Rate My Professor David Meads

David Meads is Professor of Health Economics and Director of the Academic Unit of Health Economics in the School of Medicine at the University of Leeds, having led the unit since 2024. He earned his PhD in Health Economics from the University of Leeds. His career at the University of Leeds dates back to at least 2010, where he has developed expertise in health technology assessment, decision modelling, early modelling to inform technology development and priority setting, stated preference methods such as choice experiments and best-worst scaling, and EQ-5D valuation. As Head of Division, Meads leads the haematology and surgical research portfolios within the Academic Unit of Health Economics. He is co-applicant and lead health economist on numerous NIHR, charity, and industry-funded projects, including economic evaluations alongside clinical trials, decision-analytic modelling, and patient preference studies. Key projects include the FLAIR trial assessing ibrutinib plus rituximab in front-line chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, the STATIC trial comparing continuous with intermittent treatment strategies in CLL, the Myeloma XIV (RADAR) trial evaluating a novel triplet therapy in frail multiple myeloma patients, LACES II comparing laparoscopic versus open colorectal surgery, ARIEL for biomarker-enriched anti-EGFR therapy in colorectal cancer, DANTE for anti-PD-1 treatment duration in melanoma, STAMINA for exercise in prostate cancer patients on androgen deprivation therapy, and SENSITISE optimising technology in social care.

Meads has served as a member of a NICE Technology Appraisal Committee for over seven years and participates in NIHR Programme Grants for Applied Research funding panels. He leads the Economic Evaluation for Health Technology Assessment module on the MSc in Health Economics at the University of Lucerne and contributes sessions on decision-analytic modelling and health measurement and valuation to the Postgraduate Diploma in Health Services Research. His research interests encompass decision-analytic modelling, health technology assessment, health valuation, stated preference elicitation, and behavioural economics to improve healthcare decision-making at individual and organisational levels. Meads is a member of the Health Economics Study Group, the Centre for Decision Research in Leeds University Business School, and the Choice Modelling Centre at the University of Leeds. He regularly provides health economics advice to NHS staff through the Research Design Service.