Dr. Juan M. Hincapie-Castillo is an Associate Professor of Pharmacy and Therapeutics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. He earned his Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD), Master of Science (MS), and PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Florida College of Pharmacy. Dr. Hincapie-Castillo’s research sits at the intersection of legal epidemiology and pharmacoepidemiology, where he leverages large-scale real-world data to advance evidence-informed policymaking. His work focuses on promoting fair and just prescribing practices in pain management and ensuring the safe use of psychotropic medications. He applies mixed-methods research, legal mapping, and large administrative healthcare datasets to evaluate how laws, regulations, and clinical practices shape access to care, treatment safety, and health outcomes across diverse communities. His work has been supported by federal and foundation funding, including as Principal Investigator of an NIH/NIDCR K01 award focused on the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia. In 2021, Dr. Hincapie-Castillo joined the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University as a Research Fellow. Currently, he serves as President of the National Pain Advocacy Center (NPAC) and as a member of the Board of Directors for the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE).
Dr. Hincapie-Castillo’s research portfolio is anchored in a mission of people-centered, evidence-based applied research that generates actionable knowledge for policy and practice. First, he leads legal epidemiology research in opioid and pain policy, evaluating how state and federal laws shape analgesic access, medication utilization, and downstream health outcomes. This work has demonstrated meaningful policy impact through high-profile dissemination and successful national advocacy to prevent harmful federal restrictions. Second, he conducts pharmacoepidemiologic drug utilization and safety studies using real-world data, with a focus on psychotropic medications and polypharmacy among older adults; this program advances both clinical decision-making and regulatory science by refining measurement of medication exposure patterns and evaluating FDA risk-mitigation and safety communications. Third, he leads health services research and quality improvement evaluations to strengthen pharmaceutical care, leveraging clinical pharmacy expertise and health system data to improve medication management and safety while translating findings to stakeholders through intentional dissemination and advocacy.
2023 Mayday Pain & Society Fellow - The Mayday Fund
2022 Faculty Fellow - American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education
2020 Emerging Leader Award - International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology
2020 New Investigator Award - American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
- Gora Combs K, Vickers-Smith R, Stewart C, Wacker D, Hincapie-Castillo JM. A comprehensive analysis of jurisdiction-specific laws related to scheduling or required prescription drug monitoring of gabapentin in the United States, 2016-2024. Int J Drug Policy. 2026;147:105064
- Figgatt MC, Hincapie-Castillo JM, Schranz AJ, Dasgupta N, Edwards JK, Jackson BE, Marshall SW, Golightly YM. Medications for opioid use disorder and mortality and hospitalization among people with opioid use-related infections. Epidemiology. 2024;35(1):7-15
- Hincapie-Castillo JM, Goodin A. Using Joinpoint Regression for Drug Utilization Research: Tutorial and Case Study of Prescription Opioid Use in the United States. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2023;32(5):509-516.
- Keshwani S, Smith S, Brown J, Lo-Ciganic W, Yang S, Smolinski N, Hincapie-Castillo JM. Trends in Prescribing of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Medications in the US Ambulatory Care Setting from 2006-2016. J Pain. 2023;24(11):1994-2002
- Keshwani S, Maguire M, Goodin A, Lo-Ciganic W, Wilson D, Hincapie-Castillo JM. Buprenorphine Use Trends Following Removal of Prior Authorization Policies for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder in Two State Medicaid Programs. JAMA Health Forum. 2022;3(6):e221757
- Lo-Ciganic W, Hincapie-Castillo JM, Wang T, Ge Y, Jones B, Huang J, Chang CY, Wilson D, Lee JK, Reisfield G, Kwoh C, Delcher C, Nguyen K, Zhou L, Shorr R, Guo J, Marcum Z, Harle C, Park H, Winterstein A, Yang S, Huang P, Adkins L, Gellad W. Dosing profiles of concurrent opioid and benzodiazepine use associated with overdose risk among US Medicare beneficiaries: group-based multi-trajectory models. Addiction. 2022;117(7):1982-1997
- Yang S, Hincapie-Castillo JM, Ke X, Schelfhout J, Ding H, Sher M, Zhou L, Chang C, Wilson D, Lo-Ciganic W. Evaluation of Patterns of Cough Medication Use in Ambulatory Care Settings in the United States: 2003-2018. J. Clin. Med. 2022;11(13):3671
- Tran PT, Antonelli P, Hincapie-Castillo JM, Winterstein A. Association of US Food and Drug Administration Removal of Indications for Use of Oral Quinolones with Prescribing Trends. JAMA Intern Med. 2021;181(6):808-816
- Brokenshire S, Lemon SJ, Staley B, Voils A, Hincapie-Castillo JM. Impact of Opioid Restrictions During a Critical Drug Shortage Period: Interrupted Time Series for Institutional Opioid Utilization. Pain Med. 2021;22(1):203-211
- Hincapie-Castillo JM, Goodin A, Possinger M, Usmani S, Vouri S. Changes in Opioid Use After Florida’s Restriction Law for Acute Pain Prescriptions. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(2):e200234
For all publications, visit the National Library of Medicine website.
- Faculty Mentor: Impact of state-level gabapentin schedule V controlled substance classification on utilization and fatal overdose (R36DA062854). 01/2025-05/2026
- PI: Real-world Evidence Study with Patient Input to evaluate Treatment Effects in Trigeminal Neuralgia (RESPITE-TN) (K01DE033698). 02/2024-02/2025 (*early termination)
- MPI: Evaluation of utilization patterns of cough medications in the United States (Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp). 06/2021-12/2022
Co-I: Developing a real-time trajectory tool to identify potentially unsafe concurrent opioid and benzodiazepine use among older adults (R21AG060308). 02/2020-01/2021 - PI: Leveraging social media data for evaluation of drug use trends after opioid policies (AACP New Investigator Award). 03/2020-02/2021
