Lawrenceville, NJ, USA, Apr 21(BNP): ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research announced today the recipients of its 2026 Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR) Scientific and Leadership Awards. ISPOR Scientific Awards are designed to foster and recognize excellence and outstanding achievement in HEOR and its Leadership Awards recognize excellence and outstanding leadership in the field.
The 2026 HEOR Award honorees include:
ISPOR Impact Award Established in 2025, this award recognizes examples of HEOR delivering outstanding impact in healthcare. The 2026 honorees are recognized for their research demonstrating the effectiveness of no-cost coverage for HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in the United States. Their work contributed to protecting access for the 1.2 million individuals indicated for PrEP and the 150 million Americans who benefit from no-cost preventive services, reinforcing efforts to end the HIV epidemic and improve health outcomes nationwide.
The honorees research, published in 2024 in Health Affairs, provided evidence on the impact of out-of-pocket costs on PrEP abandonment. Their evidence combined with extensive stakeholder engagement, media outreach, and a comprehensive communication strategy resulted in state-level and nationwide impact. The research supported the passage of laws requiring insurance companies to cover PrEP with no copayments or deductibles in the state of Rhode Island. Furthermore, at a critical time when the US Affordable Care Act’s preventive services mandate faced legal challenges, their findings were cited in 9 amicus curiae briefs submitted to the US Supreme Court, helping demonstrate the real-world consequences of removing no-cost coverage. In June 2025, the Court upheld the authority of the US Preventive Services Task Force, preserving no-cost PrEP coverage—a major public health victory. The team’s research was widely featured in media coverage of the decision, emphasizing that even small cost increases can reduce PrEP uptake and elevate HIV risk.
The honorees collaborated as a team on this project therefore, the award is being given jointly. The honorees are:
- Lorraine Dean, ScD; Associate Professor of Epidemiology; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Baltimore, MD, USA
- Jalpa A. Doshi, PhD; Leon Hess Professor of Internal Medicine; Director, Value-Based Insurance Design Initiatives, Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics; Senior Fellow, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Amy Nunn, ScD, MS; CEO of the Rhode Island Public Health Institute; Professor of Public Health and Medicine; Brown University; Providence, RI, USA
Avedis Donabedian Outcomes Research Lifetime Achievement Award This award recognizes an individual’s outstanding, life-long achievement in the area of improving health outcomes. The honoree is:
- Sean Sullivan, BScPharm, PhD; Professor; The Choice Institute; University of Washington; Seattle, WA, USA
Marilyn Dix Smith Leadership Award This award recognizes an individual who has provided extraordinary leadership to the Society. The honoree is:
- Nancy Devlin, PhD; Professor of Health Economics; University of Melbourne; Parkville, Australia
Bernie O’Brien New Investigator Award This award is given to an individual who has shown evidence of exceptional promise based on their emerging body of technical and scholarly work in the field of health economics and outcomes research. The honoree is:
- Boshen Jiao, PhD; Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical and Health Economics; University of Southern California; Los Angeles, CA, USA
ISPOR LMIC Health Economics and Outcomes Research Excellence Award This award recognizes individuals with demonstrated outstanding research achievements in the area of health economics and outcomes research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The honoree is:
- Rimal Mousa, PhD; Associate Professor; University of Jordan; Amman, Jordan
ISPOR Award for Excellence in Health Economics and Outcomes Research Methodology This award recognizes outstanding research in the field of health economics and outcomes research methodology. The honoree is:
- Maja Kuharic, PhD; Assistant Professor; Northwestern University; Chicago, IL, USA for the article, “Reversing Proxy Roles: Care Recipients as Proxies for Caregiver Health-Related Quality of Life.” [Value Health. 2026;29(3):441-448]
ISPOR Award for Excellence in Health Economics and Outcomes Research Application This award recognizes outstanding practical application of health economics and outcomes research in health care decision making. The honoree is:
- John Lin, MD, MSHP; Assistant Professor; University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; Houston, TX, USA for the article, “Racial and Ethnic Disparities Along the Treatment Cascade Among Medicare Fee-for Service Beneficiaries With Metastatic Breast, Colorectal, Lung, and Prostate Cancers.” [J Clin Oncol. 2025;43(30):3254-3265]
Value in Health Paper of the Year Award This award promotes quality research, originality, and utility in healthcare decisions for articles published in Value in Health. The honoree is:
- Hannah Hussain, PhD; Office of Health Economics; London, England, UK for the article, “Mapping EQ-5D-5L Utilities in Dementia: Integrating Self and Proxy Reports.”
Value in Health Regional Issues Paper of the Year Award This award recognizes quality research, originality, and utility in healthcare decisions for articles published in Value in Health Regional Issues. The honoree is:
- Igor Tona Peres, PhD; Department of Industrial Engineering, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the article, “Efficiency Analysis of Healthcare Systems in Latin American and Caribbean Countries: An Application Based on Data Envelopment Analysis.”
