Toronto Health Economics and Technology Assessment (THETA) Collaborative
Beginnings In August 2007, the Toronto Health Economics and Technology Assessment (THETA) Collaborative was established at the University of Toronto with funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care (MOHLTC). The mandate of the multi-disciplinary collaborative was to build a centre of expertise in health technology assessment (HTA), provide practical, evidence-informed decision support to the Medical Advisory Secretariat of the MOHLTC, and build HTA capacity in Ontario. THETA was located at the Leslie Dan Faulty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto, St. George campus. |
THETA Rounds A new seminar series is launched, bringing Canadian and international HTA experts to Toronto on a biweekly basis to build HTA capacity locally and contribute to the development of HTA science globally. THETA has focused on becoming a hub of knowledge translation in Canada. First Annual Symposium THETA held its first symposium May 23rd-25th at Niagara-on-the-Lake with over 40 attendees from a variety of organizations including federal and provincial institutions (CIHR, MOHLTC, etc.), educational institutions (UofT, UofG, etc.) as well as research institutes from across Ontario (Sunnybrook/St. Michael’s Hospital, etc.). This annual event attracts speakers and attendees to discuss HTA science related to a topic of policy significance. |
Partnerships The Chinese Health Economics Institute (CHEI) visited THETA in late March 2009 with the intent of establishing collaboration between THETA/Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and the CHEI. The hope was to establish a collaboration to host visiting scholars, send students to China, and conduct some joint projects. This finally came to fruition in 2011 when an agreement was formally reached with CHEI leading to an exchange of scholars and students, as well as collaboration on future grants. |
First Annual Knowledge Translation Day THETA hosted its first annual Knowledge to Policy day on May 27th & 28th focusing on wound care and cardiovascular research. This was established to bring together researchers, decision makers and health care professionals for in-depth discussion of the practical implications of HTA research in a particular clinical area. Funding Awards THETA was awarded their largest grant to date from Health Canada’s Canadian Patient Safety Institute in partnership with the Central Community Care Access Centre for a project entitled: Pressure Ulcer Multi‐disciplinary Teams via Telemedicine (PUMTT): A Cluster Pragmatic Randomised Controlled Trial in Long Term Care. |
HTA Institute THETA’s Inaugural 3-day HTA workshop was established in response to an identified need among decision makers, students and academic researchers for basic training in interpretation of HTA evidence. The curriculum covers the three pillars of HTA: clinical evidence, economic evidence, and considerations of the ethical and social implications of technology. |
Leadership Dr. Valeria Rac, a clinician-researcher who has won many investigator awards for clinical trials, was named Director of Clinical Research and Associate Program Director. Professional Development Our milestone 5th Annual Symposium combined with KT to Policy Day was held May 10th-11th. KT Day focused on our work in the area of Chronic Wound Prevention & Wound Care Delivery, while the Symposium focused on Disinvestment in Ontario Health Care attended by over 90 delegates each day. |
Major Infrastructure Award THETA received a major five-year award from the federal government through the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) New Initiatives Fund (NIF). This award had allowed THETA to expand the breadth f its expertise by securing greater infrastructure enabling us to higher addition highly qualified personnel. Core Funding Renewal Health Quality Ontario renewed THETA’s funding for another three year period, with an additional 2-year extension available after a program review is conducted. Leadership Dr. Fiona Miller, a PhD and Associate Professor at IHPME was named lead of our Health Policy and Ethics Division. |
MaRS EXCITE THETA’s SIESTA study (a home sleep study with ApneaDx for the diagnosis and management of obstructive sleep apnea), is the first study coming out of the MaRS EXCITE program. The program aims to support health technology start-ups with adaptability to market through evidence generation services as well as implementation navigation in the Ontario healthcare system. Professional Development THETA, in collaboration with the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) and the Maritime Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research Support Unit (MSSU), brought it’s a 3-day workshop to Halifax, NS on July 14th-16th. Partnerships In March, Dr. Petros Pechlivanoglou led a graduate course in the area of cost-effectiveness and the development of the capacity for evidence-based decision making of new or existing medical technologies in Ethiopia as part of the Toronto Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration. THETA hosted Professor Ivar Sønbø Kristiansen (a member of the Economic Evaluation of Health Technologies research group from the University of Oslo) and Associate Professor Torbjørn Wisløff (a member of the Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services) with a view to establishing common areas of research interest. |
Funding Award Dr. Valeria Rac was awarded a two-year grant from the Ontario Telemedicine Network for her THRIVE study (TeleHomecaRe InterVention Evaluation Study). |
New Home With funding for infrastructure from our CFI award in 2013, THETA secured an agreement with University Health Network (UHN), Toronto General Hospital Research Institute (TGHRI). This allowed THETA to renovate and move to a larger space on the 10th floor of the Eaton Building at the Toronto General Hospital. THETA was now officially part of the TGHRI. New Partners & Neighbours The newly formed Biostatistics Research Unit (BRU), led by Dr. George Tomlinson joined THETA in its new location at TGH. More Big Funding THETA was awarded a two-year $425k grant from Prostate Cancer Canada. |
Open House To celebrate our induction into the UHN community (as well as our 10 year anniversary!) and welcome everyone to the newly designed space, THETA threw an open house on Nov 1st, 2017. New Scientists Dr. Valeria Rac and Dr. Beate Sander successfully obtained Scientist positions at the TGHRI. Leadership Dr. Beate Sander was named THETA’s new lead of Health Modeling and Population Health Economics Research (PHER) Division. Funding Award Dr. William Wong and Dr. Murray Krahn were awarded the Canadian Liver Foundation (CLF) for a project entitled, "Using economic modelling to estimate hepatitis C provincial and national drug plan expenditures in the next decade." Fundraising Several THETA members participated in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront 5K on Sunday, October 22, as part of the Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation team. |
Awards Dr. Murray Krahn was awarded a prestigious Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Health Technology Assessment. The Canadian Government invests approximately $265 million per year to attract and retain some of the world’s most accomplished and promising minds. Professional Development Drs. Lusine Abrahamyan and Yeva Sahakyan were invited to Armenia to teach three-week graduate courses on survey research methods and inferential biostatistics. |
