Professor Joanne Lord BSc, MSc, PhD
Director of Southampton HTA Centre & Professorial Research Fellow in Health Economics

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Joanne Lord is a health economist specialising in cost-effectiveness analysis and decision modelling. She runs the HTA group at the University of Southampton, who assess clinical and economic evidence for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). She also collaborates with clinical and health service researchers on a variety of projects; leading health economic evaluations conducted alongside clinical trials and developing cost-effectiveness models.
I’m proud to lead the Southampton HTA Centre. We help to improve guidance on the use of drugs, devices, tests and other services in the NHS by assessing evidence of benefit to patients and value for money.
Joanne is a health economist who has worked for over 30 years in analytical and academic roles to improve decisions about the effective and efficient delivery of health and social care services and the uptake of new technologies.
She has degrees in economics and mathematics, operational research and health economics. Her first job was in the operational research group at the Department of Health in London, where she worked on projects for local health and social service decision-making. She joined the public health department at St Georges Hospital Medical School to do research on clinical audit, then moving into the field of health economics. Joanne also worked at the Imperial College Business School and Health Economics Research Group at Brunel University, before joining the University of Southampton in 2015.
Between academic jobs, Joanne has worked twice for the National Institute for Health and Social Care Excellence (NICE): first on their early technology appraisals and later in their clinical guidelines team. This interest continues at Southampton, where SHTAC produces Technology Assessment Review reports that are a key part of the evidence base that underpins NICE guidance on use of new drugs and diagnostic tests in the NHS.
Qualifications:
- BSc (Hons), Economics and mathematics, University of St. Andrews (1989)
- MSc, Operational Research, London School of Economics and Political Science (1992)
- PhD on uncertainty in health economic evaluation, St. Georges, University of London (2003)
Appointments held:
- Reader, Health Economics Research Group, Brunel University London (2009-2015)
- Technical Advisor, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2004-09)
- Lecturer, Management School, Imperial College London (2000-04)
- Technical Analyst, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (1999-00)
- Lecturer / Research Fellow, Public Health Department, St. George’s University London (1992-99)
- Scientific Officer / Higher Scientific Officer, Economics and Operational Research Division, Department of Health (1989-92)