Lifetime achievement award for McMaster professor

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/rongoerree.jpg” caption=”Ron Goeree, a professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics and director of the Programs for Assessment of Health Technology (PATH) Research Institute at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, has been given the Dr. Jill M. Sanders award of Excellence in health technology assessment. Photo by Denis Driver Photography.”]McMaster's Ron Goeree has been given a lifetime achievement award for his work in the
field of health technology assessment (HTA).

Goeree, a professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics and
director of the Programs for Assessment of Health Technology (PATH) Research Institute
at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, has been given the Dr. Jill M. Sanders Award of
Excellence in HTA.

He was nominated by students Ilia Ferrusi and Morgan Lim, who work with him at PATH.

“As director of PATH, he has demonstrated the essential role health technology
assessment can and should play in meeting the needs of health of health decision-
makers,” said Brian O'Rourke, president of the Canadian Agency for Drugs and
Technologies in Health, which presented Goeree with the award. As an innovator, he
helped pioneer the methodological framework for the field evaluation of non-drug
technologies. As a dedicated professor and mentor, he has trained literally thousands of
students, researchers, and decision-makers, making an immense contribution to the
capacity in Canada to produce and use health technology assessment.”

O'Rourke called Goeree “one of the pre-eminent HTA researchers and educators in the
world.”

A health economist, Goeree earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from
McMaster at a time when health economics was not a major field. Today, he says, there
aren't enough graduates choosing it as a career.

To help remedy the situation, Goeree recently created two postdoctoral positions in
partnership with Amgen to support the creation of a centre of excellence in HTA at
McMaster and drug company Pfizer. The positions will help promote research in multi-
criteria decision-making. Ilia Ferrusi, the first post-graduate student, will graduate this
year during McMaster's spring convocation.

McMaster is also the first university in the world to offer a graduate level program with
HTA specialization, thanks to Goeree's efforts.

Goeree, who has established workshops on HTA all over the world – from Singapore to
Oslo, has published extensively (more than 375 books, chapters, articles and abstracts).
He has reviewed over 120 journal submissions, 80 national or provincial drug
submissions or reports, served on nearly 50 industry advisory boards, and more than 60
government/decision-maker committees and boards.

While Goeree said he is thrilled to receive the CADTH award, what means most is that
two of his students nominated him.