Dr Huseyin Naci is Associate Professor of Health Policy at LSE Health, and his research focuses on pharmaceutical policy, health technology assessment, and evidence-based healthcare decision-making. Last year the International Strategy and Academic Partnerships team supported Dr. Naci through the Global Research Fund so he could make progress on a significant project: the Pharmaceutical Policy Lab.
In this interview, he tells us about his research and what he and his co-founders plan to achieve via this exciting initiative ↓
Could you tell us about your research?
My work examines how health systems decide which medicines reach patients - and whether those decisions deliver value. I examine the evidence behind approval, pricing, and reimbursement, and assess how these choices affect patient outcomes, population health, and the sustainability of healthcare.
What attracted you to this particular area of research?
Pharmaceuticals are central to modern healthcare—they are widely used, often highly effective, and among the most expensive interventions. I was motivated by the pressing questions at the intersection of pharmaceutical innovation, access, and affordability: Are health systems making timely and appropriate decisions about new drug approvals? Do patients and clinicians have the information they need to make informed choices? Are prices aligned with the clinical benefits these medicines deliver? These issues matter not only for individual patient outcomes, but also for the sustainability of health systems and the health of entire populations.
How did the Lab project come about?
My collaborators and I saw a clear need for a dedicated, independent platform to generate rigorous evidence on pharmaceutical policy. The questions that matter in this field cannot be answered from a single perspective or within one disciplinary focus. We therefore established the Lab as an international collaboration that brings together experts from multiple disciplines to tackle pressing challenges in medicine innovation, access, and affordability.
How does the Lab contribute to better health care and shape tomorrow's health systems?
Our mission is simple but ambitious: to maximise the benefits and minimise the harms of medicines for patients, health systems, and societies. At the Pharmaceutical Policy Lab we produce rigorous evidence to advance knowledge and inform policy.
Beyond research, we aim to actively engage with patients, prescribers, regulators, payers, and industry to ensure our work addresses real-world challenges and achieves meaningful impact. Ultimately, our goal is to provide timely, relevant, and actionable evidence that supports informed decision-making at every stage of pharmaceutical development and use.
What do you hope this collaboration will lead to?
We envision the Lab as a global hub for pharmaceutical policy research, training, and dialogue. Through our research and collaborations, we aim to provide timely, relevant, and actionable evidence to a wide range of stakeholders, including patients, clinicians, regulators, health technology assessment bodies, payers, industry, policymakers, and the public.
In the short term, we will continue producing rigorous research that evaluates, informs, and shapes pharmaceutical policies. In the longer term, we aim to train the next generation of interdisciplinary pharmaceutical policy scholars. Ultimately, our success will be measured by tangible improvements in how medicines are developed, evaluated, and used.