Zanfina Ademi

Professor Zanfina Ademi is a global leader in health economics and the founding head of the Health Economics and Policy Evaluation Research Group at Monash University’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Trained as a pharmacist, epidemiologist, and health economist, she works across academia, healthcare, and government to build strategic partnerships locally and internationally, aiming to improve population health, reduce inequities, and support evidence-based decision-making through rigorous, consumer-centred health economic research. Her evidence-based research has shaped health policy decisions across multiple countries, including Australia (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and Medicare Benefits Schedule), Switzerland (Federal Office of Public Health), Sweden (Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency), the United Kingdom (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence), Ireland (National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics) and Finland. Her work spans population health, disease prevention, and population genomics, as well as the development and validation of the Productivity-Adjusted Life Year (PALY) metric—an innovative measure that incorporates both paid and unpaid work to more comprehensively assess the societal impact of health interventions. Professor Ademi currently serves as a member of the Economics Sub Committee of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee within the Department of Health, Australia which assesses clinical and economic evaluations of medicines submitted for listing on the PBS. She previously led the economic stream of the Swiss Medical Board's national Health Technology Assessment (HTA) program.