Sachiko Ozawa, Ph.D., M.H.S., has joined the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy as an associate professor in the Division of Practice Advancement and Clinical Education.
Ozawa’s principal research interests are in global health economics and outcomes, including estimating the value of vaccines, assessing the global economic burden of diseases and examining the demand and utilization of health care in low- and middle-income countries. She will be leading an internationally recognized and highly collaborative funded research program in global health economics and outcomes, as well as teaching and mentoring students and lending her expertise to the planning and implementation of the Doctor of Pharmacy program
Prior to coming to UNC, Ozawa was a faculty at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where she focused on improving the health systems of low and middle-income countries. She led a research group that has received nearly $4 million dollars in funding from organizations including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gavi (the Vaccine Alliance), Merck, the Toyota Foundation and the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health. Her work has led to the development of various vaccine economics models to demonstrate the economic benefits and return on investment of childhood immunization across 94 low and middle-income countries. Her work has been used in Bill Gates’ speeches, was instrumental in securing the funding replenishment for Gavi of $7.5 billion for 2016-2020, and contributed to a 2016 declaration signed by 20 health ministers at the Ministerial Conference on Immunization in Africa to increase the use of vaccines in preventing infectious diseases.
“Dr. Ozawa brings to our school a unique skill set that will enrich and enhance the School’s global initiatives,” said Denise H. Rhoney, Pharm.D., chair of PACE and the Ron and Nancy McFarlane Distinguished Professor. “She aspires to continually pursue new areas and methods of research and teaching, inspiring others to be involved in global health and health economics.”
Ozawa received her Bachelor of Science in science, technology and international affairs from Georgetown University in 2003 and her Masters of Health Systems in 2007 and Ph.D. in 2010 from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She previously worked at Marsh, a global leader in insurance brokering and risk management, from 2003 to 2005 and as a consultant for the Health, Nutrition and Population Unit of the World Bank from 2005 to 2009. Ozawa has published nearly 30 peer-reviewed articles, serving as first author on 15.