.youthsexualhealth.ubc.ca

Degrees:

 

Research Focus:

My research focuses on combining community-based outcomes research with pharmacoepidemiologic methodology using large administrative databases to inform public health policy decision-making. Clinically, my interests are in the area of optimizing medication therapy and improving health outcomes.

Current Projects:

Experiences with Contraception among Youth in Northern BC: Exploring the Impact of Gender, Place and Culture.Despite public health efforts, pregnancy rates among teens in rural and northern British Columbia (BC) are 60% higher than the provincial average. Many northern youth may be facing barriers to accessing and using contraception effectively. A series of qualitative studies in Fort St. James, Vanderhoof and Fort St. John will describe the perspectives of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth in accessing and using contraception, investigate the ways that gender, place and culture concomitantly affect youth’s experiences with contraception; and develop recommendations to tailor and target contraception interventions intended for youth in northern BC. (Funded by the BC Medical Services Foundation and CIHR) Youth Sexual Health Atlas. This atlas is the first to map the sexual health of youth aged 15 to 24 years living in British Columbia. Using existing health databases, we will conduct a series of multi-level analyses and use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology to prepare detailed socio-epidemiological profiles and maps of the youth sexual health outcomes as well as behavioural indicators such as use of prescription contraceptives and patterns of high-risk sexual behaviour. (Funded by CIHR) Effectiveness of two emergency contraception agents. While hormonal emergency contraceptives (ECs) have the potential to reduce the risk of pregnancy, the comparative effectiveness of the Yuzpe regimen (estrogen and progestin) and the progestin-only levonorgestrel regimen is not yet well established. We are using prescription, diagnostic, and reproductive health information from linkage of health databases to compare the effectiveness of the two EC regimens in a cohort of women who received ECs from pharmacists in British Columbia. This is the first population-based investigation of clinical outcomes related to ECs in the routine practice setting. (Funded by CIHR)

Selected Publications:

Leung VWY, Soon JA, Levine M. Emergency Contraception Update: A Canadian Perspective. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2008:83(1):178-181. Soon JA, Meckley LM, Levine M, Marciante KD, Fielding DW, Ensom MHH. Modelling Costs and Outcomes of Expanded Availability of Emergency Contraceptive Use in British Columbia. Can J Clin Pharmacol 2007;14(3):e326-e338. Shoveller J, Chabot C, Soon JA, Levine M. Identifying barriers to emergency contraception use in young women from various ethno-cultural groups in British Columbia, Canada. Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2007;39(1):13-20. Levine M, Soon JA. Risk of pregnancy among women seeking emergency contraceptives from pharmacists in British Columbia. J Obstet Gynaecol Can 2006;28(10):879-883. Soon JA, Levine M, Osmond BL, Ensom MHH, Fielding DW. Effects of making emergency contraception available without a physician’s prescription: a population-based study. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 2005;172(7):878-883.