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CONNECT AI : HEOR THINKING FOR AN AI-ENABLED ERA

Edition 03 | The Invisible Layer - Women, Expertise, and What AI Leaves Behind in Healthcare Research

By ConnectHEOR

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This paper began with a question asked around a small dinner table with a group of women working across healthcare research, consulting, academia, and industry: will AI reduce or widen the gap for women in healthcare research?
What followed was not primarily a conversation about technology. It was a conversation about careers, confidence, expertise, flexibility, leadership, and what work itself may look like in an AI-enabled future. Two perspectives emerged. One viewed AI as a democratising force that could lower barriers to knowledge, technical skills, and participation. The other questioned whether differences in access, confidence, and adoption could create new forms of inequality. Neither was wrong. Both are part of the same story
The first two editions of Connect AI explored leadership, governance, and accountability in AI-enabled HEOR. Edition 02 introduced the Governance Ghost, the human who is nominally responsible for AI-assisted work but who stopped genuinely engaging with it. This edition extends the conversation to the workforce itself: not who owns the output, but who gets to build a career around the capabilities that AI cannot replace.

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    Judit Banhazi

    Specialty
    Value and Access

    Role
    Vice President

    Degree
    MD Medicine, JD Law

    Judit Banhazi

    MD Medicine, JD Law

    Judit Banhazi, based in Basel, Switzerland, brings over 20 years of experience in HEOR, Market Access, and Health Policy.
    She has led HEOR strategies in hematology and initiated EU HTA policy activities. Judit began her career as a physician and has worked at prime global pharma companies. Her academic prowess is excellent with a peculiar combination of an MD in Medicine and a JD in Law, she has been at forefront of health economics by being involved in HTA policy discussions with EFPIA and HTAi.
    Known for her collaborative spirit and practical approach, Judit is passionate about learning and delivering quality work. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, travelling, and running.

    Nigel Seear

    Specialty
    Business Strategy

    Role
    Non-Executive Director

    Degree
    MSc

    Nigel Seear

    MSc

    Nigel Seear serves as Non-Executive Director at ConnectHEOR, providing strategic guidance to support the company’s growth, positioning, and long-term vision.

    With over 25 years of leadership experience across healthcare, consulting, and professional services, Nigel brings deep expertise in scaling organisations, strengthening leadership teams, and translating strategy into execution. He has held senior roles including Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer within high-growth and private equity-backed businesses, where he has consistently driven sustainable growth and operational excellence.

    At ConnectHEOR, Nigel works closely with the leadership team to shape business strategy, enhance organisational effectiveness, and support the company’s evolution as a leading healthcare consulting and technology partner. His perspective combines commercial rigour with a strong focus on people and culture, enabling teams to align around clear goals and deliver meaningful impact.

    In addition to his role at ConnectHEOR, Nigel is an experienced board advisor and leadership coach, supporting CEOs and executive teams in navigating complexity, accelerating growth, and building resilient, high-performing organisations.

    Aris Skandemis

    Specialty
    HTA Health Economist

    Role
    Senior Consultant, Modeling & Analytics

    Degree
    MSc – Health Economics

    Aris Skandemis

    MSc. Health Economics

    Aris is a health economist with over seven years of experience in developing economic models for both global and local HTA settings. He holds an MSc in Health Economics from the University of York and a BSc in Pharmacy from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Aris has held senior positions in major health economics consultancies for several years and has worked as an HTA reviewer for the Liverpool Reviews and Implementation Group. 

    Aris has extensive experience in multiple disease areas including oncology, cardiovascular, infectious, respiratory, renal, musculoskeletal and rare genetic disorders. He has led over 50 health economic projects in a wide range of markets, including US, Canada, UK and Europe. His experience covers various methodologies and settings, including large scale programs (full HTA evidence generation and submission) as well as nuanced initiatives. Aris also specializes in the development of R/R Shiny models and has drove the upskill programs of several organizations, as well as leading several successful R/R Shiny modelling projects that facilitated concrete, flexible and interactive messaging for stakeholders. 

    Aris is based in Athens, Greece and enjoys playing basketball, watching movies and lounging with his dog. 

    Adam Ball

    Specialty
    Business Development Manager

     

    Adam Ball

    Business Manager

    I am delighted to be part of the team here at ConnectHEOR. To tell you a bit about me, I have 10 years experience within Talent Acquisition within HEOR, RWE and Market Access. I have built a global network during this time and am excited to utilize this to help us grow as business. 

    Outside of work I love sports, playing football and squash regularly, as well as going to the gym. I also enjoy watching sports mainly football and tennis. I have a new born daughter too so she is taking up a lot of my time and is a bundle of joy. I also play drums and like to think I have a broad taste in Music.

    Eleni Tente

    Specialty
    Medical writing, Evidence planning

    Role
    Consultant, Medical writer

    Degree
    PhD – Molecular biology and genetics

    Eleni Tente

    PhD – Molecular biology and genetics

    Eleni Tente is an experienced medical writer with proven ability to translate complex scientific information into clear, concise, and impactful content to diverse audiences. She has a strong background in integrated evidence planning, publications, internal communications and e-learning development, complemented by an understanding of various therapeutic areas.

    Eleni holds a PhD in molecular biology and genetics from the University of Cambridge and an MSc in plant genetic manipulation from the University of Nottingham.

    In her free time, Eleni enjoys diving into a good book, fishing along the coast, or planning her next thrilling scuba diving adventure to swim with sharks.

    Syed Salleh

    Specialty
    HTA Modelling and Discrete-event Simulation

    Role
    Consultant, Modeling & Analytics

    Degree
    PhD – Health & Related Research

    Syed Salleh

    PhD. Health & Related Research

    Syed Salleh brings extensive experience in HTA modeling, having successfully led the development of both de novo and adaptation models for HTA listings across multiple countries, including Malaysia, Philippines, and the UK. His work spans key therapeutic franchises such as oncology, cardiometabolic, and respiratory. Syed has also delivered critical insights to healthcare professionals through MYSPOR, ITTP, and IKN virtual CME events and numerous publications.

    He holds a PhD in Health and Related Research from the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) at the University of Sheffield, UK, with a specialization in HTA and operational research, specifically in discrete-event simulation (DES) technique.

    During his time in a leading pharmaceutical company, Syed played a key role in securing the listing of several key products in the Malaysia Ministry of Health Formulary and served as the primary contact for DES-related projects.

    Besides work, Syed enjoys traveling, listening to music, and spending quality time with his family.

    Thai-Son Tong

    Specialty
    Model Conceptualization and Data Analytics

    Role
    Senior Consultant

    Degree
    PhD – Health Economics

    Thai-Son Tong

    PhD. Health Economics

    Thaison Tong has extensive work experience in health economics, decision modelling and big data analysis. He has a unique mix of experience in HEOR and RWE related research in academia and pharmaceutical industry. His expertise lies in health technology assessments (HTA), health economic modelling, simulation modelling, big data analytics and decision analysis. He has hands-on experience in a range of software and programming languages including R, R Shiny, R Markdown, Python, MS Excel, VBA, and Simul8. He has substantial experience of the health care system in the UK and other European countries.

    Thaison has direct experience in building cost-effectiveness models from scratch and conducting big data analysis in several disease areas including dementia, vascular disease, and cancer.

    Thaison’s PhD focus was to develop a de novo patient level model for the evaluation of different cognitive screening tests for early detection of dementia and mild cognitive impairment in primary care. He also looked at different methods for conducting economic evaluation in health care taking a broader/societal perspective. In addition, he investigated the use of Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) for economic evaluation.

    Thaison also holds Academic Researcher position in School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield, UK and Honorary Researcher position in University of Bristol, UK.

    Thaison’s likes to meditate, and play badminton, basketball and tennis.

    Shilpi Swami

    Specialty
    Consulting and strategy

    Role
    Vice President

    Degree
    MSc. International Economics

    Shilpi Swami

    MSc. International Economics

    Shilpi Swami is an internationally recognized leader in consulting, named among the World’s Top 25 Women Leaders in Consulting 2025 – a distinction that spans the entire consulting industry. She also serves as Chair-Elect of the ISPOR Oncology Special Interest Group and is a frequent speaker at leading scientific and policy forums, where she brings clarity and authority to complex healthcare access challenges.

    As Vice President of Consulting and Strategy at ConnectHEOR, Shilpi provides both scientific and strategic leadership, guiding evidence generation and market access initiatives across Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, and Australia. She has led numerous high-stakes HTA submissions and access strategies, combining methodological rigor with practical solutions that resonate with regulators, payers, and biopharma stakeholders.

    Her multidimensional career – spanning academia, consulting, and biopharma equips her with a rare ability to bridge perspectives across research, policy, and industry. Previously a Research Fellow at the University of York, she contributed to advancing best practices in public health and health economics.

    Shilpi is widely respected not only for her expertise but also for her people-first approach. She embodies the belief that Kindness is Cost-Effective™, demonstrating that strength in leadership comes from pairing scientific excellence with empathy, collaboration, and impact.

    Hugo Pedder

    Specialty Statistical Analysis and Evidence Synthesis

    Role Senior Consultant

    Degree PhD – Statistical Modelling

    Hugo Pedder

    PhD – Statistical Modelling

    Hugo brings in a wealth of experience to ConnectHEOR from his extensive work in academia, focusing primarily on evidence synthesis and meta-analysis. Hugo holds PhD in Statistical Modelling from University of Briston and MSc in Medical Statistics from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and his background in neuroscience remains a passionate interest. Alongside working with ConnectHEOR, Hugo continues to part of NICE committee. His expertise includes advanced indirect treatment comparisons technique and has extensive experience of working with the NICE in UK.

    Beyond professional endeavors, Hugo is an enthusiastic outdoor adventurer, particularly enjoying mountain activities, climbing and ski mountaineering. From building rafts to exploring rivers in north of Sweden, he has lived an adventurous life outside of work and plans to continue to do so.

    Kunal Hriday

    Specialty
    AI Strategy

    Role
    Director

    Degree
    MSc. Quantitative Economics

    Kunal Hriday

    MSc. Quantitative Economics

    Kunal Hriday is a business strategy and data science professional with experience in helping organizations crack through notorious business challenges. Kunal is proficient building scalable AI products, specialized Intelligence, automations, business analytics, product lifecycle management and business development. Working as a Data science professional he has spent time in problem solving across variety of industries including Banking, logistics and Health and is now fully dedicated to HEOR. Kunal has hands on experience in various statistical programming tools and languages.

    He also holds a masters’ in Quantitative Economics from Indian Statistical Institute and a bachelors’ degree in Business Economics. Excellent in business communication, he is passionate about studying environmental economics and related theories of welfare optimization.

    Kunal is trained in Indian Classical Music and finds solace in music when not at work.

    Raju Gautam

    Specialty
    Evidence Review

    Role
    Principal Consultant

    Degree
    PhD (Pharmacy)

    Raju Gautam

    PhD Pharmacy

    Raju Gautam spearheads evidence review at ConnectHEOR and  has extensive work experience in evidence review and synthesis, value communications, scientific publications, medical writing and project management.
    His expertise lies in systematic and targeted literature reviews, meta-analyses, network meta-analyses, value communications (AMCP and Global Value Dossiers), RWE study design and publications (manuscripts, posters, and abstracts).
    He has experience working in Global pharma companies, consulting and CRO environment for several therapy areas including Cardiovascular, Oncology, Neurology, Respiratory, Ophthalmic, Rare Diseases, and Vaccines. He has more than 40 publications in international journals as an author.
    Raju also likes jogging, yoga and meditation.

    Radha Sharma

    Specialty:
    Patient preference research, survey, In-depth interviews, COA, Evidence review and conceptualisation of study

    Role:
    Director – Patient-Centered Outcomes Research

    Degree:
    MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery), PhD (Global Public Health) – University of York

    Radha Sharma

    PhD (Global Public Health)

    Radha Sharma spearheads Patient-Centered Outcomes Research at ConnectHEOR. She has a background in medicine, public health, and epidemiology.

    Her expertise includes global health research, preference elicitation, mixed-method studies, consensus workshops, qualitative health research, epidemiological analysis of big data sets, RWE study design, scientific writing, and literature reviews. Her primary focus is integrating patient perspectives into all stages of health technology assessment (HTA) and healthcare decision-making processes.

    Her extensive expertise in mixed-method studies and active patient/stakeholder engagement ensures that her research is methodologically rigorous and patient-centric. Radha is an avid hiker and enjoys exploring the beautiful Canadian Rockies.

    Kate Ren

    Specialty
    Statistical Analysis and Evidence Synthesis

    Role
    Director of Statistics

    Degree
    Ph.D Probability and Statistics

    Kate Ren

    PhD Probability and Statistics

    Kate spearheads Statistics and Evidence Synthesis at ConnectHEOR. She has more than 10 years of experience in conducting statistical analysis in HTA. Kate has PhD in Probability and Statistics specialising in Bayesian methods in clinical trial design.

    She specializes in Bayesian methods in health economics and the elicitation of experts’ beliefs and has extensive experience of conducting evidence synthesis, including, meta-analysis, network meta-analysis, MAIC, STC, ML-NMR etc. Besides working with ConnectHEOR, she is also a part of NICE Committee and University of Sheffield.

    Tushar Srivastava

    Specialty
    Decision Modelling and AI Initiatives

    Role
    Director

    Degree
    MSc – Statistics and Computing

    Tushar Srivastava

    MSc – Statistics and Computing

    Tushar Srivastava is a health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) leader whose journey spans academia, consulting, and the life sciences industry – bringing a rare breadth of perspective to evidence generation. Endorsed as a Global Talent by the Royal Society, UK, and holding an MSc in Statistics and Computing, he has authored numerous publications in modeling, indirect treatment comparisons, patient-centered outcomes research, evidence reviews, and AI.

    He has built a reputation for uniting scientific excellence with technological innovation. From developing decision models himself to shaping and mentoring world-class modeling teams, Tushar has consistently advanced the science and practice of HEOR with a forward-looking, technology-driven vision.

    At ConnectHEOR, Tushar directs HEOR activities and leads the integration of responsible AI into evidence generation. His vision is transforming the field from a human-only framework to an intelligent, interactive, and scalable hybrid intelligence framework – where human expertise works in synergy with AI.

    Working diligently to improve patient lives through research and technology, he brings scientific rigor and technological foresight to projects across diverse therapy areas and health technologies, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics, digital health, and public health programs. His work is widely published and presented internationally, reflecting both methodological depth and innovative thinking.

    He believes that Kindness is Cost-Effective™ and continues to ensure that ConnectHEOR’s science and technology are always guided by a human-centered ethos.