Arnold Epstein and Sue Goldie
Decision science provides a structured, logical way of evaluating and informing complex decisions under conditions of uncertainty, and can be a useful tool for policymakers and leaders to address difficult public health problems.
Guest speaker Harvey Fineberg, president of the Institute of Medicine, noted that the field faces a number of challenges as it moves forward: getting people to understand the laws of probability; how to account for how people will feel years in the future about decisions made today; how much to try and influence policymakers in their decisionmaking; and whether communities should be treated differently when it comes to public health policy based on their differing levels of existing public health burden.
Harvey Fineberg, former HSPH dean and Harvard provost, spoke at the event.
The symposium celebrated Goldie, who was promoted recently to professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at HSPH, as much as the burgeoning field.
"The importance of this event is partly because of who she is and partly because of what she has accomplished, but is mostly because of what she promises to accomplish in the future,'' said Fineberg.
Goldie develops and validates computer-based models linking the basic biology of a disease and its epidemiology to outcomes in large populations. Her focus in the last several years has been on three viruses of major public health importance: HIV, hepatitis, and the human papilloma virus (HPV). Collectively, these three viruses-together with the conditions they lead to (AIDS, liver cancer, and cervical cancer, respectively)-are responsible for an enormous burden of disease, have a substantial impact on quality of life, are associated with both high medical and societal costs, and represent important public health challenges for low-, middle- and upper-income countries.
Said Arnold Epstein, chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management, "She never takes on the small stuff. She starts with big problems. And she inevitably builds a really complicated computer model that sits in between clinical medicine, basic science, and epidemiology and goes back and forth to yield important insights in public health. She has a genius for borrowing the wisdom, insights, and expertise from different fields. She understands that scholarship is really just the beginning. It's really all about changing people's lives.''
Goldie reflected, "This year represents a milestone for me personally, but also for the field of health decision science. The School of Public Health and the Department of Health Policy and Management have supported health decision science for many years, and it is really due to this support that many of the most prominent leaders in decision science have spent time here."
She added that through a commitment to research, training, and enabling real-world health policy impact, and the opportunity that comes with a leadership role in the Program in Health Decision Science, she intends to roll up her sleeves and work with her colleagues to create a vibrant, sustainable community that will collectively embrace the values that decision science can bring to public health.
—ML
Copyright, 2009, President and Fellows of Harvard College
