Stéphane Verguet's Faculty Website

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Short biography

Stéphane Verguet is Associate Professor of Global Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Dr. Verguet’s multidisciplinary research focuses on health decision science and priority setting, particularly the development of mathematical and computational decision-making models to better design health policies. His research interests include health economics, cost-effectiveness analysis, equity, and health systems performance. Most recently, he has been working on the estimation of non-health benefits, particularly the poverty alleviation benefits, of health policies and interventions.

Research areas and projects

Priority setting

Methods: Extended cost-effectiveness analysis (ECEA)

I have co-led the development of the methodology of “extended cost-effectiveness analysis” (ECEA), which attempts to incorporate the distributional, equity and poverty reduction benefits of policies into traditional economic evaluation methods. ECEA methods have now been widely used as the key economic methodology for the Disease Control Priorities, 3rd edition (www.dcp-3.org).

  • Verguet S, Olson Z, Babigumira J, Desalegn D, Johansson KA, Kruk ME, Levin CE, Nugent RA, Pecenka C, Shrime MG, Tessema Memirie S, Watkins DA, Jamison DT. Health gains and financial risk protection afforded from public financing of selected interventions in Ethiopia: an extended cost-effectiveness analysis. Lancet Global Health 2015; 3:e288-296. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(14)70346-8/abstract

Example of applications: Equity and poverty alleviation benefits of vaccines

To estimate the equity and poverty reduction benefits of vaccines in low- and middle-income countries, and to pursue a set of corresponding extended cost-effectiveness analysis economic evaluations.

Disease Control Priorities – Ethiopia (DCP-E)

DCP-E intends to bring evidence and methods of priority setting and health economics closer to policy decision-making in Ethiopia. To achieve this purpose, three objectives are important:

  1. To develop health economic evaluation and priority setting capacity in Ethiopia.
  2. To provide input, through research and evidence, to the revision of the essential health care package for Ethiopia.
  3. To establish a process to support health priority setting in Ethiopia, including assessing the cost-effectiveness of selected health sector interventions, packages, and delivery platforms.
Big data and health system modeling

I study health system performance and country performance on health through a quantitative lens that draws on a set of innovative approaches. In particular, we use mathematical and computational frameworks from physics and systems engineering to design dynamic models that replicate health system behaviors in real life, and, envision new potential relationships between the basic building blocks of health delivery in low- and middle-income countries. This includes the examination of trends in the evolution of health indicators over time, the study of the integration and the potential positive/negative synergies of certain delivery platforms with other health services, and the health systems more broadly.

  • Verguet S, Jassat W, Bertram MY, Tollman S, Murray CJL, Jamison DT, Hofman KJ. Impact of supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) on health systems: findings from South Africa. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2013; 67:947-952. http://jech.bmj.com/content/67/11/947.short
Mathematical modeling

I have designed decision-making models including a range of mathematical techniques (e.g. analytical functions, differential equations, optimization) in order to address a variety of problems in global public health, such as infectious disease transmission, resource allocation questions, and demographic modeling.

  • Verguet S, Lim SS, Murray CJL, Gakidou E, Salomon JA. Incorporating loss to follow-up in estimates of survival among HIV-infected individuals in sub-Saharan Africa enrolled in antiretroviral therapy programs. Journal of Infectious Diseases 2013; 207(1):72. http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/207/1/72.abstract
Tobacco control

On the question of how to expand tobacco control, favored tactics include increased excise taxes on tobacco products, and the expansion and enforcement of smoke-free zones. I have been working to evaluate the distributional consequences of these approaches (across socio-economic groups and geographical settings) in terms of health benefits, equity and poverty reduction benefits to households.

Education

Ingénieur Diplômé de l’Ecole Polytechnique
MS, Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
MPP, Master in Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley
PhD, Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley