Research Projects
Cost-effectiveness and return on investment analyses of biologics/biosimilars used in autoimmune diseases


Programme(s) to which this project applies:
☑ MPhil/PhD ☑ MRes[Med] ☒ URIS

Objective and Significance:

Biologics significantly changed the management of autoimmune diseases with significant improvement of treatment outcome and patient’s quality of life. However, the high drug cost hinders the utilization of these effective drugs. The study aims to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and return on investment of biologics (including biologics originators and biosimilars) by using disease simulation model and healthcare big data to inform the treatment and reimbursement decisions for bDMARDs.

Research Plan and Methodology:

Series of cohort simulation models will be developed to incorporate the clinical and economics profiles of patients with autoimmune diseases. Base on the model, mortality, quality of life, medical costs and indirect costs will be projected through lifetime horizon, and further compared among traditional treatments, biologics and biosimilars. Data source for model parameters include the territory-wide healthcare big data in Hong Kong, patient-based disease registry, landmark trials from international studies, published systematic review and meta-analysis.

Professor SX Li, Department of Medicine

With over 10 years of experience in real-world and outcome research (HEOR) and decision analytics, I am currently working as an Assistant Professor at HKUMed. My research passion lies in bridging real-world evidence, disease simulation modelling and decision analytics for transparent and evidence-based health policymaking for cutting-edge innovative medicine (e.g. biologics, precision medicine, vaccine) and healthcare interventions (e.g. AI tools for screening and clinical decision assistance). 

My research often involves dynamic interactions with local and international academic collaborators, local government, industry partners, NGOs and other key opinion leaders. As the principal investigator of several HEOR projects funded by the Hong Kong government, I have led research projects covering the therapeutic areas of mental health, cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases, oncology, rare genetic disorders and vaccinology, and published in world-leading medical journals such as Annals of Internal Medicine, JAMA Pediatrics, Annals of the Rheumatic Disease, eClinicalMedicine and Lancet Regional Health Western Pacific. I have co-authored ~120 peer-reviewed articles (total citation ~2800; H-index 28 as of Feb 2024) and have been selected as the Top 2% most cited scientists by Stanford University. As a Project Coordinator, I also lead the first Horizon Scanning project funded by the RGC Research Impact Fund to launch the HEOR training and root the Health Technology Assessment ecosystem for early innovative adoption in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area.

My current team (Xue’s lab) includes 12 full-time Postdoc/PhD/MPhil students and research fellows. With a team spirit of Proactive – Empathy – Resilience – Teamwork, and Self-motivation (X-PERTS), we embrace and enjoy the open research environment, international collaboration, and breakthrough methodologies in health science. Please email sxueli@hku.hk for full-time or part-time Postdoc/PhD/MPhil/RA opportunities. 

Biography
HKU Scholars Hub
Lab Homepage
ORCID
sxueli@hku.hk

For more information or to express interest for this project, please email the supervisor or the specified contact point in the project description.  Interested candidates are advised to enclose with your email:

  1. your CV,
  2. a brief description of your research interest and experience, and
  3. two reference letters (not required for HKUMed UG students seeking MRes[Med]/URIS projects).

Information on the research programme, funding support and admission documentations could be referenced online at the Research Postgraduate Admissions website. General admission enquiries should be directed to rpgmed@hku.hk.

HKUMed MBBS students interested in the Master of Research in Medicine (MRes[Med]) programme may visit the programme website for more information.  

HKUMed UG students interested in the Undergraduate Research Internship Scheme (URIS) may visit the scheme’s website for more information. 

Research @ Department of Medicine