Delphine De Smedt
Tags: Pharmaco-epidemiology, pharmaco-economics - Health Technology Assessment - Life Cycle Assessment
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medecine and Health Sciences, UGent
Research Focus
Our research examines chronic disease management, focusing on the epidemiology of non-communicable diseases, disease burden, and preventive strategies. We emphasize cost-effectiveness and holistic sustainability assessments that integrate the economic, social, and environmental impacts of healthcare interventions. Traditional health technology assessment (HTA) has mainly focused on effectiveness and cost, often overlooking broader societal and environmental consequences.
We develop multidisciplinary frameworks that combine public health, health economics, and life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate interventions across the entire patient pathway. This integrated approach enables a more comprehensive understanding of healthcare value by considering health outcomes, financial costs, and ecological impact simultaneously. Our goal is to support more sustainable healthcare systems and inform policy decisions that optimize resource allocation while reducing the environmental footprint of care, particularly in the long-term management of chronic diseases.