Dr. Sander's research program in the economics of infectious diseases addresses challenges to economic evaluation methods by advancing scientific methods for the economic evaluation of infectious disease interventions at the population level, while developing critical evidence to inform policy making in important disease areas: COVID-19, viral hepatitis, vector-borne diseases and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Her research encompasses the following domains:
- Advance economic evaluation by developing novel methods for a systems approach that identifies and optimizes intervention strategies across sectors, fully accounts for the health and economic impact, and considers equity concerns.
- Further the evaluation of the economic burden of diseases using health administrative data by addressing the unique challenges of infectious diseases.
- Expand the use of data-driven simulation as a tool to assess complex interventions and enable a systems approach to economic evaluation, drawing from multiple disciplines.
The selected disease areas include the most burdensome pathogens in Ontario and globally, and pathogens important in the One Health context. They are public health priorities with the potential for rapid deployment of evidence into policy and practice, are uniquely suitable to address methodological challenges, and serve as the foundation for the development of a framework for economic evaluations of infectious disease interventions at the population level.