Theme Leader
Devidas Menon, MHSA, PhD
Professor, School of Public Health
University of Alberta
3021 Research Transition Facility
8308 114 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2V2
menon@ualberta.ca
Phone: +780-492-9080
Fax: +780-248-1546
http://www.publichealth.ualberta.ca/research/researchers_supersivors/faculty/menon.aspx
Twitter: @HTPU1
Dev Menon received his PhD and his Masters Health Services Administration from the University of Alberta, where he is professor of health policy and management. His interests centre around health technologies in health systems. This includes methodologies for the assessment of technologies, conduct of comprehensive health technology assessments (HTA), and the study of processes for decision-making on the coverage and reimbursement of new technologies and technology-based health services, and the role of public or social values in resource allocation decision-making. For him, it is essential that such research be conducted in close collaboration with decision-making bodies, and therefore he has established good relationships with governments, government agencies and health delivery bodies across Canada. He was the founding Executive Director of the Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (CCOHTA; now CADTH), and Alberta’s Board representative to CCOHTA for one year. He was also a member of the National Advisory Council of the California Health Benefits Program, set up to generate evidence to support California state decisions on new health programs. He chaired the Alberta Implementation Committee for HTA, producing a blueprint for the province’s HTA program. Currently, he sits on Alberta’s Advisory Committee on Health Technologies, which oversees evidence production to support decisions on non-drug technologies in Alberta. Dr. Menon has an extensive publication record in HTA and evidence-informed policy-making. He has held research grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Stem Cell Network on introducing innovative health technologies.
About Dev’s Team
Director, Health Technology and Policy Unit
Tania Stafinski, PhD
tanias@ualberta.ca
Tania was previously a Research Associate at the Institute of Health Economics and the University of Alberta. She is co-PI for a multi-year health technology assessment grant from Alberta Health, and is co-investigator of the Pharmaceutical Policy Research Collaboration, funded by CIHR and Health Canada. She is also associate editor of BMC Health Services Research, and a member of the steering committee of the Special Purpose Interest Group on Patient and Citizen Involvement of Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi).Tania’s research interests include HTA methods, innovative approaches to making health technology coverage decisions, and the role of social values in priority-setting for healthcare. She holds an MSc in epidemiology and a PhD in public health sciences, both from the University of Alberta, and has taught a course in HTA for graduate students.
Research Associate
Alexa Nardelli, MPH
alexan@ualberta.ca
Alexa Nardelli completed a Master’s in Public Health, specializing in Epidemiology, from the University of Alberta in 2011. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from the University of Alberta. As a part of her Master’s in Public Health, Alexa completed a practicum at the Health Technology and Policy Unit in 2010. Alexa is currently a Research Associate at the Health Technology and Policy Unit.
Librarian
Leigh-Ann Toper, MLS
leigh-ann.toper@ualberta.ca
Leigh-Ann is a librarian at the Health Technology & Policy Unit. Before joining the Unit, she worked in health technology assessment information services and emerging health technologies at the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH), the Institute of Health Economics (IHE), and the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR). She is particularly interested in horizon scanning to identify emerging health technologies and in plain language communication of health information. Leigh-Ann has master’s degree in library science.
PhD Candidate
Omar Bawhab, MHA
bawhab@ualberta.ca
Omar is a PhD student in the School of Public Health, University of Alberta. He has a bachelor’s degree in Medical Science from Umm Al-Qura University, and a master’s in health administration from Dalhousie. He holds a doctoral training scholarship from the government of Saudi Arabia.
He is currently working on a comprehensive systematic review of frameworks/processes for decision-making on companion diagnostics.
Masters candidate
Roland Maier, BSc
rkmaier@ualberta.ca
Roland Maier is enrolled in the master’s degree program in HTA at the University of Alberta. He comes with extensive experience in laboratory medicine and testing. He holds a BSc from the University of Alberta, and his research interests lie in the development of HTA methodology and application of HTA in the effective, efficient delivery of clinical laboratory services. This includes the assessment of near-patient and non-invasive biomarker measuring medical devices.
Masters candidate
Jennifer Pillay, BSc
jennifer.pillay@ualberta.ca
Jennifer is enrolled in the master’s degree program in HTA at the University of Alberta. She is a dietician whose thesis project will focus on patient perspectives on Personalized Medicine.