Heidi Taipale

I work part-time as Principal Researcher in the "Mental health and social integration" (MENTE) research group.

My main research interest is in the field of psychiatric pharmacoepidemiology. The overall goal of my research is to investigate topics which are important for clinical practice and for individuals living with psychiatric disorders, and to improve patient care and health. My current projects include studies on effectiveness and safety of medications for severe mental disorders such as psychotic disorders and bipolar disorder, by utilizing large-scale population-based data (e.g. national health registers). We also aim to construct clinical prediction models to enhance treatment planning on individual-level.

More specifically the projects include:

*employment in bipolar disorder

*severe mental disorders with concomitant cannabis use disorder

*substance-induced psychosis

*clozapine 

*repurposing of medications for severe mental disorders

*women's health in severe mental disorders

I am also eager to develop new methods which enable achieving these goals by utilizing register-based data. We have published open-source PRE2DUP-R method for constructing treatment episodes from register-based dispensing data:

https://piavat.github.io/PRE2DUP-R/