Charting our path towards supporting holistic healthcare decision-making
Our patient-centered research revolves around creating patient-centered evidence, recognized by payers and regulators. As your trusted partner, we conduct preference studies (e.g., DCE), health utility studies, qualitative research, and clinical outcome assessments using innovative approaches. Choose us to achieve impactful, patient-focused outcomes.
Patient voices are instrumental at every step. They provide essential guidance, lending real-world perspectives to research and development. By actively involving patients/caregivers throughout the product lifecycle, we enhance our capacity to create healthcare solutions that are not only effective but also compassionate, respectful of individual needs, and patient-driven.
We integrate patient perspectives throughout all development stages, ensuring their needs drive our strategies from pre-clinical to market access
Identifying and understanding the unmet needs crucial for targeted product development
Optimizing study design and capturing the relevant measures thought the clinical phases
Understanding the facilitators and barriers to support increased utilization/access
Capturing utilities for economic evaluation, secondary analysis of trial data and/or RWD
Our ultimate objective is to enhance patient outcomes, but achieving this goal hinges on active engagement and the seamless integration of patient perspectives. Without their input, our efforts lack the depth and precision needed to make a tangible difference in their lives. We go beyond the conventional methods and embrace cutting-edge approaches to integrate patient-centricity at every step, thus cultivating patient-centered evidence that resonates with payers, regulators, and healthcare providers. At ConnectHEOR, making a difference means prioritizing patients and delivering solutions that truly matter.
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Assessing patient preferences to improve efficacy of treatment for Urinary Incontinence
The Problem
A pharmaceutical company specializing in urology and urogynecology, was faced with the challenge of improving their treatment for urinary incontinence. They aimed to gain a comprehensive understanding of patient preferences regarding treatment options, specifically focusing on the efficacy in reducing symptoms and the burden of adverse effects. The company wanted to understand the patient preferences for a specific treatment for urinary incontinence, to further modify the treatment and understand the unmet need with respect to symptom reduction, burden due adverse effects.
To address this issue, we undertook a multifaceted research approach, combining mixed method research (surveys + in-depth interviews) and discrete choice experiment.
A targeted literature review was conducted to gain insights into existing research on urinary incontinence treatments and patient preferences.
To inform the discrete choice experiment, in-depth interviews were conducted with a select group of patients to qualitatively explore their experiences, concerns, and preferences regarding treatment options.
Followed the NICE-accepted method guidance and sought clinical expert advice throughout the modelling process; Conducted statistical (survival and utility data) analysis of patient-level trial data using R and R Knitr; Assessed uncertainty around OS extrapolation by generating more than 120 scenarios in the model.
A discrete choice experiment was conducted to quantitatively assess patient preferences for various treatment attributes.
Treatment choices were detailed in terms of attributes such as efficacy in reducing symptoms and the likelihood of experiencing typical adverse events.
A fractional orthogonal design was utilized to combine choice sets, ensuring efficient data collection and analysis.
The conditional logit model was used for data analysis, allowing for the estimation of preference weights for different treatment attributes.
Marginal rates of substitution were calculated to demonstrate the relative value of trade-offs between the various attributes, shedding light on the trade-offs patients were willing to make in their treatment choices.
To gain a deeper understanding of the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) impact of adverse events associated with treatment, an online survey was administered.
The survey collected data on adverse event attributes and their impact on patients’ daily lives.
Regression analysis was performed to analyze the relationships between adverse events and their effects on HRQOL.
Specialty
Value and Access
Role
Vice President
Degree
MD Medicine, JD Law
MD Medicine, JD Law
Specialty
Business Development Manager
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.
Specialty
Medical writing, Evidence planning
Role
Consultant, Medical writer
Degree
PhD – Molecular biology and genetics
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.
Specialty
HTA Modelling and Discrete-event Simulation
Role
Consultant, Modeling & Analytics
Degree
PhD – Health & Related Research
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.
Specialty
Model Conceptualization and Data Analytics
Role
Senior Consultant
Degree
PhD – Health Economics
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.
Specialty
Consulting and strategy
Role
Vice President
Degree
MSc. International Economics
MSc. International Economics
Shilpi Swami is a seasoned Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR) expert with experience spanning across multiple healthcare systems and therapy areas. At her current role of Vice President, HTA and Strategy, ConnectHEOR, she provides technical and strategic leadership. Additionally, Shilpi serves as the Member Engagement Co-Chair at ISPOR Oncology Special Interest Group.
Shilpi has a comprehensive track record of leading HTA submissions and devising market access strategies on a global scale, including the EU-5, Canada, US, Latin America, Australia, and Asia. Shilpi has worked across various sectors within health economics, including academia, consulting, and biopharma. This multidimensional experience equips her with a unique ability to offer strategic insights from various stakeholders’ perspectives.
Formerly a Research Fellow at the University of York, Shilpi has made significant contributions to public health projects and the development of best practices in the academic side of health economics. In her professional endeavors, she remains dedicated to improving healthcare through data-driven insights and evidence-based research
Specialty Statistical Analysis and Evidence Synthesis
Role Senior Consultant
Degree 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.
Specialty
Data science and Strategy
Role
Senior Consultant
Degree
MSc. Quantitative Economics
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 in business analytics, data analytics, product lifecycle management and business development. Working as a Data analytics consultant 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 like R, Python, SAS, Excel VBA, Data Robot and data visualization tools like Power BI, Tableau and SAS VA.
Kunal 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.
Specialty
Evidence Review
Role
Principal Consultant
Degree
PhD (Pharmacy)
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.
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
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.
Specialty
Statistical Analysis and Evidence Synthesis
Role
Director of Statistics
Degree
Ph.D Probability and Statistics
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.
Specialty
Decision Modelling and AI Initiatives
Role
Director and Principal Consultant
Degree
MSc – Statistics and Computing
MSc – Statistics and Computing
Endorsed as a ‘Global Talent’ by prestigious ‘The Royal Society, UK’, Tushar is dynamic and enjoys approaching complex problems with a holistic approach. He also holds an MSc. in Statistics and has authored a handbook on higher Mathematics, “A concise handbook of vector space theory and field theory, Srivastava T.”
In ConnectHEOR, Tushar spearhead all HEOR activities.
Tushar’s technical expertise lies in different techniques including cost-effectiveness modelling, budget impact modelling, simulation modelling, statistical modelling and indirect comparisons analysis. He brings a unique blend of academic research, technical modelling and statistical skills and industry professionalism to support the life science industry at every stage of the product life cycle. He has a good experience in statistical analyses, including survival analysis and health related quality of life data analysis from clinical trials.
Besides work, Tushar enjoys playing badminton, jogging, and meditating.