Amy K. O’Sullivan, PhD, is senior vice president and chief scientific officer at Ontada, where she oversees a team of approximately 70 researchers, biostatisticians, and clinical data specialists in the execution of real-world research for the life sciences industry. Amy has been working in the field of health economics and outcomes research for over 25 years across different sectors. She has held leadership positions at leading health economic and outcomes research (HEOR) consulting companies as well as in industry, including OptumInsight, IMS Health (now IQVIA), Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and Alkermes, Inc. She also held an adjunct faculty position at the Boston University School of Public Health where she taught a graduate-level course in cost-effectiveness analysis for several years.
Amy has been serving on the Board of Directors for the ISPOR Boston Regional Chapter for the past 3 years (as president-elect, president, and past president). She has served on several ISPOR conference review committees, has led workshops and issues panels, and presented research at numerous ISPOR conferences since joining the Society in 2002.
Amy is passionate about using strong science to support product value and access, development of clinical guidelines, and policy change. Over the course of her career, Amy has led the design and execution of research studies across a broad set of methodologies, including burden-of-illness studies, retrospective database analyses, patient-reported outcomes, trial-based economic evaluations, pharmacoeconomic models, and prospective observational studies. She has overseen the generation of evidence to support market access in jurisdictions around the world. She has experience in wide range of therapeutic areas including autoimmune conditions, cardiovascular disease, central nervous system/behavioral health disorders, metabolic disorders, oncology, respiratory disease, women’s health, and rare diseases. Her work has been published in a variety of health economic and clinical journals.
Amy holds a BA in economics and English from Boston College and PhD in health economics from Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.
ISPOR Vision Statement by Amy K. O'Sullivan
As members of the ISPOR community, we are extremely fortunate to have a growing, dynamic, and relevant Society within which we can share research and insights to drive decision making. As someone who discovered this field by chance over 25 years ago, it has been inspiring and motivating to be a part of, and I would be honored to contribute to ISPOR’s ongoing evolution as a director.
ISPOR continues to grow, it is essential that we continue to foster diversity of thought while maintaining the scientific rigor that has always been part of ISPOR’s mission of “promoting health economics and outcomes research excellence to improve decision making for health globally.” I am energized to see the Society build on its previous strategic plan with Strategic Plan Update 2024, including continued focus on the pillars of: (1) Scientific and Research Excellence; (2) Member Engagement; (3) Education and Training; and (4) Communication and Collaboration. I look forward to supporting the advancement of these pillars in the following ways.
Scientific and Research Excellence is our backbone, and I am passionate about promoting efforts to ensure rigorous science is used to drive health care decision making globally. The COVID-19 experience was a historic example of the importance of the use of scientific evidence to drive public health decisions. We have a unique opportunity to build on this momentum and further educate the public on how scientific data can be used to save lives. Notably, the ability to translate scientific results into meaningful insights that can inform health care decisions is paramount.
I applaud ISPOR’s focus on Member Engagement as a strategic pillar. With my colleagues on the ISPOR Boston Regional Chapter Board, we prioritized member engagement to encourage the exchange of diverse perspectives, opportunities for collaboration, and educational and mentorship opportunities. As the ISPOR membership continues to grow, it is important for us to ensure we are engaging members of all stakeholder groups, so that productive debate can occur on important scientific issues. Further, as a leader of HEOR teams, I understand the importance of the third pillar, Education and Training, to foster the skills and competencies needed to support Scientific and Research Excellence. Our Society should build on existing educational opportunities and ensure they are strong at all levels.Finally, I believe Communication and Collaboration are essential to support the first 3 pillars. We should use the growing visibility and relevance of ISPOR to our advantage, communicate the mission broadly, and continue to build strategic partnerships with relevant private and public stakeholders to build coalitions to drive evidence-based healthcare policies.
I am committed to ensuring ISPOR stays current and relevant in today’s ever changing political climate, within which access to healthcare and drug pricing are constant topics of debate. I am passionate about ensuring that rigorous research is conducted, disseminated, and used to drive change that positively impacts patients, families, providers, and society. It would be a privilege to serve as an ISPOR director to continue to drive this work forward.