Steven D. Pearson, MD, MS, FRCP

Founder and President
Institute for Clinical and Economic Review

Steven D. Pearson, MD, MSc, FRCP is the Founder and President of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), an independent non-profit organization that evaluates the evidence on the value of medical tests, treatments, and delivery system innovations and moves that evidence into action to improve patient care and control costs. ICER’s programs include the California Technology Assessment Forum and the New England Comparative Effectiveness Public Advisory Council, both of which seek to support all health care decision makers in the interpretation and application of evidence on clinical effectiveness and value.Dr. Pearson is a Lecturer in the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School and also serves as Visiting Scientist in the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health. He attended UCSF School of Medicine, completed his residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and obtained a Master of Science Degree in Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health. An internist, health services researcher, and ethicist, Dr. Pearson has served in many advisory and leadership roles in academia and government. In 2004 he was awarded an Atlantic Fellowship from the British Government and chose to serve as Senior Fellow at the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). Returning to the United States in 2005 he was asked to serve for one year as Special Advisor, Technology and Coverage Policy, within the Coverage and Analysis Group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He has also served as Senior Fellow at America’s Health Insurance Plans, as the Vice Chair of the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee (MedCAC) from 2007-2009, and as a Member of the Board of Directors of Health Technology Assessment International (HTAi) from 2010-2013. Dr. Pearson continues today to be active in various roles related to comparative effectiveness research and policy, including the AcademyHealth Methods Council, and the National Institutes of Health Comparative Effectiveness Research Steering Committee.
Dr. Pearson’s ongoing academic work combines efforts in comparative effectiveness research, health policy, and bioethics. His published work includes numerous articles and commentaries on the role of evidence in the health care system, and the book No Margin, No Mission: Health Care Organizations and the Quest for Ethical Excellence, published by Oxford University Press.