prof. Delphine De Smedt (PhD)

Associate professor (Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UGent)
Principal Investigator (CESPE – Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Pharmaceutical Engineering & Manufacturing)
Research focus
Our research explores various aspects of chronic disease management, with a focus on the cost-effectiveness and holistic sustainability assessments of prevention, screening, and treatment strategies related o.a. to cancer. By developing a holistic sustainability assessment, we aim to address a critical gap in health technology assessment (HTA). Traditionally, HTA has concentrated primarily on effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, often overlooking the broader societal and environmental impacts of healthcare interventions.
Our multidisciplinary approach seeks to integrate economic, social, and environmental dimensions into a comprehensive assessment framework. This framework provides a more nuanced evaluation of healthcare interventions—one that not only considers health outcomes and financial costs but also assesses their environmental and societal impacts.
To achieve this, we combine public health and health economic methodologies with life cycle assessment (LCA) techniques, encompassing the entire patient pathway. This approach aims to foster a more sustainable healthcare system, better equipped to address the long-term challenges posed by chronic diseases. Ultimately, our work could lead to more informed policy decisions, optimizing resource allocation while minimizing the ecological footprint of healthcare interventions.
Biography
Prof. Delphine De Smedt, has a master in Biomedical Science, a master in Business Economics and a PhD in Medical Sciences for which she was nominated as Laureate faculty doctoral price 2013-2014. During her PhD, she published a first author paper in the European Heart Journal (IF: 37.6). Her main research interest are related to health-related quality of life, disease burden, health economic evaluations and sustainable healthcare systems. She is a member of the board of directors of the Centre for Cancer Screening and she is part of the Flemish working group on Population Screening. She is a principal investigator at CESPE (Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Pharmaceutical Engineering & Manufacturing).
Main projects related to cancer:
- Principal investigator of the HELICON project assessing the indirect impact of the COVID pandemic on delayed care of chronic disease
- Co-promotor on the FWO-TBM project: Towards cost-effective patient selection for proton therapy in thoracic cancers: a framework for continuously updating prediction models
- Principal investigator of a UGent project on Integrated sustainability assessment of population-based colorectal cancer screening
Main projects related to other chronic diseases
- National coordinator of the EUROASPIRE V survey aiming to assess whether the guidelines on cardiovascular prevention are being follow in clinical practice
- Principal investigator for the EUROASPIRE health economics project, investigating the cost-effectiveness of following the guidelines on cardiovascular prevention
- Co-supervisor of the HORIZON 2020 HeartMan project, which had the aim to develop a personalized care pathway that help people with Heart Failure manage their condition
- Co-supervisor of the AFFIRMO consortium, a HORIZON Europe project, where she collaborates in the health economic evaluations of a complex intervention aimed at patients with atrial fibrillation
- Collaborator on the TransPharm project, a Horizon Europe funded study, aiming to develop a holistic, comprehensive framework for integrated sustainability assessment of pharmaceuticals
- Co-supervisor of the PharmECO project, an IHI study, advancing Safe and Sustainable by Design Practices in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
- Principal investigator of the COCCOS study focusing on the (cost-) effectiveness of transition programs from pediatric to adult care
- Principal investigator of the HELICON project assessing the indirect impact of the COVID pandemic on delayed care of chronic disease
- Principal investigator of the FWO-TBM project: Personalized remotely guided preventive exercise therapy for a healthy heart (PRIORITY)
- Co-promotor on the FWO-TBM project: Towards cost-effective patient selection for proton therapy in thoracic cancers: a framework for continuously updating prediction models.
- Principal investigator of project on Integrated sustainability assessment of population-based colorectal cancer screening
- Principal investigator of the FWO-TBM project: Personalized remotely guided preventive exercise therapy for a healthy heart (PRIORITY)
Research team
- prof. Delphine De Smedt – principal investigator, associate professor
- prof. Jo Dewulf – principal investigator
- prof. Sophie Hoozée (PhD) – principal investigator
- prof. Yolande Lievens (MD, PhD) – principal investigator
- prof. Barbara Vanderstraeten (PhD) – principal investigator
- prof. Nick Verhaeghe (PhD) – principal investigator and postdoctoral fellow
- dr. Lisa Van Wilder (PhD) – postdoctoral fellow
- dr. Lieselot Boone (PhD) – postdoctoral fellow
- Yasmine Khan – doctoral fellow
- Yaqeen W. Shanti – doctoral fellow
Key publications
- The incremental healthcare cost associated with cancer in Belgium : a registry‐based data analysis. (2024) CANCER MEDICINE. 13(3).
- Evaluating the health and health economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on delayed cancer care in Belgium : a Markov model study protocol. (2023) PLOS ONE. 18(10).
- QALY losses for chronic diseases and its social distribution in the general population : results from the Belgian Health Interview Survey. (2022) BMC PUBLIC HEALTH. 22(1).
- The non-fatal burden of cancer in Belgium, 2004–2019 : a nationwide registry-based study (2022) BMC Cancer. 22(1).
Contact & links
- Lab address: Campus UZ Gent, entrance 42, 4K3, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, B-9000 Gent
- Prof. De Smedt is interested to receive invitations for presentations or talks