People

AHTA is made up of a multidisciplinary team with staff expertise in areas of health technology assessment (HTA), health economics, ethics, research synthesis, methodological research, guideline development, and research information technology management.

Photo of AHTA Director, Professor Tracy Merlin

Professor Tracy Merlin, Director

Professor Tracy Merlin

AHTA Director

Tracy Merlin is the first Professor of Health Technology Assessment in Australia, having worked in HTA for over 25 years.

As the Director and co-founder of AHTA, Tracy leads a large and experienced team of researchers undertaking nationally significant applied research and evaluation activities. Tracy is a methodologist and clinical epidemiologist. In addition to publishing methodological work, she has written systematic literature reviews, clinical practice guidelines and health technology assessment reports. She has been an active contributor to HTAi and INAHTA. She Chaired INAHTA from 2020-2023 and was on the Board for 8 years. She Chaired the HTA Glossary English Editorial Board for 10 years, on behalf of HTAi and INAHTA. Professor Merlin also Heads the School of Public Health at the University of Adelaide.

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  • Leadership Team
    David Tamblyn

     

    David Tamblyn

    AHTA Manager

    David Tamblyn has worked in the field of health technology assessment for over 10 years, and has experience evaluating pharmaceuticals, devices and medical services. He has been involved in HTA evaluations for both reimbursement and regulatory purposes, and in the development of national guidelines to inform the assessment of pharmaceuticals and medical services.

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    Jacci Parsons

     

    Jacci Parsons

    Team Leader, Special Projects

    Jacci Parsons is an epidemiologist and public health researcher with over 20 years' experience. She began her training as a reviewer while working at the University of Oxford, and has conducted systematic reviews for the Cochrane Library, and for the World Health Organization. With over 10 years of service at AHTA, Jacci has been across a number of projects, including Horizon Scanning, systematic reviews to support clinical practice guidelines, systematic review development for TGA, NHMRC and the WHO, as well as actively contributing to teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Adelaide.

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    Skye Newton

     

    Skye Newton

    Team Leader, Medical HTA

    Skye Newton is a clinical epidemiologist who has 18 years' experience performing and providing guidance and quality assurance for evaluations for the Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC). Skye has strong expertise in the evaluation of investigative tests, in particular, genetic tests.

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    Arlene Vogan

    Acting Team Leader, Health Economics

    Arlene Vogan is a senior health economist at Adelaide Health Technology Assessment (AHTA) and has worked in the field of HTA for 10 years. She is responsible for the production or evaluation of economic evaluations of medical services, pharmaceuticals and co-dependent technologies for the Medical Services Advisory Committee and/or the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee.

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    Camille Schubert

     

    Camille Schubert

    Team Leader, Health Economics

    Camille Schubert supervises the health economic modelling and analyses conducted at AHTA for the Medical Services Advisory Committee and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. She also conducts trial-based health economic research and analysis for grant-funded clinical research projects conducted at the University. Camille's areas of interest are; health economic policy associated with funded of health technologies, co-dependent health technologies and health economic implications associated with genetic testing.

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    Vivian Liufu profile photo

    Vivian (Zhaohui) Liufu

    Team Leader, Pharmaceuticals

    Vivian (Zhaohui) Liufu has worked in the field of health technology assessment for 14 years. She is responsible for critical appraisal and evaluation of pharmaceuticals and co-dependent technologies for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) and/or Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC). She also has experience in clinical medicine, systematic reviews, and evaluation of medical services.

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    Benjamin Ellery

    Benjamin Ellery

    Team Leader, Medical Devices

    Benjamin Ellery leads a team of evaluators who undertake evaluation of medical devices for regulatory purposes, under the auspices of the Australian Government Department's Therapuetic Goods Administration (TGA). Ben has an academic background and professional interest in public health and all aspects of health technology assessment (HTA), with 20 years of experience studying and working in these fields. Over the years, Ben has undertaken work on several hundred HTA projects, which have included the evaluation of medical services, medical devices, public health and health programs, health policy, and environmental aspects of public health.

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  • Administration

  • Ethicist

  • Pharmaceutical evaluators

  • Healthcare & medical device evaluators

  • Health economists

  • Research IT

  • Students

  • Affiliates and consultants