Year in Review, ISPOR Europe, Seeking New Program Manager

Letter from the Director

Happy New Year! Looking back for a moment, I want to recognize the TRANSPERS team for their many accomplishments in 2022. As highlighted below, these include a new faculty hire, innovative publications, broad global connections, and leadership of a new journal. It is also a time to give our thanks and bid adieu to Michael Douglas, TRANSPERS Program Manager, as he takes on a new position at UCSF.

Do you have an announcement you would like to see in our next newsletter? Let us know!

Best,

Kathryn

 

Year in Review

News

Global Collaborators Address Equity Challenges of Precision Medicine

TRANSPERS and the TRANSPERS-led GEECS (Global Economics and Evaluation of Clinical Genomics Sequencing) global working group were well-represented at the ISPOR Europe 2022 conference. James Buchanan, along with Deborah Marshall, Maarten IJzerman, and Jeroen Jansen led a panel on "Addressing Equity Challenges in Genome Sequencing: What Can Health Economics Contribute?" The panel discussed key challenges for health economic analysis related to diverse datasets and inequalities in genomic testing.

 

New Health Affairs Journal to Welcome Articles and Pre-Submission Inquiries

Health Affairs, the leading journal of health policy research, recently announced a new international, open access journal, Health Affairs Scholar: Emerging and Global Health Policy, led by TRANSPERS Director Kathryn Phillips. The journal will publish high-quality, peer-reviewed research from a wide, multidisciplinary community of scholars and policy leaders. In addition to covering core health policy topics of costs, access, quality, and equity, HAS will highlight cross-cutting research in health care technology, population health, and global health, particularly related to precision medicine. Of interest are papers in emerging health policy research areas as well as research from intersecting fields of scholarship such as the environment, health and social services, housing, transportation, income, and justice.

The journal plans to begin accepting articles in late January and will also welcome pre-submission inquiries and ideas for solicited articles. The website link and instructions will be available in late January via the Health Affairs website; if you have other questions please contact Kathryn Phillips.

Publications

Mary Norton Reviews the History of Circulating Fetal DNA Testing in New England Journal of Medicine

In a new article Circulating Cell-free DNA and Screening for Trisomies in NEJM, TRANSPERS Collaborator, Mary Norton, MD, reviews the history and importance of circulating fetal DNA testing (cfDNA.) The discovery of cfDNA in 1997 was one of the most significant milestones in medicine. The resulting development of simple blood tests to detect fetal anomalies, such as Down’s syndrome, was a revolutionary advance over invasive methods, such as amniocentesis. Norton notes the potential for “a future in which the entirety of the fetal genome can be analyzed with the use of a single blood sample.”

Team

Hiring a Program Manager/Policy Researcher

We are recruiting for the TRANSPERS Program Manager position, with the opportunity to also conduct research on precision medicine, access/equity, insurance coverage, cost-effectiveness, and systematic evidence review. Flexible: PT/FT, remote/hybrid. More details to come. Let us know if you might be interested via email.