Tienie Stander, MD is the founder and managing director of VI Research in South Africa (2006) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (2018). After obtaining his MD in 1981, he earned an MBA in 2001. Previously, he held an extraordinary professor position at the School of Pharmacy, North-West University, South Africa.
Since 2007, Tienie has held various leadership positions. He was the founding president of the ISPOR South Africa Chapter and intermittently served on the Board of Directors until 2022. During this period, he was elected as the ISPOR Africa Network chair and the ISPOR Health Science Policy Council chair. Currently, he serves as the chair of the ISPOR Global Engagement Council and as a member of the ISPOR Finance Committee. He is affiliated with both the ISPOR South Africa chapter and the United Arab Emirates Chapter.
After completing his MBA, Tienie founded VI Research and pursued a career in the HEOR field in South Africa and Africa. In the early stages, the focus was on comprehending the unique challenges encountered in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and devising unique solutions to address these realities. This involved collaboration with governments, the life-sciences industry, patient groups, academia, healthcare professionals, donor funders, as well as health technology assessment (HTA) agencies. Following expansion to the UAE, these activities grew globally, encompassing training and education initiatives, HTA policy advocacy, data generation, and digital health projects.
Tienie’s research interests revolve around the realities observed in the regions where he operates. This includes real-world data (RWD) generation, HTA policy development, medical devices, and the impact of digital solutions in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Tienie has participated in over 250 research projects, presented at numerous international conferences (including 23 poster presentations), and authored 17 articles.
ISPOR Vision Statement by Tienie Stander
“It is more important to know who you are than where you are going," encapsulates my core ideology. Central to this belief (knowing who I am) is treating all people with dignity and respect, and maintaining an attitude of gratitude and positive expectation.
In the context of ISPOR and my service on the Board of Directors, my commitment is anchored in a core personal value: to utilize science as a tool for discovering truth. Additionally, my core personal purpose is to ensure that our scientific endeavours contribute to fair, equitable, and quality access to healthcare for all.
Drawing from these principles, my vision and potential contributions as an ISPOR Board member, if elected, can be summarized as follows:
- Relevance: I will strive to ensure that ISPOR remains aligned with its strategic pillars and meets its objectives. Continuously challenging the relevance of the ISPOR strategy is essential to ensure its uniqueness, responsiveness to global changes, and differentiation from other similar organizations. As the external environment evolves, we must adopt necessary changes to remain relevant.
- Global engagement: I aim to contribute to member and global engagement initiatives to bolster the ISPOR brand and solidify its position as a key stakeholder in the HEOR environment. Integrating and expanding the roles of local chapters, regional networks, councils, round tables, and student groups into ISPOR's tactics and operations will strengthen its impact.
- Diversity: Serving as a voice for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), I will advocate for addressing their unique challenges and adopting tailored tactics to support their HEOR journey towards maturity. Engaging with LMICs and providing them with relevant content presents a significant growth opportunity.
- Education and Training: Education and training is a central ISPOR strategic pillar. However, these efforts must be underpinned by relevant content and need to be differentiated among stakeholders (For example LIMC vs. high-income countries). I envision contributing to the strategic and operational entrenchment of these principles.
- Governance: I am committed to fulfilling my fiduciary responsibilities with due care to uphold governance excellence in ISPOR.