Mitchell Levine

MD, MSc, FRCPC, FISPE

Education and Professional Standing

Mitchell Levine received his medical degree from the University of Calgary in 1979, which was followed by postgraduate training in Internal Medicine (FRCPC) and Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Toronto (1981-87). He received an MSc degree in Clinical Epidemiology from McMaster University in 1988.

Mitchell Levine is the Director of the Centre for Evaluation of Medicines, Father Sean O’Sullivan Research Centre, St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario and holds the position of Professor at McMaster University in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics and the Department of Medicine. He is a consultant physician in Internal Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology at St. Joseph’s Healthcare and the Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation in Hamilton.

Mitchell currently serves as a pharmacoeconomic consultant to the Drug Quality and Therapeutics Committee (DQTC) of the Ministry of Health of Ontario and is a former member and chair of the DQTC. He is a member of the Advisory Committee on Management for the Therapeutics Product Directorate at Health Canada and the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board's Human Drug Advisory Panel. He is the Editor-in-Chief for the Canadian Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and is an Associate Editor for the ACP Journal Club and Evidence-Based Medicine.

Research Interests

Assessing prescription drug use in the community and developing methods for promoting cost-effective use of drug therapy are Mitchell’s principal research interests. This involves collecting data on how drugs are actually used in the community, and the impact they have on health care resource use and on patient quality of life. Research is also conducted to help determine how both patient and healthcare provider value systems influence the use of drug therapies in clinical practice.

Selected Publications

1. Levine MAH, Hamet P, Novosel S, Jolain B. A prospective comparison of four study designs used in assessing safety and effectiveness of drug therapy in hypertension management. Amer J Hypertension 1997;10:1-10.
2. Levine MAH, Lexchin J, Pelizzarri R. Drugs of choice formulary, 3rd Edition. CMA Publishing, Ottawa, 1999.
3. Heyland DK, Gafni A, Levine MAH. Do potential patients prefer tPA or SK? J Clin Epid 2000;53: 888-894.
4. Brazier N, Levine MAH. Drug Herb Interaction Among Commonly Used Conventional Medicines: A Compendium for Health Care Professionals. Am J Ther 2003;10(3):163-9.
5. McCormack JP, Dolovich L, Levine M et al. Providing evidence-based information to patients in general practice and pharmacies: What is the acceptability, usefulness and impact on drug use? Health Expectations 2003;6:281-9.
6. Levine MAH, Gaebel K. A study of patient responses to a perceived change in salbutamol metered dose inhalers. J Generic Med 2005;2(3):201-208.
7. Farahani P, Levine M, Gaebel K, Wang E, Khalidi N. Community-Based Evaluation of Etanercept in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients. J Rheumatol 2006;33:665-70.
8. Farahani P, Levine M. Pharmacovigilance in a genomic era. The Pharmacogenomics Journal 2006;6: 158-161.
9. Baibergenova A, Thabane L, Akhtar-Danesh N, Levine MAH, Gafni A. Is Fetal Gender Associated with Emergency Department Visits for Asthma During Pregnancy? J Asthma 2006;43:293-9.
10. Baibergenova A, Thabane L, Akhtar-Danesh N, Levine MAH, Gafni A, Leeb K. Gender Differences in Hospital Admissions from Emergency Departments in Adult Asthmatics: A Population-based study. Asthma and Immunology 2006:61-67.
11. Dolovich L, Burns S, Cassels A, Levine M, Nair K, McCormack JP, Mann K, Gray J. Using patient-oriented evidence-based information guides in practice: The family physician and community pharmacist perspective. Drug Information Journal. 2006;40:61-67.
12. Farahani P, Goeree R, Levine M. A comparison between integrating clinical practice setting and randomised controlled trial setting into economic evaluation models of therapeutics. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 2006;12:463-470.
13. Singh SR, Levine MAH. Natural Health Product Use in Canada: Analysis of the National Population Health Survey. Can J Clin Pharmacol 2006;13(3):e240-e250.
14. Baibergenova A, Thabane L, Akhtar-Danesh N, Levine MAH, Gafni A. Patient characteristics associated with nocturnal emergency department visits for asthma. Journal of Asthma 2006;43(6):469-75.
15. Lau E, Kaczorowski J, Karwalajtys T, Dolovich L, Levine M, Chambers L. Blood pressure awareness and self-monitoring practices among primary care elderly patients. Can Pharm J 2006;139(6):34-41.
16. Farahani P, Dolovich L, Levine M. Exploring design-related bias in clinical studies on receptor genetic polymorphism of hypertension. J Clin Epid 2007;60:1-7.
17. Singh SR, Levine MAH. Potential Interactions between Pharmaceuticals and Natural Health Products in Canada: J Clin Pharmacol 2007;47:1-10.
18. Farahani P, Levine M, Gaebel K, LeLorier J, Perreault S, Gillis J, Soon J. Exploring patient demographic and clinical characteristics associated with lipid-lowering pharmacotherapy use in primary care. Clin Invest Med 2007;30(2)E63-E69.
19. Tshibwabwa ET, Groves HM. Levine M. Teaching musculoskeletal ultrasound in the undergraduate medical curriculum. Medical Education 2007;41(5):517-518.
20. Nair KM, Levine MAH, Lohfeld LH, Gerstein HC. “I take what I think works for me”: A qualitative study to explore patient perception of diabetes treatment benefits and risks. Can J Clin Pharmacol 2007; 14(2): e251-e259.
21. Xu S, Levine M. Medical Residents' and Students' Attitudes towards Herbal Medicines:  A Pilot Study.  Can J Clin Pharmacol 2008;15(1):e1-e4.
22. Gaebel K, Toeg N, Levine M.  Clinical and Economic Effects of a Therapeutic Substitution Policy for Proton Pump Inhibitors in Aboriginal Patients in Northern Communities in Canada's Northwest Territories.  Dis Manage Health Outcomes 2008;15(3):175-182.
23. Raina P, Santaguida PL, Ismalia A, Patterson C, Cowan D, Levine M, Booker L, Oremus M.  Effectiveness of Cholinesterase Inhibitors and Memantine for Treating Dementia:  Evidence Review for a Clinical Practice Guideline.  Ann Intern Med 2008;148;379-397.