Michele Jonsson-Funk

Michele Jonsson-Funk, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and Director of the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology. She leads the Pharmacoepidemiology Program within the Department and serves as an Affiliate Faculty member at the Injury Prevention Research Center. Dr. Jonsson-Funk is also a Fellow of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology and holds leadership roles in several professional organizations, including the Board of the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology and advisory roles in epidemiology and clinical research networks.

Dr. Jonsson-Funk holds a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2003), a Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) in Epidemiology from UNC Chapel Hill (2000), and a BA in Psychology from Reed College (1994).

Her research focuses on pharmacoepidemiology, methods for estimating treatment effects in observational data, and women’s health. She examines topics such as sex differences in medication safety and efficacy, maternal and child health outcomes, and the application of electronic health records for population-level analyses. Her work integrates data from Medicare, Marketscan, and the Carolina Data Warehouse for Health to evaluate treatment effectiveness and safety.

Dr. Jonsson-Funk has received several honors, including:

• Fellow, International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (2018–present)
• Research Fellow, Sheps Center for Health Services Research, UNC Chapel Hill (2005–present)
• Member, Delta Omega Honorary Public Health Society, Theta Chapter (2004–present)

Her research portfolio includes grants such as an R01 evaluating treatment effect heterogeneity in cardioprotective medications. She advises on interdisciplinary teams through her leadership roles in the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) Program and the Observational Pharmaco-Epidemiology Research & Analysis (OPERA) network. She also leads the Pharmacoepidemiology Research Lab Network under BIRCWH.

Dr. Jonsson-Funk collaborates with clinical colleagues on studies addressing pelvic floor disorders, medication use during pregnancy, and diabetes-related cancer risks. Her methodological contributions include improving propensity score techniques and addressing confounding by frailty in observational studies.