Dalia Dawoud, PhD, is associate director (Research) at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the United Kingdom. She also holds an associate professor position at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Egypt. Dalia also currently serves as associate editor for ISPOR journal Value in Health and associate editor for pharmacoeconomics and outcomes research for Elsevier’s journal Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy. Additionally, she is an editorial board member of Applied Health Economic and Health Policy and BMC Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice. She is also a trustee/board member of a number of not-for-profit organizations including Thrombosis UK and the International Pharmaceutical Federation and a guest lecturer at a number of academic institutions including City University London and London School of Economics.
Since completing her PhD in pharmaceutical policy and economics (King’s College London), Dalia has pursued a career in health economics and health services research. She worked in various sectors including academia, industry, government, healthcare, and patient organizations, as well as clinical guideline development and HTA agencies. Her international work experience as a pharmacist, educator, and researcher spans 2 very different countries and healthcare systems (the UK and Egypt).
Dalia’s research interests are focused on systematic reviewing and evidence synthesis methods and use in economic models and, more recently, on the use of real-world evidence in HTA. In her current role at NICE Science Policy and Research Programme, she oversees the delivery of a portfolio of European Commission funded research projects including IMI EHDEN, IMI HARMONY, and HORIZON 2020 HTx projects. She also leads the delivery of a number of projects under NICE’s newly established HTA Innovation Laboratory. Dalia is widely published in the area of HEOR with over 70 papers and book chapters.
Dalia held a number of ISPOR leadership positions since joining, including chair and member engagement co-chair of the Biosimilars Special Interest Group (SIG) and founding faculty adviser of the University of Hertfordshire Student Chapter. She also holds leadership positions in other societies in the field of HEOR including the International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE) and its Comparative Effectiveness Research SIG and FIP; where she is also serving as the executive committee secretary of its Social and Administrative Pharmacy Section and the health economics focus group lead of its Pharmacy Practice Research SIG.
ISPOR Vision Statement by Dalia Dawoud
As ISPOR approaches completing its third decade, with a member base in 110+ countries, having ambitious vision becomes more important than ever. In my view, member engagement and communication and collaboration are key success enablers. With my experience in these areas, I am well-placed to contribute to achieving ISPOR’s strategic goals. Additionally, my extensive research experience in HEOR and its use in HTA and clinical guidelines equips me to effectively contribute to ISPOR’s continued scientific and research excellence as leader in innovation in the science and translation of HEOR. With my experience as an educator, I will also be able to ensure that ISPOR’s education and training activities are well placed as career and skill-enhancing tools, particularly for members in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where there is limited offering of postgraduate HEOR education.
As an ISPOR director, I would focus on delivering ISPOR’s Strategic Plan Update 2024 in the following areas:
- Member Engagement: ISPOR members are the driving force of its success. Recognition of their contribution to various activities such as the special interest groups and task forces will motivate further engagement. Increasing the number and range of awards available for such engagement, particularly for midcareer practitioners will encourage member engagement. Expanding ISPOR’s presence on social media is another area for progress given the ever-expanding range of platforms and channels to tap into.
- Communication and Collaboration: ISPOR’s mission is to promote health economics and outcomes research excellence to improve decision making for health globally. This requires communication and collaboration with a diverse range of stakeholders across the world including other member societies and organizations such as FIP, ISPE, and HTAi. Building links and collaborating with regulators, HTA agencies, and payers is another important area of progress for ISPOR that can be facilitated through working on joint areas of interest such as the use of real-world data in regulatory and access decision making. Being a Value in Health Ambassador, I plan to contribute to advancing its role in communicating ISPOR’s scholarly outputs including task force reports to maximize their impact through use in healthcare decision making.
- Scientific Research and Excellence: Building on ISPOR’s reputation as a leader in methodological innovation, it is important to seize the opportunity of the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning use in healthcare through understanding the challenges and opportunities of their use in HEOR and also assessing health technologies that use them. Real-time data capture and interpretation and the move to learning healthcare systems and “living” approaches to evidence synthesis is another area in which ISPOR can show further leadership on global level.
- Education and Training: Building HEOR capacity in LMICs, particularly amongst postgraduate students, early-career professionals, and patient organizations is an important area for further growth and expansion for ISPOR. Diversifying the modes of delivery of courses and their format to cater for audiences and learning styles should be an area of focus. Collaboration with other education and training providers that offer HEOR relevant content (eg, EHDEN Academy) by codevelopment and cobadging can also expand ISPOR’s reach.