CADTH Lecture — Economic Evaluation of Exome and Genome Sequencing in Child Health: Tracing the Sequence From Microcosting to Implementation

Event Date: Thursday, November 25, 2021
Time: 1:00 p.m. EDT 
Zoom Webinar (Free — Registration Required)

With a growing demand to use whole exome (ES) and genome sequencing (GS) as diagnostic tools in clinical practice, there is a pressing need to understand the true costs of these technologies and their cost-effectiveness compared with standard diagnostic approaches. ES and GS may be of particular value in child health to promote early diagnosis and early intervention, thereby decreasing morbidity and mortality over the long term. This seminar will trace a health economic evidence development pathway for these technologies — from microcosting ES and GS platforms, to comparative economic evaluations of sequencing technologies in diagnosing complex childhood conditions, to assembly of health technology assessment evidence for a funding recommendation, and finally to implementation and evaluation in Ontario.

Speaker:

• Wendy J. Ungar, MSc, PhD, Canada Research Chair in Economic Evaluation and Technology Assessment in Child Health Senior Scientist, Child Health Evaluative Sciences, Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute Director, Technology Assessment at SickKids (TASK) Professor, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto

Wendy Ungar is a Senior Scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children and a Professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Dr. Ungar holds the Canada Research Chair in Economic Evaluation and Technology Assessment in Child Health. She also founded Technology Assessment at SickKids (TASK), where she leads research that applies health economic methods to child health with a focus on genomics and neurodevelopmental disorders. She and her team maintain the PEDE database, a user-friendly online database of pediatric economic evaluations used by health technology assessment agencies around the world. Dr. Ungar’s book, Economic Evaluation in Child Health, was published by Oxford University Press in 2010. In 2017, Dr. Ungar was appointed Chair of the Ontario Genetic Testing Advisory Committee, a group that makes funding recommendations on genetic technologies for Ontario. In 2020, she was also awarded the Dr. Jill M. Sanders Award of Excellence in Health Technology Assessment from CADTH.