Stacie Dusetzina, Ph.D., has been confirmed as a committee member for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report titled “Ensuring Patient Access to Affordable Drug Therapies.”
The committee is charged by the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) with issuing a report with recommendations for policy actions that could address drug price trends, improve patient access to affordable and effective treatments and encourage innovations that address significant needs in health care.
“Drug pricing and access are complex issues affecting pharmaceutical manufacturers, payers and patients,” Dusetzina said. “These topics have been at the forefront of discussions about health-care access in recent years and are highly contentious given the high financial stakes for manufacturers and payers. The NASEM’s commitment to providing objective, scientific insights into this complex topic is welcome.”
The NASEM are private, nonprofit institutions that provide expert advice on some of the world’s most pressing challenges. It was formed by congressional charter by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 and is viewed as the nation’s premier source of independent, expert advice on scientific, engineering and medical issues.
Over 15 months the committee will examine patient access to affordable and effective therapies, focusing specifically on drug pricing, insurance design and inflation in the cost of drugs. Its 17 members come from a variety of backgrounds, including academia, the military, Congress, state health departments and the National Institutes of Health.
Dusetzina is an assistant professor in the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. She also holds a faculty appointment in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Dusetzina’s principal research interests surround the intersection of pharmacy and public health, specifically the role of medications play in large patient populations and how insurance policies and reimbursement decisions affect treatment use.
“My research centers on patient access to medications,” Dusetzina said. “Because of my experience in the topic, I have been able to share my work with the committee in our recent meetings and look forward to contributing to the report in these and other critical areas. I am thrilled to be a part of this important committee.”
Dusetzina received her Ph.D. from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and completed her postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Health Care Policy. She is a member of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research and the Carolina Health Informatics Program.