AHES 2024 Conference Organised Session

Several members of the Economics of the Genomics and Precision Medicine (EiGEN) Unit recently attended the Australian Health Economics Society Meeting in Sydney, presenting on a range of important topics in the health economics of genomics.

Lizzy Liu, Mackenzie Bourke, and Riccarda Peters, in collaboration with Zanfina Ademi from Monash University's Health Economics and Policy Evaluation Research (HEPER) group, organized a session on "Novel Applications of Health Economic Methods in Genomic Medicine."

Mackenzie Bourke presented a systematic review aiming to understand the current state of methods for the economic evaluation of population risk screening and discussing whether it is fit for purpose.

Zanfina Ademi spoke about using Mendelian randomization in health economics.

Lizzy Liu spoke about the conceptualisation process for a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to explore preferences for population genomic risk screening for breast cancer, focusing on the role of risks and perceptions.

Riccarda Peters shared how discrete choice experiments (DCEs) can be used to inform the evaluation and implementation of Genomic Newborn Screening (GNBS) in Australia, including an example of public preferences on service delivery.

The session concluded with a lively discussion with the audience facilitated by Zanfina Ademi focusing on the challenges and opportunities for health technology assessment (HTA) processes in genomic medicine in Australia and how Australia compares to other countries in terms of health economics.

Attending the conference was an enriching experience, offering valuable insights and networking opportunities for our team as we explore the future of health economics in genomic medicine.