As we mark four decades of YHEC, we’re reflecting on the people who have been part of that journey. We’re catching up with alumni to hear where their careers have taken them and how the field of health economics has evolved. In this blog, Adam Gordois shares memories from their time at YHEC, and reflects on the career path that followed.
What years were you at YHEC, and what was your role during that time?
I worked at YHEC from October 2000 to February 2003 as a Research Fellow.
Can you tell us about a standout project or achievement from your time with us that you feel particularly proud to have been associated with?
I was involved in the development of a UK economic model for a prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism and had the opportunity to do a podium presentation on this study at the 5th European ISPOR Conference to a good-sized audience. It is still the only conference I have travelled to via overnight ferry! That project also led to one of my first peer-reviewed publications.
Are there colleagues, mentors, or leaders from your time at YHEC who had a particular influence on your professional development?
Paul Scuffham was a Project Director at YHEC at the time and his guidance, mentoring and project leadership style certainly had a big influence on me and helped my learning and development as a health economist immensely.
At what point in your studies or early career did you first become aware of health economics as a discipline? What appealed to you about it, and was YHEC your first role in the field?
YHEC was my first role in the field. I first became aware of health economics when I took an optional module in ‘The Economics of Health and Healthcare’ in my third year of my undergraduate Business Economics degree at Leicester. The course leader was Professor Michael Shields, and I am very thankful that he and the University offered this module. The real-life application and (as it was at the time) ‘niche’ aspect of the subject appealed to me, and there seemed to be something more exciting and appealing about applying economic theory to healthcare than other industry sectors, business, or financial markets.
Can you give us a summary of your career path from when you left us to your current role as Director, Value Demonstration & HEOR at BioCryst?
I left YHEC in 2003 to move to Sydney, Australia where I worked in various consulting roles before returning to the UK with family in 2021. YHEC gave me an excellent grounding in consulting skills and client management. I have always maintained a strong interest in modelling, for which YHEC enabled me to develop the real-world skills, but over the years my roles became much broader, spanning many areas of HEOR and Market Access. After swearing I would ‘always stay in consulting’, I made the move to industry in 2024, and I am enjoying this immensely. It is a relatively small company, and all those years spent working ‘hands on’ in consulting have been a real benefit.
Can you tell us a bit more about your current role and what a “day in the life” looks like for you today?
I lead the Value Demonstration area within BioCryst’s Value & Access team (working remotely full-time). I support both our commercialised and pipeline products, including leading the development of our Global Value Dossiers, US-focused payer decks and objection handlers, developing health economic models (including early models for pipeline products), supporting country-level reimbursement dossiers, and leading a wide variety of HEOR projects and systematic reviews. I get to interact with all of the other functions at BioCryst, in particular our medical affairs, strategic insights, clinical development, patient engagement and commercial teams.
Over the course of your career in health economics, what changes or innovations do you consider to have been the most notable?
Firstly, the increasing influence and importance of real-world data to support healthcare funding and other decision making. When I started working in health economics, I don’t recall the term ‘real-world evidence’ being discussed much at all.
Secondly, there is now much greater recognition of the importance of considering the ‘patient voice’ within reimbursement decisions and clinical development plans. It seems completely logical that patients’ experiences and preferences should play a direct role in shaping healthcare and help to inform payers on a product’s value and clinical need. But again, this is a concept that I don’t recall receiving much attention 20 years ago.
Based on your experience, what’s one piece of advice you would give to someone just starting their career in health economics?
Almost everything you learn will be ‘on the job’. I did the MSc in Health Economics at the University of York, which was great but could not prepare me for the real-life experiences of working with actual clients, imperfect data, writing reports for different audiences, etc. These are all things I learned early on and continued to develop in the workplace.
If you were speaking to today’s school leavers, how would you describe health economics as a career, and what pointers or encouragement would you offer to someone considering it?
I don’t know whether health economics is a career that people are necessarily able to pursue immediately after leaving school. I have found it is a career path people discover whilst they are at university or during their careers. I have worked with health economists from a wide variety of backgrounds, such as public health, pharmacy, academic health economists and other areas of the pharmaceutical industry. So, I would encourage people to keep health economics in mind, and maintain an active interest in it as they pursue their economics, life sciences, pharmacy or other courses. I believe there are plenty of opportunities to transition into health economics during your university studies or career.
I would also say that health economics offers the opportunity for a varied and stimulating career, and the chance to work across many types of projects and therapy areas. Also, it is not a ‘dead end’ career, in that I have seen many colleagues successfully move from health economics roles into other areas of the pharmaceutical or consulting industry, and vice-versa.
Looking back at your time with us, is there a particular skill or lesson you learned that has stayed with you throughout your career?
I always remember working on one particularly stressful and difficult project, which had short timelines and a very demanding client. A senior YHEC colleague was able to help me see the situation in a new perspective, and explained that although we had to do a good job and complete it on time, the project was ultimately ‘not life or death’. I think the irony of that comment, given the subject matter, was genuinely unintended! This conversation has stayed with me. I always look for ways to get things done well and on time, which sometimes means pivoting direction when things are not going ‘perfectly’, and I try to not let the occasional stresses of work seep into my personal life!
Is there anything else that you’d like to comment on?
I have fond memories of my time at YHEC. Peter West was the Director at the time and, along with a great work ethic, he also provided good humour and plenty of opportunities to socialise with colleagues. We had some memorable nights out in York and I also remember eating a lot of cake!
If you’re interested in finding out more about a career in health economics, contact us or keep an eye out for vacancies on our careers page.