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Medical device pharmacovigilance is complicated. Alongside clinical safety, there are technology risks, from cybersecurity threats to outdated software, that can leave patients vulnerable.

In this two-part episode, Omar Aimer, president of ISoP and former co-lead of the Medical Device Safety Special Interest Group, discusses the challenges with medical device safety monitoring and what needs to change to keep patients safe.

Tune in to find out:

• What defines a medical device and how prevalent they are in our society
• Why device safety monitoring is different from medicines and vaccines, and where current surveillance still falls short
• How global initiatives aim to strengthen safety monitoring standards

Want to know more?

If you would like to learn more on the status and suggestions for future improvements in medical device safety monitoring, Omar has recently published a paper on the topic in the journal Drug Safety, as well as an article for Uppsala Reports.

Much like any other market, AI/ML are fast infiltrating the medical device field, and may require tailored frameworks for effective safety monitoring, as discussed by Babic et al. in their Nature paper.

Founded in 2018, ISoP’s Medical Device Safety Special Interest Group works to develop “best practices and policy in the field of medical device performance monitoring and safety surveillance”.

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About UMC
Read more about Uppsala Monitoring Centre and how we promote safer use of medicines and vaccines for everyone everywhere.

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This special episode was recorded just before the 43rd Annual Meeting of the WHO Programme for International Drug Monitoring wrapped up in Cairo, Egypt. Held from 27 to 29 October 2025, the meeting brought together representatives from more than 80 member states, along with senior experts and regulatory leaders from WHO headquarters and regional offices. Discussions focused on strengthening pharmacovigilance for women of childbearing age and children, in light of WHO’s newly finalised Global Smart Pharmacovigilance Strategy.

In this episode, you’ll hear an abridged interview with Shanthi Pal, WHO Pharmacovigilance Team Lead, as she unpacks the new strategy and what it means for countries.

Want to know more?

• Read WHO’s “Global smart pharmacovigilance strategy” (Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025).
• Explore WHO’s work on pharmacovigilance through the Programme for International Drug Monitoring (PIDM) and the WHO Pharmacovigilance Team.
• Learn more about regulatory systems strengthening and the WHO Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT) for medicines and vaccines.
• Discover the WHO network for regulatory systems strengthening – the Coalition of Interested Parties (CIP), of which UMC is a member.
• Visit the UMC website to find out more about the WHO PIDM and UMC’s role in it.

Join the conversation on social media
Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or Bluesky and share your thoughts about the show with the hashtag #DrugSafetyMatters.

Got a story to share?
We’re always looking for new content and interesting people to interview. If you have a great idea for a show, get in touch!

About UMC
Read more about Uppsala Monitoring Centre and how we promote safer use of medicines and vaccines for everyone everywhere.

Send a text message to the show!

Far from a future add-on, artificial intelligence is already embedded in the cycle of drug safety, from case processing to signal detection. Versatile generative AI models have raised the bar of possibilities but also increased the stakes. How do we use them without losing trust and where do we set the limits?

In this two-part episode, Niklas Norén, head of Research at Uppsala Monitoring Centre, unpacks how artificial intelligence can add value to pharmacovigilance and where it should – or shouldn’t – go next.

Tune in to find out:

• How to keep up with rapid developments in AI technology
• Why model and performance transparency both matter
• How to protect sensitive patient data when using AI

Want to know more?

Listen to the first part of the interview here.

The CIOMS Working Group XIV published its recommendations for the use of AI in pharmacovigilance in December 2025.

Earlier this year, the World Health Organization issued guidance on large multi-modal models – a type of generative AI – when used in healthcare.

Niklas has spoken extensively on the potential and risks of AI in pharmacovigilance, including in this presentation at the University of Verona and in this Uppsala Reports article.

Other recent UMC publications cited in the interview or relevant to the topic include:

• a pre-print on the revised vigiMatch algorithm for duplicate detection
• an article on the pitfalls of disproportionality analysis
• a pre-print on critically appraising AI applications for rare-event recognition

For more on the ‘black box’ issue and maintaining trust in AI, revisit this interview with GSK’s Michael Glaser from the Drug Safety Matters archive.

Join the conversation on social media
Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or Bluesky and share your thoughts about the show with the hashtag #DrugSafetyMatters.

Got a story to share?
We’re always looking for new content and interesting people to interview. If you have a great idea for a show, get in touch!

About UMC
Read more about Uppsala Monitoring Centre and how we promote safer use of medicines and vaccines for everyone everywhere.