Dr. Aslam Anis receives Faculty of Medicine Distinguished Researcher Award

Dr. Aslam Anis is the Director of the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences (CHEOS), the National Director of the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network, and a Professor and Director pro tem of the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH). Trained as an economist, Dr. Anis has achieved international recognition for his seminal contributions to the fields of Pharmacoeconomics, pharmaceutical industry regulation, and drug pricing. His body of work has been influential across a broad spectrum of health research domains including HIV/AIDS, rheumatoid arthritis, and substance use, among others. As an early champion of patient-oriented, evidence-based decision-making, he has informed debate and policy at the provincial, national, and international levels. The policy impacts of Dr. Anis’ highly translational research are influential and far-reaching, resulting in lower costs and better health care for millions across Canada and beyond, including countless people living with HIV around the world.  As an educator, Dr. Anis launched the unique executive style Master of Health Administration at SPPH which has attained acclaim for training many of our health administrators and leaders today and currently he is focused on developing a new Global Health training program at UBC.

As a leading international scholar on the methodology used to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of new drugs, Dr. Anis was appointed by the Government of British Columbia in 1995 to serve as Founding Director of the Pharmacoeconomic Initiative of BC. In this role, he spearheaded the creation of a multidisciplinary, evidence-based review process that was the forerunner for the Canada-wide Common Drug Review program. Similar methodology has since been adopted internationally in multiple jurisdictions. Dr. Anis’ scholarly contributions are notable for having attained national and international recognition across multiple health disciplines. Dr. Anis’ diverse health services and policy research collaborations have also included ground breaking work on the socioeconomic aspects of treatment for substance use disorders.

Dr. Anis has an exceptional track record of mentorship of students and junior faculty. He is a true visionary with regards to prioritizing equity, diversity, and inclusion as essential components defining leadership and research excellence. Dr. Anis’s commitment and dedication to widely sharing his research findings and expert opinion is exemplified through his invited presentations, peer-reviewed manuscripts, and conference proceedings. The breadth of Dr. Anis’ publication record is a testament to the diversity of his scholarly contributions and the wide impact they have achieved. A fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, Dr. Anis is a distinguished and influential contributor to the advancement of foundational science research in health and life sciences at UBC, in Canada, and internationally. His contributions as a researcher, administrator, mentor, and educator have helped shaped the current landscape and future direction of health research and education in Canada, and he has established himself as one of the pre-eminent health economists and health services and policy researchers of his time.

For a background on the Distinguished Research Awards for 2022 and to read more about the other awardees please visit this link.